In any other business a 2 years to break even would be considered great.
Not considered great if you got to liquidate and sell your equipment in two years to stay up to date.
That's called breaking even and never getting ahead.
. Rental properties is much more lucrative than mining. Good properties appreciate in value with time.
Maybe depends on the location. In my area my rental property topped in value about 5 years ago. Prior to that it tripled in value within 10 year span. So if you bought it early then yes sure, it appreciated in value very quickly.
Right now the real estate is in a bubble in certain areas, the values might not come down but they won't double at the rate that it used to in the past. Too many people basically bought real estate as an investment and here we are.