Every year I sit across from business owners who tell me the same thing. They want financial freedom, more control, and less tax stress. And almost every time, without fail, the conversation eventually leads to real estate. Not because it’s trendy. Not because their friends bought a duplex on YouTube. It’s because real estate has quietly built more long-term wealth in this country than almost any other asset class. The wealthy know it. The government knows it. And by the time you finish reading this, you’ll understand why you should know it too.
I didn’t grow up in a family that talked about depreciation schedules or leveraged acquisitions around the dinner table. Most of what I’ve learned has come from working with entrepreneurs, investors, and families who took ordinary incomes and used real estate to build extraordinary legacies. After twenty-plus years in tax strategy, I’ve watched this asset class outperform expectations again and again. When used correctly, it has the potential to reshape someone’s financial future faster than almost any other investment I’ve ever seen.
And here’s the part many people miss. The tax code wasn’t written to punish real estate investors. It was written to reward them. The government needs clean, safe, affordable housing, and it leans on business owners like you to provide it. So it builds incentives (and big incentives they were) into the Internal Revenue Code to encourage you to take part. That’s why you’ll often hear me say that real estate is one of the few places where the IRS smiles at you rather than scowls.
Let me show you why.
Why The Wealthy Gravitate Toward Real Estate
When you peel back the layers of wealth in America, a pattern jumps out. The Rockefellers, the Trumps, the Hiltons, and even the obscure millionaire down the street who still drives a ten-year-old pickup — all of them used real estate to build lasting prosperity. It wasn’t always glamorous. Some started with parking lots. Others with small rental homes. The long term minded investor might have purchased patches of land that nobody else wanted. But they all understood something simple. Real estate grows, and taxes shrink when you own the right kind of property.
I’ve met countless business owners who told me that their biggest regrets weren’t the deals they made but the deals they didn’t make. They waited for the “perfect” time after the market cooled off. More research was needed… that’s all. Or, should we just call it like it is? Most people are often too afraid to act. Basic paralysis by analysis.
Meanwhile, in their evil lair, the wealthy acted. They used the rules to their advantage, let tenants help pay down their debt, adjusted to the market when needed, and allowed time to do the heavy lifting.
Real estate is forgiving. It rewards patience. It compounds quietly in the background while you focus on running your business. And if you structure it correctly, the tax benefits often subsidize part of your investment.
That’s why the wealthy put their money into real estate. Because they understand it isn’t just an investment. It’s a strategy.
How The Government Really Sees Real Estate Investors
Whenever I bring up real estate in a tax meeting, business owners sometimes look at me like I’m trying to convince them to start flipping houses on HGTV. But real estate isn’t entertainment. It’s a national priority.
People need places to live. That means the government needs people like you to build, maintain, and improve the housing infrastructure across the country. And because the government can’t do it all itself, it provides incentives.
That’s why we have depreciation… and cost segregation studies. In essence, that’s one of the biggest reasons why the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expanded bonus depreciation in the first place. Lawmakers understood that incentivizing real estate investment stimulates job creation, economic activity, and community development.
I often describe it as a partnership. You invest capital, take on risk, and maintain housing. In return, the government gives you tools that help you reduce your tax burden. You don’t have to be a developer with skyscraper ambitions. A simple rental property can unlock the same rules that billionaires use every year.
A Few Giants Who Built Their Wealth With Real Estate
Whenever I study the financial playbooks of wealthy individuals, one theme always stands out. Real estate didn’t just make them rich. It kept them rich.
Take Sam Zell, one of the most well-known real estate magnates of the modern era. His empire began with a simple student housing project he managed while in college. He identified a need, provided a solution, and built an empire on that foundation. Zell turned small opportunities into billions by leaning on appreciation, tax strategies, and a deep understanding of value.
And then there’s one of my favorite examples, mostly because people rarely see it coming: McDonald’s.
Most people think McDonald’s is a burger company. It isn’t. McDonald’s is one of the largest real estate owners on the planet. The burgers are simply the front-end business. The real profit comes from the land underneath each restaurant. Franchisees pay rent to McDonald’s, and that rental income is what fuels its massive wealth engine. Years ago, the McDonald’s leadership team even admitted publicly that they are “not in the hamburger business… they’re in the real estate business.” The tenants just happen to sell Big Macs.
Even Oprah Winfrey (someone you might not immediately link with real estate) has built a large part of her fortune by buying land, developing property, and holding real estate over time.
The wealthy lean into real estate because the math is simple. Real estate provides income. It provides appreciation. It provides tax benefits. And unlike the stock market, you can touch it, improve it, and even sleep in it if you need to.
The Stability That Business Owners Need
One thing I’ve noticed after working with hundreds of entrepreneurs is that stability matters. Your business might have good months and bad months, but real estate moves at a different speed. It’s steady. It’s slow. And in a world where everything feels like it changes overnight, real estate offers something most investments can’t — predictability.
A business owner I worked with a few years ago built his wealth almost by accident. He bought a small industrial building for his company because he was tired of renting. It seemed like a simple decision at the time. Years later, that building turned out to be worth more than his business. Without even realizing it, he had stepped into one of the most powerful wealth-building tools available.
That’s the quiet magic of real estate. It grows while you sleep. It appreciates even when your business hits a rough patch. And it creates a financial foundation that makes your entire life more stable.
Why Real Estate Delivers Powerful Tax Benefits
If you’ve followed my writing for a while, you already know that I’m a bit of a “depreciation nerd.” I love it because it’s one of the few tools in the tax code that lets you take a natural expense (something every property experiences) and turn it into a meaningful tax benefit.
When you buy a property, the IRS lets you recover the cost over time through depreciation. But that’s just the baseline. When you take it a step further and use strategies like cost segregation, you can accelerate that depreciation, pulling future deductions into the present.
And for a while, bonus depreciation made this even more attractive. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, investors could deduct a large portion of qualifying assets in the first year. Even though bonus depreciation is phasing down, it is still available. Used correctly, it can dramatically reduce your taxable income during the year you purchase the property.
The wealthy understand this. They don’t rely on luck. Rather, they rely on math and utilize the rules of the tax code to create income shelters while their properties grow quietly behind the scenes.
Using Other People’s Money Like The Pros
When I bought my first investment property, I didn’t write a check for the entire purchase. I used a down payment and let the bank finance the rest. That was the first moment I understood the real power of real estate. Because in real estate, using leverage isn’t just available — it’s expected.
Banks love lending on real estate because the asset is stable and tangible. That means you can control a property worth far more than the cash you put in. And when you combine leverage with tax benefits, rental income, and appreciation, something incredible happens. Your return on investment can grow at a rate that feels almost unfair.
I once worked with a client who used financing to buy a commercial property. His tenants essentially paid his mortgage for him while he used depreciation to reduce his taxes. Years later, the property had increased dramatically in value, and he realized he had turned a small investment into a multi-million-dollar asset. He didn’t gamble. He simply used the rules that wealthy investors use every day.
When done responsibly, leverage turns real estate into a wealth machine. It allows ordinary business owners to control extraordinary assets.
Bringing It All Together
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that real estate is not reserved for the wealthy. The wealthy simply understood the assignment early. They learned the rules, respected the strategies, and let time compound their decisions.
You can do the same.
Real estate provides stability, predictable growth, and unmatched tax benefits. It lets you leverage capital in ways most investments never will. And it aligns perfectly with the government’s incentives to build safe and sustainable communities.
Every time I help a client step into real estate, I see the same thing. A shift. A new level of confidence. A sense that they finally understand how the wealthy think. And that’s the moment the real journey begins.
If you’re looking to reduce your tax burden, diversify your investments, and build a foundation for long-term wealth, real estate deserves your attention. Not someday. Not when the market cools off. Today.
Welcome to the New Age of Accounting. Let’s begin.
P.S. If you found this article helpful, you’ll love my new book S-Corp Mastery: How Smart Business Owners Maximize Tax Savings & Build a Lasting Legacy. It’s now live and available in a sleek, easy-to-read PDF version. Grab your copy here.
Chris is the Managing Partner at Weston Tax Associates, a best-selling author, and a renowned tax strategist. With over 20 years of expertise in tax and corporate finance, he simplifies complex tax concepts into actionable strategies that drive business growth. Originally from Sweden, he now lives in Florida with his wife and two sons.
