How Is Real Estate The Best Investment?
The benefits of investing in real estate are numerous. With well-chosen assets, investors can enjoy predictable cash flow, excellent returns, tax advantages, and diversification—and it's possible to leverage real estate to build wealth.
Thinking about investing in real estate? Here's what you need to know about real estate benefits and why real estate is considered a good investment.
Cash Flow
Cash flow is the net income from a real estate investment after mortgage payments and operating expenses have been made. A key benefit of real estate investing is its ability to generate cash flow. In many cases, cash flow only strengthens over time as you pay down your mortgage—and build up your equity.
Tax Breaks and Deductions
Real estate investors can take advantage of numerous tax breaks and deductions that can save money at tax time. In general, you can deduct the reasonable costs of owning, operating, and managing a property.
Appreciation
Real estate investors make money through rental income, any profits generated by property-dependent business activity, and appreciation. Real estate values tend to increase over time, and with a good investment, you can turn a profit when it's time to sell. Rents also tend to rise over time, which can lead to higher cash flow.
This chart from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows average home prices in the U.S. since 1963. The areas shaded in grey indicate U.S. recessions.
Average sales price of homes sold for the U.S.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Build Equity and Wealth
As you pay down a property mortgage, you build equity—an asset that's part of your net worth. And as you build equity, you have the leverage to buy more properties and increase cash flow and wealth even more.