Real Estate: Gains, Losses, and Everything in Between

Real estate is land and everything on it, like buildings, livestock, water, and mineral deposits. Whoever invests in it essentially owns a percentage of each, most of which have the right to occupy it.

As one of the two first choices for investment starters, real estate is one of the easiest to get involved in. Once you understand its risks and which ones you’re going to take, you can find out if it’s worth the investment.

Although, like most investment options, there isn’t one way to invest in real estate. You can choose to own and rent properties or help it develop in different ways.

Solo Real Estate Investments

Rental properties are what most of us are familiar with. These involve landlords buying properties for renting. The investor, or the owner, will have to pay for mortgage, taxes, and maintenance.

CONS: Depending on what property you’ll buy, loaners will seek an amount of money in an agreed timeframe. Mortgages means using real estate as collateral for the inability to deliver predetermined set of payments.

Additionally, investing in rental properties is one of the most expensive starting points. It’s better to save most of your long-earned money and think about choosing other options before you think about renting.

BUT: if you manage to pay mortgages off, the property’s value will increase. To achieve this, charge just enough rent to cover only necessary expenses.

On the flip side, there’s buy-and-hold investing, where you can keep a property for several months in hopes of selling it. Property flippers usually buy an undervalued property, renovate it, and sell it for a higher price.

CON: Similar to rentals, the biggest risk in flipping is in keeping the property long term. Mortgages can get expensive in unideal markets, leading to greater losses at the inability to offload the property.

BUT: Investors can choose to renovate multiple houses, but the usual route involves taking on only one property at a time. It’s quality over quantity.

Real Estate Bundles

There are three more types of real estate investments, and they can sometimes be intertwined. However, complicated they may seem, these are possibly the safest way to invest.

If you’re asking why, it’s because these investments involve buying properties alongside other investors.

Real Estate Investment Groups (REIGs) are the least expensive of the bunch. These mutual fund-like investments allow a group of investors to buy a set of buildings they collectively maintain.

Apartments or condominium renting for one or more units at a time. need to maintain or advertise vacant units.

Meanwhile, Real Estate Limited Partnerships are pools of investors with two types of partners: General and Limited.

General Partners are responsible for strategies and executions akin to REIT trustees. Limited Partners’ financial obligations depend on the amount they invest.

Instead of the other pools, you’re going to invest along with a property manager or a real estate development firm. Financing the property gives you a share of ownership with little say in the management.

Consequently, this demands individuals with high net worth and established investors. Some might also require accredited investor status, which are given to those allowed to invest for securities without authority registry.

A corporation can use investors’ money to purchase, operate, and sell properties. The investors involved would then be a part of its real estate investment trust (REIT).

REIT allows investors to regularly profit in non-residential properties like malls, mortgages or office buildings.

To gain diversified exposure to real estate, you can invest in Real Estate Mutual Funds. This cheaper option gives you a broad asset selection with individual REIT stocks with fewer transaction costs and commissions.

This type of mutual fund offers retail investors analytical and research information by each management’s perspective. These investors can overweight property types to maximize returns.

Is Real Estate Worth It?

Hindrances and all, real estate is arguably the best market to start trading with, comparable with stock markets. With low correlation with other asset classes, real estate thrives on weak stock prices.

The addition of a real estate to a portfolio provides higher return per unit of risk. The more direct the investment, the better the hedge.

But unlike stock or bonds, real estate can take months before you can profit from it. It’s illiquid, which makes it harder to convert into cash and vice versa.

Finding counterparties can take as long as a few weeks. REITs and mutual funds are more liquid with better market pricing, but they come with higher volatility and diversification.

Visit different brokers, research online, and ask other investors for help. Through more exposure, you can learn how to gauge which investment is best for you.