Income-producing real estate has historically generated higher returns with lesser risk than most stocks, while providing valuable diversification benefits. In fact, from 1997 until 2016, real estate (VNQ) produced up to 4x higher total returns than the S&P 500 (SPY):
Therefore, most investors understand that they should invest in real estate, whether it is for:
- High current income;
- Long-term appreciation;
- Inflation protection; or
- Diversification.
The more difficult part is to determine how to invest in real estate. When looking at all the different possibilities, most investors consider buying a rental