'I Treat Houses Like Hospitals. You Get In, You Get Out': Grant Cardone Says Despite Owning $4 billion In Real Estate, He Still Rents His Home

Grant Cardone's take on real estate isn't just contrarian – it's downright rebellious. The man's sitting on a $4 billion net worth, yet he doesn't own the roof over his head. Instead, he rents. To him, buying a house is like buying a ticket to a financial prison. 

In a 2019 DJ Vlad interview, Cardone explained why homeownership is a terrible choice for real estate investors. "I treat houses like hospitals – you get in, you get out," he says with a shrug, tossing aside the idea that a house is a stable, long-term investment.

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Cardone's perspective flips conventional wisdom on its head. We've all heard the argument: "When you rent, you're just paying someone else's mortgage!" Cardone isn't buying it. He explains, "You could live in a house for 15 years with a 30-year mortgage and still owe what the house was worth when you bought it – or worse." It's simple math for him: "If it doesn't pay you, why are you doing it?"

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His disdain for homeownership doesn't stop there. Cardone takes it further, suggesting that owning anything might soon be a thing of the past. "We're moving into an environment where people are gonna own nothing. People are gonna rent clothes, they're gonna rent furniture, they're gonna rent cars," he says. And he's not wrong – leasing is already more popular than owning in many areas of life.

This is where Cardone's love for real estate as an investment comes into focus. But it's not about owning a home; it's about generating income. For him, investments are about one thing: cash flow. "I need income. I want income every month," Cardone states firmly. This is why he pours his money into income-generating real estate, not into buying a house for himself.

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He explains his philosophy plainly: "You want enough passive income coming in that you can buy dumb stuff. It's not just about wealth; it's about wealth that works for you. Earned income? That's for suckers. People shouldn't buy dumb [__] until they have passive income," he advises, pointing out that relying on earned income to fund extravagance is a one-way ticket to financial trouble.

Cardone does explain he rents his home because he gets a better interest rate on the loan, which indicates Cardone Capital likely owns the home and he pays "rent," although he doesn't elaborate on how it works or what he pays. In other videos, Cardone openly talks about going broke two times a year to buy a helicopter as a tax write-off and investment.

In a world where most people view owning a home as the pinnacle of success, Grant Cardone is happy to play by his own rules. For him, the key isn't in what you own but what you make your money do for you. If it doesn't pay you back, he's not interested. 

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