A. While it's debatable whether real estate investment is better than other types of investments or not, the fact is, based on CoreLogic data, as of spring 2015, 27 U.S. state's average real estate market prices are within 10% of historical highs, and 7 states' average real estate prices have exceed 2006's historical highs!
To invest in the real estate markets, your options are more than just buying a rental property. In the matrix below, we used the Public/Private markets vs. Equity/Debt investments and outlined 4 different ways one can invest in the real estate market.
Public Market Private Market
Equity Buy shares of REITs Own rental properties
Debt Buy mortgage securities Lend private mortgages
In our next blog post, we will discuss the differences among these 4 types of real estate investments.