95 thoughts on “Why All Men Should Invest In Real Estate”

1. I agree completely that real estate is a great asset class to invest in.
   But the fact that you think taxes are a negative to real estate suggests you don’t understand this asset class. I’m guessing that you don’t actually own any real estate. If you did, you’d never list taxes as a negative.
   There is an old saying in real estate: “if you’re a real estate investor and you’re paying any taxes, you’re doing it wrong.”
   At least in the US, it’s by far the most tax-advantaged asset class available.
   The worst thing you could do is get into real estate without knowing what you’re doing.
   All readers (and the author of this post) should do their homework first.

   1. “At least in the US, it’s by far the most tax-advantaged asset class available.”
      Your smug comments, light on details, and this absurd statement shows you don’t know jack shit about investing. I’m waiting for your article educating us on the real estate as an investment. Roosh will pay you for it.
      In the mean time, taxes are a downside, like he said. You can’t write off interest for a second (investment) home. Primary residence only. If you’re saying your primary is your “investment” then again you don’t know jack shit about investing because you are putting all your assets in one class. You can write off some maintenance expenses. You have to pay taxes on income from that investment property, along with the property tax. Only if you can get rent over taxes and expenses are you ahead, or if it appreciates. Then you have to pay taxes on that appreciation if you liquidate and don’t reinvest within a certain period. You might be able to claim depreciation in some cases. There is no guarantee a property will appreciate to offset inflation, and it requires heavy maintenance expense to do so.
      As for ” by far the most tax advantaged class”, that would be a Roth IRA where your gains and withdrawals are tax free. Zero taxes, near zero maintenance. You can have infinite diversification within that account. That’s just one example. There are others. So STFU will ya?

      1. Why would I share anything useful with a clown like you?
         The fact that you know anything about a Roth confirms that your income is tiny. As you probably don’t know, you can’t use a Roth above certain income levels. Congratulations, you’re a middle class tax slave, trying to get rich $1 at a time. I’m sure it will work out great for you.
         If you actually did know anything, you’d know that you can shield unlimited cash flow from taxes in the US if you structure your RE business correctly. Not some piss-poor ‘savings’ of a few thousand dollars provided by a Roth.
         So yeah, show me proof of ownership of any real estate asset and maybe I’ll take you slightly more seriously.
         Otherwise, carry on, keyboard tough guy. Hope your W-2 job makes you happy. Thanks for paying taxes so that I don’t have to.

         1. @Rudy, see my response to @David below. You argue like a gamma ignoring the salient points. Don’t educate ME, educate the men of ROK. Else you’re just a smarmy punk.

         2. @Rudy BTW did you see a response to your comments by the author, @Samuel Mays? You didn’t counter it. I was going to make one of the same points. The only way you could defer or not pay taxes indefinitely is through fraud.

         3. @Rudy, sorry one more thing. Yes I have previously and now do own RE and have made tax-free money upon sale, but only because the “profit” was below that Bill Clinton threshold. Not the big bucks you brag about.

         4. Actually in defense of @Rudy, there is one way you could make OK tax-free money “investing” in RE, but not the big bucks he claims. He won’t share it, probably because it is very niche, and already super-saturated. That is by flipping houses in non-ghetto areas, and claiming that house is your primary (which again could be borderline or actual fraud if you ain’t really living there for 2 out of 5 yrs). As long as your profits don’t exceed something like $200k for singles, it is tax free. But flipping is saturated and fraught with risk. Something @Rudy knows nothing about because again, he knows jack shit about investing. So you could play this game at best 1x every 2 yrs, while living in a gutted house.

      2. Just in time for the bubble to burst again.

      3. Please let’s elaborate. Renters seem like dealing with the scum of society, they have nothing to lose & can completely fuck up an entire street. My neighbors are a prime example: they ruin value of street & there is no way you can fuck with them, Uncle Sam pays their rent via Section 8. Wouldnt want to landlord to them & they deserve to be in the projects but wait! Now instead of projects, government just moves these single mom crime factories into your regular neighborhoods.
         Trading, you at least have liquidity & leverage in options. I’d consider renting out my properties if they were in places I wouldnt mind retiring to. Renting out your former house to scumbags seems like a lot of headache though. & people force to rent are fucking losers.

      4. File this in the “SHIT” file with the “How to Date Your Co-Worker” article!!
         Once again-
         -THE DOUBLE DOWN ROK PHILOSOPHY DOES NOT WORK-
         The idea that the West is deteriorated on purpose and society is suddenly barren of good women, good jobs, and good lifestyles- and the solution is???
         To marry some pig anyway?
         To over-invest in a mud neighborhood?
         To work harder for less money?
         Answer- and Response of the Thinking Commenters:
         No-fucking-Thank-You.

      5. The way a Roth IRA was explained to me was, you pay taxes NOW, so you can pull out your earnings tax “free” when you turn 59. So it’s technically not tax free. The benefit is, you are presumably in a lower tax bracket when you’re younger. So there is a tax savings. A traditional IRA would be tax “deferred” where you just pay it later so the principal investment is higher on the way in.
         I dont own any real estate period, but I do have clients who bitch about capital gains tax. It probably depends on the business structure (LLC, S Corp, etc.) as well as the business model (buy and hold, fix and flip, multi-family, or commercial.)
         Nice to see a business post here! Although, some resources for further investigation would help. In San Diego now, the median home prices are higher than they were right before the 2007 crash… so I’d take RE investment advice with a grain of salt personally.

         1. Maybe you can help explain this to me, my business model is buy and flip, but if I hold onto one piece of property to either rent out (for additional revenue) or hold onto (for growth), then would that counteract the capital gains tax? To my knowledge – capital gains tax applies to pulling out earnings without actually owning any more real estate. But by having at least one piece of property in your holding whether it is for rent profit or holding onto – will that defer the capital gains?

         2. @David, yes that’s right, and I considered it. But if you purchase real estate that money is also “after tax” dollars. I suppose there could be tricks to DEFER paying taxes on RE gains by reinvesting in other RE, but in the end, whatever wealth you are using (liquidating) to live and enjoy life or get rich or whatever, is going to get taxed at some point. When smarty pants know-it-all @Rudy but won’t say HOW or WHY, liquidates his millions, he will pay taxes on it. There’s no free ride. The IRS always get its cut. And the more he liquidates at one time the higher his bracket, meaning it will be a LOT, 40% vs. a Roth @ 0.00%. And there are Roth 401ks, That’s just ONE example of a better tax-advantaged class, not an example of a complete portfolio.

   2. Hi Rudy, thank you for your comments.
      Allow me to clarify a few things-
      1. Taxes are a negative since you are completely at the mercy of the government. With each successive government in power, the taxes on real estate can go up or go down. Ordinary citizens like you and me get to have no say in this. So yes taxes are a minor disadvantage. After all, the current Canadian liberal government has not only increased taxes on property owners, they have also increased interest rates on house mortgages and loans.
      2. Yes I do own real estate, both as a property owner and an investor.
      3. In reply to your quote: “if you’re a real estate investor and you’re paying any taxes, you’re doing it wrong.” This is FRAUD my friend. Never cheat the government by engaging in tax evasion. Or you will have hell to pay once the government comes after you.
      4. I have worked at a real estate law firm for the past five years, I know the in and outs of the Canadian real estate market. So please do not make empty assumptions with no evidence.

   3. $750,000 for this dump in Toronto:
      https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/18882353/15-REBECCA-ST-Toronto-Ontario-M6J1K8-Trinity-Bellwoods
      Toronto is the worst city in the world for men, but who would pay almost 3/4 of a million on that destroyed townhouse?

      1. Ho-lee Crap!
         Time TO BURN IT AL DOWN Baby!

      2. In the USA many low to medium income workers in the silicon valley can’t even afford to rent a place like that. I do believe the author should address these issues and tell us how the average schmo can get into this insane market, let alone thrive in it.

   4. Invest in real estate, it lets your government keep track of you and tax you, and it gives your live-in wife/gf a free house after 1 easy phone call “He hit me”.

      1. Roosh doesn’t even own a house, but the femi-Marxists went on to harass his father and his mother in their own homes. It proves that no Red Pill man should ever own any real estate in these feminist times. I think there’s a book called How to Stay Invisible by JJ Luna which is IMPORTANT for every Red Pill man to read to protect himself from the feminist onslaught of totalitarianism in USA and Canada.

      2. Protip use llc and shell companies to hide your identity.

   5. What an absolute load of rubbish. Capital gains taxes on sale, various duties and land taxes, estate taxes in death, insurances, the list goes on. Many of the people here dont just look to invest in their home country, and the belief that taxation related to property is a non issue seriously calls into question YOUR understanding of it as an asset class.
      I like property as an investment, but have come to realise that its one of the more risky assets to hold these days if you are looking at residential property like most people do. They read crap like Rich Dad Poor Dad or watch house flipping shows thinking its all so easy. Its not liquid, you are at the mercy of governments ever changing tax laws as they blow budgets on welfare for women and minority groups chasing votes. The bank owns that house until its paid off. Its far easier to go after it as an asset in the case of divorce too.
      With stocks, you can literally sell down all your holdings overnight and shift the cash to foreign jurisdictions where no one can touch it if you need to. Those may also be in a bubble, but at least you could sell tomorrow if you had to.
      Saying rent money is dead money is also stupid when you consider that interest payments on loans could be considered the same. And by the time you have paid all your local taxes, capital gains in some cases, real estate agent commissions, repairs, etc then you realise that the yields are downright shit in most cases.
      Owning property is starting to make more sense when its
      1 – Your own place and you live in it.
      2 – Its for family to live in so that you help them deal with lifes ups and downs
      3 – Commercial property, where most upkeep costs are passed onto tenants and you get long leases
      4 – Productive land that can produce an income
      5 – Productive land that could be viewed as a safe haven if the shit hits the fan.
      6 – You own entire apartment blocks and can spread the risk of losing a tenant for a while across multiple units in the same block.
      1 is possible if you live in the same place for a while, 2 is a luxury, 3-6 is out of reach for most “property investment experts” because they think they will be millionaires of never ending capital appreciation in residential property.

2. Horrible asset.
   1. Illiquid. Invest in a public REIT INSTEAD
   2. Time wasted dealing with tenant and maintenance. Invest in reit instead.
   3. High opportunity cost. Assume $200k property and $850 a month in rent. Thats only 5% yield. You can do better in many stocks PLUS greater upside potential.
   4. For most people hard to diversify. Non financial people should not give financial advice. F real estate.

   1. And if you’re doxxed as a supporter or even agree with Roosh V, SJWs and shrieking feminotzis will go after your property or at least send glitter mail to your mailbox….Canada is so fucked up that a 50-year-old man named Ernst Zundel had his house firebomed because he published a German book in his printing press business. I wouldn’t invest in real estate in Canada if I were you. It’s easy to become a target.

   2. oh man REITS are the worst, I know I used to work at one. super corrupt

   3. I disagree with you on a few points, but I’d like to write this response for your consideration and hope you will reply intelligently. Background: I’ve been investing for almost a decade, since I was 19 years old. Own several units, have a degree in Real Estate (essentially a finance degree with a major focus in real estate, although the degree focuses more on how to be an employee/spreadsheet drone, but there were a few tidbits that were worth the pain of going to class), and of course am a REALTOR TRADEMARK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (I hate the Realtor organization but in my area you have to be one to access MLS).
      Anyway, here we go:
      1. Real estate is certainly illiquid, but that also means that prices are not as volatile as securities. You could also sell the very next day if you make the price low enough, like anything. But you’re right to a degree; if liquidity is important for you, real estate may not be a good option. I personally have a balance of liquid assets that supplement my real estate.
      However, my main issue is REITS. While the underlying asset class behind the security is real estate, it’s still a security, and is subject to all the things stocks are: manipulation of the securities market, the CEO getting slammed with a sexual harassment suit, an accounting scandal alá Enron, and poor management. Plus with my own eyes I’ve seen REITs purchase properties that were not something a true investor would pick, with very low cap rates at higher than “retail” prices (aka at cap rates below what the dumb doctors and dumb attorneys would purchase). With that being said, if I had the opportunity to purchase mediocre properties, form a REIT, and go public, I’d LOVE to do that because I would make significantly more cash than owning the property privately, at least in the short run.
      Lastly, a REIT cannot give you the side benefits of owning the actual real estate; if I so desired I could live in one of my properties around the country for a little vacation (I selected certain properties in certain cities for this reason) I could do so if I wished, and be able to write it off on my taxes as a business expense.
      2. Wasting time dealing with maintenance and tenants is rectified by hiring a property manager. Management companies charge between 10%-15% of gross rents, so it is in their interest to get good tenants in there at a good price. In my experience I’ve found that a good property manager is well worth the fee they charge, and the fee is also accounted for while reviewing a potential investment property.
      3. So number three is what inspired me to write this post; you’re making the very common error of analyzing a real estate deal the same as you would a stock. This error is what prevents a lot of otherwise very smart people from investing in real estate. I don’t have the time or desire to get into the specifics, but since you’re using leverage (as you should be; purchasing investment property for all cash is not a very good strategy) it would be very similar to you putting down 20% of a stock’s price while someone borrowed the stock, but you get to keep all the stock’s dividends, price appreciation, and the borrower also pays down the debt on the stock while you also get very generous tax benefits that make real estate one of the most favored assets by the IRS. Jason Hartman has a very good podcast that breaks down the finances of real estate.
      4. I agree with your fourth point minus the “F real estate” part. Real estate put me through college and pays for my toys. I strongly suggest that you seek out a successful real estate investor and see what they have to say; you don’t have to change your mind, but I believe you’d benefit from looking at it from a different viewpoint.

3. My plan would be to own properties so that I may be able to live there, and have a place to go if and when SHTF.
   In the time that I am not occupying the property, it might as well make me some money with rent or short-term stays like AirBNB.

   1. Home much does an underground bunker rent for these days?
      Because if it’s above ground and visible, it’s worthless when SHTF.

      1. ‘How’ not ‘Home’

4. This article is based completely on myths.
   “the value of real estate always goes up.” That is a statement made out of ignorance or it is an outright lie. How many times over the years have you heard about an “underwater mortgage”? Chicago anyone? How about all of those towns where the main businesses on coal, cars, or metal working dried up?
   In my area, a retirement area in FL, the cost of vacant land 20 or 30 years ago was higher than the price of the same property with a decent house on it today.
   Many people looking to get into renting out property as some side income don’t take very simple things into account. Many think they’ll “just rent it out” and the money is going to roll in covering every cost. In all my years I’ve never had the fabled “renter made of gold” the one that pays every month, in full, and on time, without ever having a problem with the rental; these are at nice town houses.
   You have to realize that every single month, or partial month that your rental goes vacant, you will have to absorb the entire cost of the mortgage for that month. You WON’T have renters back to back without a single missed month. In the nicer homes where you’re charging $1200 a month for rent, every single time you have a family move out you’ll be in there cleaning, painting, etc. Every five years or so, you’ll be replacing carpet. If you don’t do this, your rental will go even more months vacant if you can rent it at all; no one spend $1200 a month on what looks like a trashy place (or smells like one). You’ll have to replace appliances. Some cheaper rentals, you’ll have to replace the locks.
   I had one guy swear to god that the microwave belonged to him (he took it when he left), and even when I showed him pics of the kitchen with the microwave in it he just stopped replying to messages.
   When the rental agreement is up and the guy next door drops his price by $50, kiss that renter goodbye or you will have to drop your prices, too.
   Renters don’t always give notice; they flee in the middle of the night leaving a dirty house and skipping out on the last month of rent. I had one guy (in a nice town house) spray paint “Keep the deposit” on the wall in two-foot high letters and kick the outlets into the wall. This was a guy who I thought I had a good relationship with. I’ve had others take off with the mailbox key, which is a $40 replacement.
   You’re not going to rent to just anyone. You’re going to have to vet your renters, and that means advertising, as well as time to meet with them to show the house. You will spend very real time on people that can’t make up their mind, or just turn down your offer. Imagine just a twenty min drive one-way, a half hour to show the place (if they are on time and if they show up at all), then the drive back.
   You’ll need to get educated on basic contract law for renters, and know the costs of enforcing it, as well as having a good contract for your state/city/area, etc. There are some renters out there who know exactly the limits of the law; we call them “Professional Renters”. You will have to take them to court to remove them. That can cost you six months where they aren’t paying you a dime, and you can guarantee they’ve trashed the place by the time you pay the sheriff to escort them off the property. I’m not talking trailer trash here, I’m talking about well-to-do couples. No one likes paying an entire paycheck for rent. They all feel like you, the owner, is getting rich on their hard work. Most renters know they can get a free month out of you by saying they can’t make a payment. Most owners won’t start posting the eviction notice (and pay the costs to do so) until the second month. A true professional renter can get 8 months to a year out without a single payment.
   Calculate your mortgage, your taxes, your Home Owner’s Association Fees. Depending on the weather and your area, especially the nice ones, you’re gong to want to keep the property under air conditioning and with running water while its vacant (humid summer? That mean mildew and mold)– those are your bills and the deposits that come with them. There are many other minor things, but just calculate your personal cost for a single month that property goes vacant. I’ve had properties in nice areas go vacant for 7 months… it stings. Lets say you had a golden renter that paid on time every time and didn’t damage the house before he moved out. You’ll spend a few days cleaning it up, and lets pretend that its only another three days before its rented. That’s a week that has gone by and you’re not getting a full month of rent out of the new guys. Minus the cleaning, updates, repairs, advertising, new contracts, meeting times, and the changes you did to the utilities.
   A friend of mine rented to a nice couple that promptly move in over ten relatives. There were mattresses all over the floor. The septic tank couldn’t handle that kind of load and there ended up being thousands of dollars of damage and a month before he could start looking for another renter. He never recovered the costs.
   If code enforcement has to come out to the property, it is you and your property that will have a lien place against it. That means if your renter doesn’t mow the lawn, paints the mailbox the wrong color, or decides to try his hand at being an amateur mechanic (put a POS on blocks in the driveway), you’re going to have to get that extra cash out of the renter, and hope he doesn’t take it out on the house on his way out. If he leaves the POS there when he splits you’ll have to deal with that, too.
   Toilet clogged on a Sunday morning? You’re getting a call. It’s your toilet after all, it doesn’t matter that his wife has been flushing tampons down it every month. Go ahead, add that to his rent and see if he pays it.. Even if he does, its your Sunday morning. He may call the first plumber in the book, who is going to charge a premium for weekend emergency service, and then refuse to pay that amount on the next rent checks.
   Checks of course never bounce, and the fees that come with them are yours to deal with. Go ahead and add that to his next check, too..
   You can make money renting property, but don’t think its a breeze, don’t think “property prices always go up” (Ignorance on the level of insanity), and you had better have legal know how and a decent rainy day fund. A single vacant month can sink you. A professional renter, or a destructive one can destroy you. If you are thinking you’ll have the Golden Renter, think again. They’re like bigfoot; people claim to have seen them, but there’s no real proof.

   1. Real estate is heavily dependent on the market investing in. Assuming property prices will always go up is ignorant and what fueled the 2007 housing collapse. I know plenty of people that operated their own construction businesses and went bankrupt from the depression.
      Assuming real estate is always a bad investment is equally illogical. I know people that bought homes in the pits of the depression and are comfortably retired as landlords because of wise real estate investments.
      I bought my house over a year ago and could sell it now and break even after accounting for closing costs and taxes. In two years I should definitely have a profit. In the unlikely event that Amazon actually came to my city (I live in one of the 20 “finalists” locations) I would make bank.

      1. John,
         I got cut off while typing.
         ” I know people that bought homes in the pits of the depression and are comfortably retired as landlords because of wise real estate investments.”
         I know some too. I personally know far more that lost a great deal of money in real estate.
         “wise real estate investments.””
         This is after you say that real estate is heavily dependent on the market? Times change, houses depreciate, economies collapse, jobs move, natural disaster, fires, etc. There is no “wise” investment that is going to last through any number of factors beyond your control. I know a guy who made a very wise investment until the government seized his property via eminent domain. Money in the make bank can often mean “lucky” more than wise, and “wise” doesn’t always stand the test of time.
         “I bought my house over a year ago and could sell it now and break even after accounting for closing costs and taxes. “
         When I was a Real Estate agent I used to love hearing that from people. What you have is an opinion. Maybe even a highly educated and researched opinion on what your house would sell for, but it is still guess work. Until that house sells and you have the money in the bank, speculation on what your overall costs and profits were means less than nothing.
         What you mean by “selling it now” is probably more like ‘What I could put the house on the market for right now’. “Now” being however long it sits on the market, often months, sometimes years, and only if you get what you’re asking for… Full price offer without negotiation? It happens. Rare, but it happens.
         If you’re living there you will bear the cost of moving, especially if it is “right now”, that must be calculated. The cost of finding a new place to live has to be calculated into getting rid of the old place. If you have renters there, try showing the place for sale during times that are acceptable to them. Try renting it out to someone knowing its going to be gone at a moments notice. Cost calculation.
         Even if you have offers to buy it outright, right now, it doesn’t mean the house is sold. I’ve seen sales fall through at every single step of the process.
         A year to break even is very nice, but after a year and all of the work to get through that year, including going through the sale process on both sides, you’ve gained nothing. So this mean nothing. Most people would like a year without all of the hassle to have no gain or loss.
         Two identical house in the same neighborhood don’t necessarily have the same sell prices or costs
         “In two years I should definitely have a profit. “
         “Should” – more speculation. Not until you have money in the bank will you know. Any number of things may happen. If you profit after two years, congratulations you are an outlier. This is more akin to flipping a house, and hopefully that profit is worth three years of time and work.
         “In the unlikely event that Amazon actually came to my city (I live in one of the 20 “finalists” locations) I would make bank. “
         This also means nothing, even when you’re saying its unlikely). Its the same as saying IF a major UNLIKELY economic change happens THEN my property value would go up, AFTER I went through the process of selling it. Its the same as saying “If they found a new oil deposit on my property, I’d make bank..”

         1. I could put it on the market for over what I paid because Google unexpectedly expanded their regional branch since I purchased which drove up home prices. The average time on market in my city proper is 34 days and I live in a better than average neighborhood. My sister and brother in law live in an affluent Denver suburb. Average time on market there is 7 days and offers below listed price are thrown out.
            Moreover, you’re completely ignoring the lost opportunity cost in paying rent and having NOTHING to show for it after the fact. Every penny you spend on rent is GUARANTEED lost income with zero possibility in recouping the loss. There is a reason most CFAs recommend buying if staying in the location for three years; that’s because three years is the general inflection point on renting v. buying with obvious fluctuation in both directions.
            I would always recommend stocks before real estate for long term investment, but to claim no one is getting rich off of investment, or that it is completely random, is entirely misleading.

         2. John,
            “”I could put it on the market for over what I paid because Google…”
            You can put a property on the market at any time for any reason for any amount. You must of missed when I said you might even have had a highly educated opinion of what your house might sell for. Regardless, it is foolish to calculate profit or loss until you have actually sold the property and have money in the bank.
            “Moreover, you’re completely ignoring the lost opportunity cost in paying rent and having NOTHING to show for it after the fact.”
            I’m not ignoring anything. The topic of the value of renting over buying is a separate discussion, which is why I derailing the issue, We are talking about buying property as a investment. But if you like, renting is often a far better use for you money than buying.
            “”Every penny you spend on rent is GUARANTEED lost income with zero possibility in recouping the loss.”
            Those of the words of someone who hasn’t done the math. Buying a house isn’t always profitable, and quite often a loss is taken. Would you have rather paid rent, or taken an over all loss on a house? Even breaking even tied up your down payment.
            “There is a reason most CFAs recommend buying if staying in the location for three years; that’s because three years is the general inflection point on renting v. buying with obvious fluctuation in both directions.”
            None that I know of, and I’m in the real estate business. You’re telling me that dropping a down payment, taking on the mortgage, taking on the payment of maintenance, taxes, and all insurance then attempting to sell a house after three years is better than renting? The people that do recommend buying over renting are the ones trying to get fools to buy houses.
            “”but to claim no one is getting rich off of investment, or that it is completely random, is entirely misleading.”
            Where, just where did i claim no one is getting rich off of investment? Please paste that comment. I specifically said that it can be done. I also never said it was completely random. I said there were factors beyond a person’s control.
            Try these two comments out:
            I know of someone who invested wisely and makes money off his investment.
            I know of someone who married wisely, and she’s a good wife to him.
            In both case, time will tell.

         3. “Those of the words of someone who hasn’t done the math. Buying a house isn’t always profitable, and quite often a loss is taken. Would you have rather paid rent, or taken an over all loss on a house? Even breaking even tied up your down payment.”
            I’m a data analyst so I did the math. Buying isn’t always profitable, but implying it is likely a loss is simply wrong. I would rather break even than lose all my paid rent. And better yet, I’d rather make a profit, which there is zero chance of doing when renting. I used a VA loan so there was no down payment and the closing costs were rolled into the mortgage, which is still more than $300 cheaper than the rent I paid in the same neighborhood. No HOA fees either. Homeowner’s insurance is more than renter’s insurance, but not nearly enough to make up the difference in rent.
            “We are talking about buying property as a investment. But if you like, renting is often a far better use for you money than buying.”
            The opportunity cost is the premise of your argument and that’s the same for both cases. Long term market investment will generally be greater than real estate. However, variables in the market are far more volatile than in real estate. Which is why the market has greater returns.
            “The people that do recommend buying over renting are the ones trying to get fools to buy houses.”
            What financial service firm are you claiming deceives clients? I worked as a financial analyst before my current position. There are near infinite options for comparing renting versus buying so there’s no excuse for being ill-informed on the decision. Any reputable financial service tracks and uses the performance of their clients to direct future operations. Individual pay and retention is directly tied to client satisfaction. In short, individual analysts aren’t getting kickbacks to mislead clients because it wouldn’t benefit them to do so.

         4. Rule 1 for investing ………..
            You have not made a profit until the investment is sold and the money/gold is in a locked safety deposit box your wife doesn’t know exists.

         5. John,
            I don’t believe you’re any kind of analyst. You are using very old, worn, tired-out, disproven and idiotic statements. People that say the things you are saying are very ill-informed and can’t think past “Rent is paying for something I’ll never own, and buying is so much better”.
            Saying things like ZERO CHANCE OF PROFIT with renting is foolish. I don’t think you’ll make a profit, but I think you’ll lose a lot less money much of the time. It also frees up your deposit for investing elsewhere, which is a loss of money.
            Try this, since you are set on proving yourself stupid while claiming to be a financial analyst who has done the math:
            Type “is buying better than renting?” into a search engine. Watch how fast and how many pages come up bashing the hell out of idiots who use statements very close to your own.
            I guess they didn’t teach the “simple search engine” test in finance school, nor was taught to all of the pros you’re referencing.
            Especially when you say most CFAs recommend buying if you’ll be in the area more than 3 years. The tipping point of most mortgages isn’t until about 11-13 years, up until then its almost all interest you’re paying. Also, just saying “More than 3 years” without taking into account hundreds of other factors is a fool listening to a fool.
            I’m guessing you’ll start quoting your specific situation, to add weight to your argument, after generally speaking in the beginning.

         6. Many people often overlook the transaction costs when buying and selling real estate, which can be substantial especially if a realtor is involved. Even without a realtor its at least 1000 to 2000 in deed prep and stamps, title exams and insurance, and legal fees. Until you can sell the property with enough profit to cover all expenses incurred plus the interest on the mortgage plus the transaction costs, you aren’t coming out ahead compared to the renter. In most cases with a 30 year mortgage thats going to be around 10 years.
            Granted that in a lot of places rents have skyrocketed relative to property values, so that makes a good argument for purchasing rather than renting. When I can buy a house with a 15 year mortgage and pay $200 less a month than what it would cost to rent that same home, well then thats a pretty persuasive argument to purchase.

      2. “I’m a data analyst so I did the math. Buying isn’t always profitable, but implying it is likely a loss is simply wrong. ”
         You did the math is always comes out like that? I didn’t imply it was likely a loss. In fact I said more than once that money can be made.
         “And better yet, I’d rather make a profit,”
         Who wouldn’t? how is relevant with anything?
         “which there is zero chance of doing when renting.”
         Flat out wrong. Simply and stupidly wrong. So if you lose more money buying than you would have renting you are somehow made a profit? Its a matter of making the best financial decision, which is often where do you lose less.
         “I used a VA loan so there was no down payment and the closing costs were rolled into the mortgage, which is still more than $300 cheaper than the rent I paid in the same neighborhood. No HOA fees either. Homeowner’s insurance is more than renter’s insurance, but not nearly enough to make up the difference in rent.”
         Nice specific argument. Ever heard of the logical fallacy of accident? You talk about buying and rent in general terms and then apply your situation as some kind of support to you argument?
         “Long term market investment will generally be greater than real estate.”
         Highly situation dependent and once again the math would need to be done.
         “What financial service firm are you claiming deceives clients? ”
         Firm? are you stupid? I said Real Estate agents. Car dealers can embellish on investing in a new car over a used one. Antique sellers will tell you about appreciation. Those selling houses will tell you its better than renting. Those renting will tell you its better than selling. Of course you need me to name a specific firm to understand this? Are you dumb enough to believe that deceit doesn’t happen, from outright lying to fudging some details? What if I did name a firm, what then? what would that have proven and what would you have done? How would it have changed anything? Nice try though.
         “There are near infinite options for comparing renting versus buying so there’s no excuse for being ill-informed on the decision.”
         Agreed! It doesn’t exactly fit with someone who says all of their rent money is gone even if buying a house was much worse deal.
         “Any reputable financial service tracks and uses the performance of their clients to direct future operations. Individual pay and retention is directly tied to client satisfaction. In short, individual analysts aren’t getting kickbacks to mislead clients because it wouldn’t benefit them to do so.”
         What? what has this to do with anything? You deciding on whether you want to rent or buy and other ill-though details has something to do with financial services? Are you saying those to are deciding on investing in Real Estate to make some extra money are all engaging a 3rd party service?
         You have derailed this discussion by changing the topic from real estate investment, to buying vs. renting.
         I noticed that you didn’t comment on certain things. This shows that person is running, and losing 🙂 You’ve put words in my mouth, claimed I said things, claimed I implied others when my words specifically say otherwise. Then when called on it you just breeze along as if nothing was said.

   2. & with the demographics in the USA worsening & police becoming less & less effective-no thanks to this vocation.

   3. I can tell by your comments that you, like me, have Been There and Done That.
      Real estate investment is structured by government and society to be a good investment, and I think in the past, maybe 50 years ago, it was a very good investment strategy. Today, due to the behavior of tenants, transient and highly mobile populations, lack of legal enforcement, and the general decline of the quality of your average fellow American, it is a nightmare. I lost over 6 figures in a real estate investment, and no, I am not exaggerating. It was a combination of skyrocketing maintenance costs, managers and repairmen ripping me off, tenants screwing me over, local government ripping me off, etc. I put all my savings into a larger investment than I could handle, trying to leverage as much as I could in the last boom economy and I lost 100% of my investment, and then some. I also see it happen all the time to others.
      Your post sums up most of the pitfalls of real estate investing, and I fully agree with all of your points. I still do own two small properties and if you put enough cash down and are physically nearby, it can work as an investment, but the headaches never go away, and I am just one roof repair or HVAC outage from erasing any potential profit for the year. One of these properties will be paid off this year, and THEN it becomes a good investment. But only if you ignore what I have put up with to get it to this point.
      I think it can work in places like NYC (as if you could afford to own an investment property there) where laws and customs and demand is in your favor, or if you do nothing but manage your multiple real estate investments full time, but then you would become a hard core jaded racist, anti-child, angry loner who is always dealing with literal shit and running all over town on nights and weekends, when the whole point of this type of investment is to give you freedom.
      Some people are lucky and will tell you how they got rich with real estate. Yeah, and some people won the trifecta at the Kentucky Derby. But most people are not so successful. Luck does not equal a good investment strategy.

      1. I will add that real estate is a good hedge against inflation. That is one of its strongest features. However, people mistake this for profits all the time. My parents bought their house for $30,000, and it’s worth around $300,000 today.
         But that’s the average cost of housing in their neighborhood, so they haven’t gained anything, the cost of their housing just maintained its value. Just like gold or a similar inflation hedge does. Gold used to cost $30 an ounce, now it’s over $1,000. But none of that is profit; it’s preservation of capital.

5. Completely agree. Mostly over the years I’ve made money. I’ve had a few bad years where I didn’t or broke even. I’ve the problems of one house eat up all the profits of the others.
   I don’t assume, nor did I say (if that’s what you were implying), that investing in real estate is always bad. It just isn’t a matter of “buy then rent – profit”

6. This is a pretty poor article.
   Just because real estate rose in some parts of the US due to massive government intervention on its behalf, does not mean that a trend that lasted 60 years, can last forever.
   A house does not spontaneously renovate itself or get bigger. Instead it consumes many hours of the owner’s time in maintenance.
   Plus, the retail apocalypse will free up tons of new land in US suburbia, and there will be pressure to turn that into housing. Particularly in California, where housing is super-expensive only due to lopsided zoning laws (i.e. tons of empty retail parking lots right next to $2M little townhouses).
   A mortgaged home is just a leveraged bet on inflation. Nothing more.

   1. @ Jimmy
      I was going to post the same type of comment.
      The WW2/Korean Wat generations (like my parents) always said “buy real estate, it’s the best investment). Well, for them it was, but that was due only to freakish circumstances. So many people went underwater taking this foolish advice.
      I am VERY GLAD I never listened to them. If you value and need cash, then never buy, always rent and rent as low as possible in an area that is bearable. I am not saying to live in ghettos or anything like that, but in reasonably priced areas that are relatively safe but not “hip” or “glamorous”. I’ve been doing that for almost 30 years, and I’ve built up a mighty fine F-U fund. And have plenty of disposable cash to indulge my vices. If I owned a house, what the hell would I do with it? Slave away to pay the taxes and mortgage and have no cash left for the things I really care about.

      1. AS,
         If you had owned a house a woman would have married you to take it from you. I have several friends that never married, and what they all had in common was no desire to buy a house. You seem like a decent guy, I did wonder why women didn’t want you, now I know.

         1. @ JD
            “wonder why women didn’t want you…”
            Well, that & the drinking…and the hookers…
            Kind of a chicken/egg thing, maybe.

7. I have someone very close to me who has made several great real estate deals in very specific locations in rural Sweden, although not too far from the towns and urban areas where economic activities take place, through buying cheap, selling with some profits, and having great net surpluses from rents and close to zero vacancies.
   The underlying business logic is partly that rents are only slightly higher in expensive urban areas, which leads to greater net profits in appropriate urban areas. Plus, the apartment buildings in cities are too expensive in the first place. It’s tricky to find the proper objects, but once one makes the right deals the cash will come.
   I am actually in the process of getting into the same business, starting at a small scale as a side project.

   1. Edit: I meant in the appropriate rural areas in one of the sentences.

8. They are NOT international students. They are ALL INDIAN & CHINESE foreign students. They ALL NEVER want to move back to their countries. Obama exacerbated this mess by allowing 3 year work permit extensions on foreign student visas, and also allowed the wife of an H1b visa worker to get an easy work permit to work anywhere she likes. As a result, average American wages have gone down (high supply of workers who will work for cheaper and as a slave to get the coveted green card). Millenials can’t buy homes thanks to these economic factors and the fact that we are recovering from the housing financial crisis of 2008. If Trump doesn’t pull his part on controlling LEGAL immigration and not worrying about a stupid wall or illegal immigration, expect to see America go down the crappers.

   1. Why would Trump stop the inflow of foreign cash into the US? Do you actually think he cares if an international student was an ISIS terrorist laundering his ill-gotten gains into America or Canada?
      Remember this: When YOU, an American or Canadian, walk into a bank’s ATM machine, and withdraw more than a certain amount of cash, YOU are flagged as a POTENTIAL MONEY LAUNDERER/TERRERIST/CRIMINAL, while the fucking 19-year-old Chinese student drives a Lambo down campus at UofT or Ryerson or York University, and walk up the counter at Enrollment with wads of cash to pay his tuition.

   2. …one more serious sufferer of *JEG&IIC Sydrome !!
      Although I never support allowing dependents of H1Bs to work, before they get a Green Card. By the way, you are indeed a “retard” ! Do you know the reason why Barack Hussein Babooma allowed this !? 99.99% of H1B dependents are “pussies” !!
      *JEG&IIC: Jealousy, Enviousness, GRUDGE & Inherent INFERIORITY Complex !!

      1. Why does 21st century Hinduism encourage men to become passive against tyranny, preaching non-violence, but they turn a blind eye or even condone Hindu feminists who act violent on men?
         Why is Hinduism such as pussy religion? At least desert Arabs know how to keep their women in check: Bury her chest deep for a public jury!

      2. Hinduism says don’t eat the cow, but India-feminists golf down beef burgers at McDonalds and Burger King.
         Hinduism says practice non-violence, but India-feminists use violence and promote violence against men.
         Hinduism says speak truthfully and with virtue, but India-feminists lie to the teeth on rape and assault accusations.
         Every man in India needs to CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY and COME REPENT your sins, and your idol worshipping, WORSHIP ONLY JESUS CHRIST. Don’t worship empowered women like Kali, Durga and other idols. JESUS CHRIST is the only answer for India.

         1. India needs British rule.

      3. http://www.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_960x540/HT/p2/2017/01/21/Pictures/street-bengaluru-march-washington-solidarity-iwillgoout-rally_88e12dec-e003-11e6-a538-54bd197a5a1b.jpg

   3. White Trashionalists have Negro IQs. They are also incels who even the least attractive white women don’t want.

      1. A Black man would never refer to his fellow men as “negro”, so I’m guessing you’re an IRT (Indian_Race_Troll).
         …………………
         You know what grinds my gears? Fucking lowlife dirty colored, poo in the loo Dravidian women from India who think they have the right to fucking disrespect a white man like myself. I’d rather an uppity Oprah forcing me to kiss her Black baboon ass than get disrespect from a fucking Dravidian Indian woman.

      2. lol Yeah, just like Wernher Von Braun, huh? If shit hit the fan, the natural order of things would get sorted out real quick. You’d be gobbled up by your progressive buddies as grist for the mill.

      3. Go back to your shithole curry Negro. Your elite wish they were White.

   4. Why do you think “Indians Suck” !?? Is it because they are winning in “Spelling Bee” !? Is it because they don’t involve in any Crimes, Lootings, Marches, Mass Shootings !? Is it because you can’t Compete with them !? Is it because they are paying hell lot of Taxes, which, apparently they can NEVER get back !? Is it because they are NOT leeching out Tax Payers Money !? Or, maybe, is it because of Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Dr. Samba Reddy, Ajay Bhat etc. etc. etc. !!??

      1. Indian women make up a disproportionate amount of feminist cunts in America and Canada.
         Even part-Indian women whose ancestry came from India, who are living in countries like Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, Tanzania, etc, are all man-hating feminist cunts.
         Why don’t Indians follow their Arab brothers and enforce Sharia law on these man-hating women?

         1. Indian women I have to say are the biggest whiners and gossips known to man. The men are also very chatty/full of shit. The women around black men worship black men and also prefer white men to Indian men. They happen to be not attracted much to their own men could that be the issue? That women looking to cuck go feminist hmm ..

         2. Absolutely and i think that owes to their whiney gossipy nature and the fact they dislike their own men who they dream of cucking.

         3. Little difference between the men and women of India.

      2. @ Ravi
         Never asked before, but do you support the H1B program in its current form? Or do you you think it should be scaled back/eliminated? I get the impression you are a US citizen, and if so, and if you work in a Tech related field, these H1Bs would be affecting your job prospects and salary in a negative way. Just asking. Thanks.
         FYI, I am very much against it and have seen many former co-workers displaced because of it. But as bad as H1B is for American workers, offshoring is, of course, much, much worse.

9. “Talk to any real estate investor in Toronto, and he will tell you that the Chinese and Indians chase real estate property like mad dogs.”
   And that’s why private property should be confiscated.
   You defenders of Capitalism make me laugh: you don’t have a pot to piss in yet you defend the “right” of rich foreigners to “own” property in YOUR own country.
   You drive a rusty old Honda while the Chinese teenagers studying at the university you couldn’t afford to attend are all driving Bugattis. Keep defending that which is destroying you.

   1. ..But Kathleen Wynne that dYke promised to lower hydro costs by $15 a year lol.

   2. I don’t think Blue collar men in Toronto even own Honda Civics…They come on here threatening to end their lives because they aren’t able to afford a train ticket or a bus ride out of the geographical boundaries of Toronto.
      Speaking of Bugattis on campuses in UofT and York University, I think it was Clark Kent who observed this with those Chinese foreign students. They drive Lambos and wear $8,000 crocodile skin sneakers from Mason Margiela or Louis Vuitton. At the same time, these wealthy Chinese foreign students are seen with Anglo Canadian females on campus as couples.
      Toronto must be a fucking hell for young men who don’t have a net worth of over $5 million dollars liquid cash in the bank and a lakefront condo.

   3. “You defenders of Capitalism make me laugh:”
      What are you doing here on this site? Your clearly a marxist. Go hang out with your bernie bros in Antifa. Hell you might even get laid , for the first time in a year, by some fat, stinky , hairy dread locked bitch.

10. A standard mortgage is 20 years. Think for a minute what you’re going to have to charge in rent. Imagine if “Every man” was doing this.. I’m in real estate investment, but it is a long view, unless you’re into flipping houses, which requires a lot more money, work up front, and comes with other problems
    A 4% (the homeowner rate, not an investment rate), on a 20 year mortgage on a $100,000 house with no money down (they like 20%), no property tax (which is usually built in), no Mortgage insurance (guaranteed with no or a low down payment), and no homeowners insurance (which is built in), and no closing costs, the payment comes out $605.98.
    Adding another $200 a month for a total rent of $805.98 will bring your payment time down to 13 years.
    Adding another $300 a month for a rent of $905.98 will bring your payment time down to 11 years
    Charging an extra $500 over mortgage is $1105.98 for a payoff time of 9 years.
    If you wanted to start seeing profit in only 9 years you’d have to charge a rent of over $1100 on a $100K house.
    That is if you didn’t have to pay a single dime in: Home Owner’s Association, property insurance, renters insurance, mortgage insurance, down payment, closing cost, repairs, maintenance of any kind, replacements of any kind, suffered not a single month of vacancy and got the much lower homeowners insurance rate without a deposit, and never paid any taxes (investment property..). Not a cent towards gas, listing, advertising, or so much as replacing a light bulb. That is if you and your property were blessed and immune to aging and natural disaster and unpredictable market changes. After all of that, you’d start making money in 9 years.

    1. did you forget the amortization of the mortgage. I’m not really a fan of US based real estate, but missing the most important factor in your equation – AMORTIZATION, is LOLable. You need to use I/O interest only which is $300/mo in your example.

       1. No, i punched it through a mortgage scheduler. It amortizes. Those numbers show the amortization rate and schedule for a $100k mortgage over 20 years. In my example it is also if you charge those rates for rent and apply all of it directly to the mortgage (paying off their hideous interest) without taking a profit, to knock it down to just nine years. Maybe I’m not understanding you.

11. There’s a difference between being a ‘real estate investor’ and someone ‘investing in the real estate market’
    the No1 thing being quantity and numbers. If you haven’t spunked money on educations and travelling you really should look at getting a place even if you don’t intend on living in it. Real estate is a rare commodity that goes up in value over time, it really goes down. At least not in my lifetime.

    1. Rare commodity? Rarely goes down? That is ridiculous. If property hasn’t gone down in your lifetime, you must be about 6 months old, probably younger.
       The value of real estate always going up or as you said rarely going down is a myth held onto by people who have no clue what the market is, or the industry. There’s not a single real estate agent I’ve ever met or heard of that believes that, although many have claimed it when selling property.
       Try some simple searches on sites such as Zillow. See how many come up that have been on the market for months with the price dropping. Those are sellers trying to get rid of a piece at a price they thought it was worth and now they’re cutting more and more.

       1. Note LunaVC’s Freudian slip below :
          “it really goes down. ”
          Heh

12. Please remember the posts above when people say “just invest in real estate” and “everyone should do it”. It can be done, and a lot of money can be made at it, but advice like what is listed in the article ridiculous. The author also claims to be a world traveler. Try managing a property a county over, or a state, with all of the differing laws and regs that come with it, not to mention traveling time or getting emergency work done. Be on the other side of the world when a septic tank backs up. If you think you are going to go about your life and “just have a rental bringing in cash” do your research. Its is often a full time job.

    1. Very well said!!! It aint all strawberries n cream!!!!

13. “After all, they have fought countless wars over land. Talk to any real estate investor in Toronto, and he will tell you that the Chinese and Indians chase real estate property like mad dogs.”
    When the Chinese have to launder their ill-gotten gains, and IRT is forced to launder his family’s criminal enterprise profits into Canadian real estate, what would you expect? Do you expect that Trump will deport these criminals? No, Trump is busy vilifying Mexicans while allowing Saudis to park their laundered money into real estate and university.

    1. Mexico is a filthy narco state, fuck them. See that vid from the outskirts of Acapulco that was filmed this month, ya know, where the kid watched his dad get beheaded before having his beating heart cut out of his chest? Yeah, go beat your chest for Mexico, cuck.

       1. Mexico City smells like shit, India is literally covered in shit. Once European colonial powers left India, everything just shitballed. Instead of arguing/whining online, they should grab a mop and clean up their own mess.

14. The average wage for the bottom 50% in Toronto is $25,000 a year, while the average wage for the top 10% is $195,000 a year. The bottom 50% is rising every year, and it takes at least $28,500 a year for one person to live at least 1 cent out of poverty level in Toronto.
    Do the math. Wages are driving down in Canada and property prices are rising only for the affluent. How many six figure earners will want to rent?
    I will not be surprised if the darker races cause a spontaneous revolution against these fucking Chinese and Indian money launderers.
    Tensions in Canada are already high with the Alt-Right pointing this fact out, that affluent foreigners are pricing out Canadians in their own country.

    1. Logic,
       You can see the broken spirit in these men living in Toronto:
       http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/purdon-living-on-minimum-wage-hard-choices-1.4491338
       They work 7days a week as temp agency contractors for low wages, and they can’t afford luxuries like eating out and watching a Blue Jays game.

15. Yes… Invest in real-estate, at the top of Housing Bubble 2.0. Good luck.

16. Above and beyond the fact that real estate is only a good choice if you don’t factor in all the time and costs associated with maintenance..
    This entire article is very blue pill.
    Houses ‘went up’ when divorce rates were low and most adults over 30 were the heads of two-parent families. With most marriages ending in divorce and the woman keeping the house, the primary force that might have led to the accumulation of home equity is gone.
    With both the divorce culture and the obliteration of retail malls by e-commerce freeing up more land, real estate is a poor choice outside of a few very specific areas.

    1. For a Red Pill man it’s best to not have anything tied down because the feminists will destroy or confiscate it.
       Roosh doesn’t own real property, but if he did, SJWs would destroy it, harass him, and vandalize his property.
       For a Red Pill man, the best asset is liquid cash and an international Debit card….However, I’m skeptical on the Going Certainty of banks because if real estate crashes, they go under (you lose your deposits because of mortgage defaults).
       You also are not allowed to walk with a certain amount of liquid cash in your person without being questioned for the sources of the cash. if it’s a Port-a-potty whore entering America from Dubai with $100,000 cash in her LV handbag, TSA agents will apologize for offending her, but if it’s a Red Pill man like Roosh only found with even a $100 Benjamin Franklin note, he will be put on a list like every man in this anti-male culture.

       1. Its not complicated. Create LLCs to purchase the land an make your lawyer the registered agent. There is no way in hell that veil of anonymity is being pierced by anyone other than the tax authorities.

17. Toronto is a feminist dictatorship with crappy women and a terrible job market for men, so why would anyone invest in the city’s Ponzi scheme?!
    Why are you encouraging Red Pilled men to invest in Liberal feminist hellholes like Toronto and NYC? Toronto is worst compared to NYC, but you get my vibe.
    Toronto women are absolutely fucking atrocious and terrible that even IF YOU PAID ME the entire GDP of USA (16 trillion dollars!) I WILL REFUSE to live in Toronto. I don’t care if there is even one feminine and likeable woman in Toronto.
    ……………
    Red Head feminist cunts outnumber sane individuals in Toronto 100,000 to 1.

18. What’s this guy’s issue with women? I like articles about real estate, but something about this guy is messed up. Will not be reading future articles from him.

19. I own three small buildings with a total of 20 units, and I am the manager for another one who owns 10 buildings (77 units in total). I guess I can bring a useful advice here.
    First, you need a good knowledge of your market. I work in a small town (6000 people and a largely homogeneous population that’s bout 99% white). I can easily spot good and bad potential customers. I could never be as efficient if I had to change my job tomorrow and work in Downton Montreal or Toronto.
    You also have to do yourself as much work as you can (shoveling the entrance, take care of the lawn in summertime, do all the small repairs, do the janitor stuff) so you can keep more money in your pockets.
    Finally, you have to attract good customers, and keep them as long as possible. Everytime someone leaves and another customer gets in, it cost you time and money.
    Like I mentioned up here, I work in a small market. It makes things different.

    1. I agree with everything you’re saying, especially having to do much of the work yourself to max your profits. It sounds like you chose this as a full time job. Many people that think they’re going to get into real estate aren’t considering some of the problems that are obvious from your point of view. They think rent that pays at least the mortgage is money coming in.
       In your situation I can’t imagine even a couple days going by without the phone ringing over some issue or another. I imagine tax time has its its own pains every year. I’m betting you have benefits from lots of experience in dealing with contractors, customers, and overall management. You have a bank of reliable trusted workers that won’t gouge you if you need work done that you can’t do yourself. You might even get discounts if you give them regular work. You also have gained the experience of doing your own work in plumbing, carpentry, and cleaning, not to mention having built up the tools to do such repairs.
       Many of the “Just buy a house and rent it! Make cash!” guys don’t own so much as a hammer. They often don’t have vehicle they could transport a single piece of lumber in. Where are they going to get the equipment to take care of the lawn while its vacant? They don’t realize that they are going to have to throw money at every single problem because they don’t have the skills or ability to deal with anything themselves.
       I read many articles that suggest just getting another house and then in a few years get another one! I watch many of these house go up for sale after a year and when I ask why they aren’t living the rental residual cash dream they say something like “Its not worth it”.
       I wish they could sit down and talk to someone like you, preferably work for someone like you.

20. Real estate is a wonderful investment. The biggest advantage is that it appreciates in value as an investment… while depreciating in value for tax purposes. Another major advantage is that here in the states all income gains generated ,after one year of ownership ,will be taxed at long term capital gain rates. This is huge…you will be looking at an effective rate, at the federal rate, of roughly 15 %.
    All that said, although the gains can be impressive and make one rich pretty quickly, the equally opposite can be true if you are foolish. You will lose money and go into debt so quick your head will spend. The two biggest killers are being emotional when it comes to purchasing and failing to plan ahead for future costs. Being emotional will cause you to overpay.. ultimately robbing you of future profits. Failing to plan ahead for future costs, particularly taxes, will force you into a hole from which you will probably not escape. Ive seen a number of investors get into this jam and its not pretty. The IRS is probably one of the most usurious entities anywhere in the world. They will cut you no mercy.
    Ive personally does very well buying and selling land, so all of what Ive shared comes from a place of experience.

    1. Once again, as it has been said many times for this article, real estate does not always appreciate, anyone that says so is an idiot.

21. I worked at a Mortgage REIT.
    I remember a salesmen laughing at the latest incantation from the Banks – an
    “Inverse IO” .
    i.e. you cannot afford the monthly payment for Interest Only – IO (non amortized -no principal)? No worries, the extra balance of the interest is added to the principal.
    “Literately paying UP a loan.” lol
    meanwhile housing prices had risen drastically….and what goes up, etc…
    So we all know what happened with the market in 2008.
    And the Mortgage Backed Securities…
    Watch the Movie “the Big Short” – very excellent.
    Be careful of all investments – nothing is guaranteed – except, insiders are mostly guaranteed to be wealthy before and more wealthy after…at the expense of neophytes…
    the stock market has risen since 2008

22. There’s only one investment that will forever increase in value. That investment is yourself. My advice to any young man reading this website, or any other giving advice in these uncertain times and shitting his pants over what to do, is get yourself at least two trades under your belt, dont buy fuckall unless you need it, keep the fuck away from women (if you need to empty your sack find a whore or bat off) avoid friends, family, associates. Dont discuss your plans with anyone, anyone! Make sure you have the ability to put all that is dear to you in one backpack, can dust off your hands and walk away from it all with a smile on your face.

23. Real estate is quite risky these days, as anyone who bought at the top of the market in Nevada or Florida in 2005 can attest. Furthermore, no one here has pointed out the much longer term political risks of real estate ownership in places like the Southwest and California BECAUSE of uncontrolled immigration. We are already seeing the beginning of armed resistance to federal immigration law on the part of the State of California. What will happen ten or twenty years down the road when “reconquista” really gets going?

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