Real estate investment?

Yesterday, two “investment experts” were talking on the radio about personal money management strategies in these troubled times. Among other ideas, they were asserting that real estate – owning a home, as an example – shouldn't be considered as an investment, but rather a lifestyle choice. I don't know what this duo had been smoking, but I couldn't disagree more with them. Just because real estate had been the subject of unrealistic speculations, had seen its bubble inflate before it would burst, isn't a reason to dismiss it as a legitimate and smart investment.

First, we're 6.7 billion folks on this planet and population keeps on rising while land supply is likely to shrink (yeah, global warming!) Second, if our dollar is hardly worth the paper it's printed on, and short of owning gold or silver, the best tangible asset to hold remains some piece of dirt. Of course this comes with a caveat that I learned from someone who's succeeded in the business, and it's that the first capital gain achieved is right at the time the purchase of a home, a condo or a piece of land is made. In other words, the art of real estate investing begins with buying low enough; that's all there is to it!