What The World’s Best Real Estate Investor Says You Should Do With $100,000 Right Now

We’re always looking for smarter ways to build wealth and grow passive income through real estate. Whether through traditional rental income, high-yield REITs, vacation rental properties, or one of our favorite topics right now, real estate crowdfunding through companies like CrowdStreet, Fundrise, Roofstock and Realty Mogul.

One man who has a better view of these options than just about anyone is Blackstone President & COO Jon Gray, who helped launch the firm’s real estate arm in 1992 and subsequently transformed the group into one of the planet’s most sprawling landlords.

In the first episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, Gray answered questions about today’s volatile market and more, including what do with your money, what not to do with your money, and the best way to invest in real estate right now:

What To Do With $100,000 Right Now

Asked where an investor should put $100,000 right now, Gray responded bluntly: “In real estate. We love what we’re doing in the private REIT space. You can invest in a good basket of public REITs as well.”

Already exposed to real estate? “More generally, I think the S&P 500,” says Gray. “You’ll do fine over a long period of time. There’s a lot of exposure to fast-growing tech companies in there.”

What Not To Invest In Right Now

Asked about areas to avoid, Gray didn’t target any tech, meme stocks, cryptocurrencies, or any of the other “fads” currently grabbing all the headlines. In fact, it’s the opposite end of the spectrum Gray wants investors to worry about.

“You should stay away from buggy-whip businesses,” he told Rubenstein. “You should stay away from land-line phone companies, and some of the legacy retailers, some legacy media businesses. You want to focus on the future.”

Gray also offered advice on insulating from those so-called buggy-whips while investing in real estate: “On real estate, in particular, if I had one piece of advice — go where the creative and technology types are, because those are the markets where there will be the most economic activity. So the West Coast; Austin, Texas; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Shenzhen; London; Amsterdam; Tel Aviv; Bangalore. Tech is driving so much of the growth in this global economy.”

The Best Way to Invest in Real Estate

The most actionable insight from the interview was when Rubenstein prompted Gray to mine his expertise for non-billionaires, asking about the best way for the individual investor to buy real estate. Watch his answer at the start of the video below:

Catch the full interview during the premiere episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, airing July 6th at 9pm ET on Bloomberg.