Vanilla Ice made his name in rap and now he’s making money in real estate.
The Ice Ice Baby hitmaker revealed the secrets behind his reinvention and shared how he chooses which homes to purchase to ensure he later makes a profit.
‘The trick is to learn how to buy your houses first, and you have to buy them below the appraised value,’ Vanilla Ice said in an interview with Fox News.
‘Do an appraisal. It usually costs you about $400 to $600. Check each property, make insulting offers – real insulting – and keep making them constantly.’
The 57-year-old rapper is worth $20million, per Celebrity Net Worth. His advice is to not ‘think about anything else other than making money’.
Vanilla Ice – real name Robert Matthew Van Winkle – explained that he buys homes ‘sight unseen’.
He said: ‘Make sure you just go and make offers below the appraised value. If somebody bites, they’re desperate. Maybe a divorce sale, maybe a death in the family, maybe they just want to sell the house.’
In that case, the seller might ‘just take that insulting offer’, Vanilla Ice said.
‘And you’re sitting there, “Wow! They took it. The house is worth $3million and I just paid $700,000 for it.” Who wouldn’t buy it, right?’
Vanilla Ice – real name Robert Matthew Van Winkle – explained that he buys homes ‘sight unseen’. He’s seen above in a 90s throwback photo
Vanilla Ice’s property in Spring, Texas has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a three-car garage and a private study
The rapper also owns a 1,700-square-foot property in Palm Beach County, Florida that sold for $206,000 in 2014
Vanilla Ice is pictured during the 37th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in November 2022
In 2018, the Daily Mail revealed that Vanilla Ice was still raking in $800,000 per year.
He was worth about $9million then, according to divorce documents.
Vanilla Ice previously said that he had made ‘millions for doing nothing’ thanks to his real estate empire – although that is not exactly true.
The rapper went to design school to learn about his new craft. He was also a general contractor for years.
Vanilla Ice previously hosted The Vanilla Ice Project, a home improvement reality series that aired on the DIY Network for nine seasons between 2010 and 2019.
The rapper ‘never used’ the houses he purchased – saying that he ‘didn’t even change the carpet’ – but they sold quickly.
Vanilla Ice told Fox News: ‘You can go to the county with a lawyer and stuff and figure out how to buy a tax lien and enter auctions and stuff like that and that’s really how you buy your houses.
‘Below the appraised value. Nothing I ever buy you’ll see on a computer or Zillow, so there’s a hint.’
Vanilla Ice spent nine seasons renovating his properties on the reality series The Vanilla Ice Project
The rapper, pictured alongside Madonna at a ‘Truth or Dare’ party, believes that people want the 1990s back. The duo previously dated
Vanilla Ice’s real estate empire includes idyllic St. Augustine, Florida – where he owns two homes on Rattlesnake Island
Vanilla Ice is still making a fortune after his rapping days through real estate
As well as opening up about his real estate ventures with Fox News, Vanilla Ice also looked back on his success in the 1990s following his iconic worldwide hit Ice Ice Baby. His album – To the Extreme – sold 15 million copies worldwide.
The rapper, who on dated Madonna for eight months, is now a father of three, and said he believes people want that time period back: ‘We didn’t take everything so serious (in the 90s). We were cheesy and it was easy and it was fun.
‘We got outside, we didn’t stare at screens all day.
‘We got in trouble for not coming home on time and had to rewind tapes a lot of times of our life and go to Blockbuster and do things that are just out of today’s norm.’
The hitmaker said his kids are among those who want to ‘experience’ that era.
‘The ’90s are back full force right now. I see it everywhere – and it’s a good thing because the ’90s was the last of the great generations before computers ruined the world,’ Vanilla Ice said.