Real estate is always good to invest in, but you have to be aware of what stage of the cycle it is in. It doesn’t always go up as people like to think, when the real estate cycle is in a downward phase, in some markets houses actually lose value. You must know what phase your local market is in before you buy any house or apartment. For example, in San Diego right now, appreciation is plummeting … but you can still make money. While the market’s tanking you have to stick with buying junkers super cheap from banks and wholesaling them to investors. That the only place where there is demand, among investors, and it’s where you can keep your risk to a minimum so that’s where you focus. Forget rehabbing or holding anything until the market recovers.
There’s a fantastic research tool so you can know where your market is and make the right moves. Check it out. Real estate investing research tool
Justdoit: I would correct that to read that real estate can be great as speculation (no more than 10% of your available funds within a diversified portfolio).
Adjusted for inflation over the long-term, real estate does not hold up against other asset classes. That’s what makes this present situation (real estate boom to bust) so amazing: So many people bought into the myth of real estate “investment” properties as the path to wealth and success.
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