Real estate investing is an excellent opportunity for average individuals to substantially increase their income and overall net worth. The most common advantages of investing in real estate are listed below:
Stability - Real estate is a much less volatile endeavor than stocks or bonds.
Leverage - Real estate allows you to use other people's money as leverage to increase your own worth. It's not that uncommon to acquire a $100,000 piece of property for less than 10% down - something that is impossible with stocks.
Furthermore, having tenants occupy your property and pay your mortgage for you is a great way to leverage real estate for a financial advantage.
Control - Unlike mutual funds, real estate provides you with the ultimate control over your finances. Do you want to fix up the property, build equity or increase your cash flow? With real estate, you have control over your finances and your future.
Diversity - Even if you already have investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, 401k's, IRA's or other investment vehicles, real estate is a great way to diversify your portfolio. Diversification can help mitigate your losses in those other areas in the event of a dramatic downturn in the market.
