Just playing a little devils advocate....but real estate has it's ups and
downs also.


HERETIC! BURN HIM!! BURN HIM AT THE STAKE, NOW!!!


Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
Single family homes - you bet.

Multi-family homes - safer than Fort Knox.

Umm, not really.

If you look at the earnings & share pricing of REITs
specializing in attached housing, you'll see it.

.... You will never lose your
money on a rental property.

Hey, that sounds too good to be true! Can I get it in writing?




... You might not appreciate in value to your
liking, but you will make money.


Actually I have a number of friends who have ended up owning
rental property, and found the profits to be irregular
(although very good when they're rolling) and the management
to be a PITA. Going to the sheriff to get a deadbeat tenant
evicted is a bummer, as is re-drywalling & re-flooring a
place that has been trashed.



As the current real estate "boom" begins to cool off, many people around the
country are going to find themselves upside down with their mortgages.


Seeing it now, but again, single family homes with huge mortgages.


Bingo

Pay cash.


If ya got it.

The smart person will always work to get the force of
compound interest working for him, rather than against him,
in any sort of capital endeavor.


Real estate is not immune from price depreciation.


Not true. It's always worth what you paid for it.

Can I get that in writing too?

Actually, Shortwave's point about interest is a good one...
if you take out the interest paid, and the taxes paid... and
the maintenance paid... often you will find that owning
residential property gives only a very modest return even
when prices have seemingly boomed.

Jane Bryan Quinn said it best... the value of a home is to
live in it. Don't look to you house to make you rich.



This is something you or I have no control over anymore than we do
with stocks/bonds/commodities except the latter are much more liquid,
and for that matter can be more volatile.


I don't agree. If you aren't greedy, you will always make money.


If you aren't greedy, why would you be interested in making
money?


It's when you go for the big score, you risk everything.

I never go for the big score. Slow steady wins the race.


Bingo again

Personally, I have shifted more & more of my investments
into "slow & steady" mutual funds, which are diversified
portfolios in the palm of your hand. Obviously some are
better than others, which is why I favor simple & cheap
index funds. There are even bond index funds for income and
for taking skyrocketing stock gains off the table.

Regards
Doug King