| Real estate investing in 2010 and beyond offers | | | | folks in the poor house... financial leverage... a fancy |
| great opportunities, but investing in real estate | | | | term for borrowing a lot of money to invest with. |
| successfully will be no walk in the park. Real estate | | | | Here's how I suggest you get your feet wet. Invest |
| investing before the financial crisis was smoke and | | | | in a real estate mutual fund or ETF, which is a stock. |
| mirrors. Now investing in this market is akin to stock | | | | If you have a brokerage account you can do this in a |
| investing. There is no sure thing. Investing for | | | | matter of seconds on the internet. If not call a |
| beginners can be tricky, so here's how I suggest you | | | | discount broker and open an account. Search |
| get up to speed before you invest money in | | | | "discount broker" on the internet to find one. Then, |
| properties. | | | | start following the financial news on TV, in the |
| Many of us remember when most any investment | | | | newspaper, or on the internet. |
| property was naturally expected to go up in price. | | | | Your mutual fund or ETF (exchange traded fund) will |
| Most of us remember when the stock market was in | | | | be your starter investment that invests in companies |
| trouble at the start of the new millennium and real | | | | that own and manage commercial properties like |
| estate investing was making people rich. What few | | | | office buildings, apartment complexes and shopping |
| investors really understood at the time is that real | | | | malls. There is no active management on your part, |
| property is subject to market dynamics like stocks | | | | because professional money managers do it for you. |
| are. What goes up in price eventually comes down; | | | | You just buy shares and hold until you want to sell; |
| and what goes up like a rocket comes crashing down | | | | and you can sell shares in a matter of seconds for a |
| to earth. | | | | commission of about $10. There is no need to |
| Financial leverage and easy money launched property | | | | leverage or borrow money and you can invest as |
| values, and reality (plus a financial crisis) brought | | | | little as a few hundred dollars, or as much as you like. |
| prices crashing down. That's why real estate investing | | | | There's another reason I suggest this as a great way |
| in 2010 or later holds such opportunity for investors. | | | | of investing for beginners. As the market for |
| Both the residential and commercial sector were | | | | properties improves you'll be making money; but you'll |
| struggling to make a comeback as 2010 started to | | | | also get a feel for real estate investing as you follow |
| unfold, and property values looked cheap. Investing | | | | the financial news. Who knows... when you see how |
| for beginners involves getting a good start AND | | | | easy it is to make an investment online... you may |
| avoiding big mistakes that can bury you financially. | | | | never want to deal with the hassles of owning real |
| Here are three negatives associated with owning | | | | properties. Either way, you'll get yourself up to speed |
| properties, and how to get started as an investor | | | | as you get a handle on the market for real |
| while avoiding costly mistakes. The first negative is | | | | properties. |
| poor liquidity. An investment with GOOD liquidity can | | | | In any market, not just the stock market, poor |
| be sold quickly and easily at the market price with | | | | timing spells 'bad investment'. Another advantage to |
| little expense. This is not true of real property, | | | | investing in a fund vs. a physical property is that you |
| especially today. Second, owning properties involves | | | | can invest over time to smooth out the risk. If prices |
| active management and expenses. Third, the | | | | fall you can add more shares at a cheaper price while |
| advantage of real estate investing that made folks | | | | waiting for the recovery. |
| rich over the years is the same thing that put many | | | | |