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From classic muscle cars to high-end European rides, Grammy-winning rapper 2 Chainz is no stranger to big splurges.
But beyond the flashy impulse purchases, he’s also been making some smart money moves behind the scenes.
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In a recent episode of the Club Shay Shay podcast, host and Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe asked 2 Chainz to name some of his wildest purchases.
“I think I bought a [Rolls Royce] Phantom and a Maybach,” 2 Chainz told Sharpe.
“Damn, that is $800,000!” replied Sharpe, stunned by the sheer size of the purchase.
But 2 Chainz insists there’s a method to the madness: “Every time I do something stupid, I try to balance it out,” he said.
What does he use to balance it out? Real estate.
“As soon as I go buy a couple of chains, I would hit the girl that’s handling my real estate business and tell her, ‘Can you send me some properties to look at?’” he explained.
The veteran rapper noted that artists who suddenly come into wealth often spend freely on “stupid stuff” — from cars to jewelry. But eventually, the conversation would shift to passive income and investments.
For 2 Chainz, real estate is a no-brainer — having spent hours in the studio just scrolling through property listings.
“I’m a property hoarder,” he told Sharpe. “I be getting penalized, but it’s my dirt and I know they don’t make no more dirt.”
‘They don’t make no more dirt’
As 2 Chainz points out, one of the core truths about real estate is just how scarce it can be.
You can’t create land out of thin air — and buildable land is even harder to come by.
Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged at a press conference last year that the real problem behind America’s housing crisis is simple: “We have had, and are on track to continue to have, not enough housing.”
An analysis by Zillow published in June 2024 estimated the U.S. housing shortage to be 4.5 million homes.
That supply-demand imbalance may help explain why home prices continue to climb. Over the past five years, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index has surged by more than 50%.
But, these days, you don’t need to be as wealthy as 2 Chainz to start investing in real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.
Backed by world class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100, all without the hassle of mowing lawns, fixing leaky faucets or handling difficult tenants.
The process is simple: browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase, and then sit back as you start receiving rental income deposits from your investment.
Another way to go is Homeshares, which gives accredited investors access to the $35 trillion U.S. home equity market, according to Federal Reserve data — a space that’s historically been the exclusive playground of institutional investors.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, investors can gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headache of buying, owning or managing property.
With risk-adjusted target returns ranging from 14% to 17%, this approach provides an effective, hands-off way to invest in owner-occupied residential properties across regional markets.
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
A finer alternative
Beyond real estate, the ultra-wealthy are also known to hoard fine art — and it’s easy to see why.
The supply of truly great works is limited, and many famous pieces have already been snatched up by museums and collectors. Art also has a low correlation with stocks and bonds, which helps with diversification, according to a recent Deloitte blog post.
In 2022, a collection of art owned by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sold for $1.5 billion at Christie’s New York, making it the most valuable collection in auction history.
Investing in art was traditionally a privilege reserved for the ultra-wealthy.
Now, that’s changed with Masterworks — a platform for investing in shares of blue-chip artwork by renowned artists, including Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Banksy. It’s easy to use, and with 23 successful exits to date, every one of them has been profitable thus far.
Simply browse their impressive portfolio of paintings and choose how many shares you’d like to buy. Masterworks will handle all the details, making high-end art investments both accessible and effortless.
Masterworks has distributed roughly $61 million back to investors. New offerings have sold out in minutes, but you can skip their waitlist here.
See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
