From Street Cleaner to Skyscraper Mogul: The Untold Story of Ghulam Fareed That Will Blow Your Mind
From Street Cleaner to Skyscraper Mogul: The Untold Story of Ghulam Fareed That Will Blow Your Mind
Introduction: A Story You Were Never Meant to Hear
Not all millionaires wear suits.
Not all empires are built by CEOs.
And not all success stories are Instagram reels with background music.
Some begin with a broom, sweat, and a salary barely enough for food.
This is the jaw-dropping real-life story of Ghulam Fareed, a man who once cleaned streets under the burning Dubai sun — now the owner of over a dozen skyscrapers across UAE, UK, and Canada. His name is not in Forbes, but it echoes in every elevator shaft of the buildings he owns.
What he built didn’t come from luck. It came from pain, patience, and the boldest financial moves you’ve probably never heard of.
Chapter 1: The Man Who Cleaned While Dreaming
In 2001, Ghulam Fareed arrived in the UAE from a small village in Punjab, Pakistan. He was 22, uneducated, and nervous. His only possession? A pair of dusty shoes and a pocket with 37 dirhams.
He got a job cleaning streets for a Dubai municipality contractor.
12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
In temperatures that touched 50°C (122°F).
His salary? 500 dirhams per month (around $135 USD).
He lived in a shared labor camp with 20 men in a single room. No fan. No privacy. But while others slept tired, Fareed stared at the high-rises around Bur Dubai and whispered, “One day, I’ll own one.”
People laughed. “You can't even afford socks,” they said.
Chapter 2: He Collected Bottles – But Not for Recycling
Unlike most workers, Fareed didn’t spend his off days watching TV or playing cards. He collected discarded books, magazines, and newspapers from the garbage bins he cleaned.
He didn’t know English, but he kept them.
Every night, he sat down with a fellow worker who had studied up to 10th grade. They studied real estate ads together. Fareed began learning English by translating words from these newspapers, especially real estate listings.
He didn’t understand it fully. But he understood this one pattern:
Property in Dubai always becomes more expensive over time.
Chapter 3: His First Investment – With Someone Else’s Money
After 6 years, in 2007, Fareed had saved 19,000 dirhams ($5,100 USD) — his life’s savings.
But he needed more to enter the property game.
So he approached a restaurant owner who he used to clean for. He told him:
“Let me find you the cheapest upcoming apartment. You invest, I manage, we split the profits.”
The man agreed — not because of the idea — but because of Fareed’s honesty and hunger.
They bought a studio apartment off-plan in International City, Dubai.
Price: 215,000 AED ($58,000 USD)
Fareed's share: just 9%
But he found a tenant before the unit was even built, earning rent the moment it was handed over.
They flipped the unit in 2009 for almost double.
The investor walked away with profits. Fareed walked away with proof that he could win in this game.
Chapter 4: He Became the Guy Who Found Deals
Word spread in the labor community. Fareed wasn’t just a street cleaner now. He was the guy who “understood property.”
Soon, two other Pakistani investors asked him to find them cheap rental flats.
He negotiated. He collected rent. He managed repairs.
In exchange? 10% of rental income + small upfront fees.
By 2010, he had helped purchase 12 properties – none in his name, but each bringing him passive cash.
He still cleaned streets. But now, he earned more from property management than his full-time job.
Chapter 5: His First Tower Unit – And a Massive Risk
In 2012, Dubai real estate slowed down due to global uncertainty. Prices in some towers dropped 30-40%.
Fareed spotted a 1-bedroom unit in Business Bay listed at AED 580,000. The owner was desperate.
Fareed convinced a contact in Sharjah to jointly invest. They arranged a mortgage, and for the first time, Fareed's name appeared on a property title.
Within 18 months, prices bounced back. They sold it for AED 920,000 — a gain of AED 340,000 ($92,000 USD).
Fareed now had cash in hand and something he never imagined before: creditworthiness.
Chapter 6: Moving from Dubai to London
In 2014, Fareed applied for a UK visit visa to attend a cousin’s wedding in Birmingham. While there, he walked through East London and was shocked.
Apartments in areas like Barking and Ilford were cheaper than Dubai, yet rents were steady.
He returned and applied for a UK investor visa with his earnings. By 2015, he made his first UK purchase: a 2-bed flat in Ilford for £220,000.
Within three years, that flat was worth £320,000. He used the equity to buy another, and another.
Chapter 7: The Skyscraper Dream – Finally Realized
By 2018, Fareed had ownership in 23 units across Dubai and London.
His monthly rental income? Over $42,000 USD.
But he wasn’t done.
He partnered with a Canadian-Pakistani civil engineer who was developing mid-rise apartment buildings in Mississauga, Canada. Fareed invested $600,000 into the project — his biggest risk yet.
That building was completed in 2021.
He earned $1.3 million from presale units alone.
Since then, he has been part of three more towers in Canada and recently co-owns a 22-story building in Downtown Dubai.
From sweeping streets to watching tenants move into his skyscrapers — he made it.
Chapter 8: Why You’ve Never Heard of Ghulam Fareed
Because he doesn't want you to.
He doesn’t give TED Talks.
He doesn’t drive a Lambo.
He still sends money back to his village.
He still wears sandals bought in a Deira bazaar.
But his buildings speak for him — from London to Dubai to Toronto.
Fareed says:
“My empire wasn’t built with luck. It was built one trash bag, one floor tile, one rent cheque at a time.”
Chapter 9: Lessons from a Man Who Owned Nothing – and Now Owns the Skyline
🔑 1. Never Let Your Start Define Your Finish
Born in a mud house. Lived in a labor camp. Now owns glass towers.
🔑 2. Be the Guy Who Solves a Problem
He offered help to investors who were confused. In return, they trusted him with their money.
🔑 3. Learn, Even When No One is Watching
He read torn newspapers in a language he couldn’t speak. That made all the difference.
🔑 4. Stay Silent, Work Loud
No social media. No flexing. Just working until the work starts speaking.
🔑 5. Leverage Relationships, Not Just Loans
He didn’t become rich by borrowing from banks, but by building trust with real people.
So What’s Stopping You?
Whether you're in the USA, UK, Canada, or UAE, the system is hard — but it is beatable. You don’t need to be born rich. You don’t need an Ivy League degree. You need vision, patience, and action.
If a man who once wiped the streets clean now owns the skyline, then what excuse are we still hiding behind?
This is not a story of real estate.
This is a story of belief — and the price of not quitting.
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SAAD UR REHMAN HEAD AND FOUNDER OF PAGE MINDSET MASTERY
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