As readers of our blog should know DoorInvestor is a big fan of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. We recently came across an email article from Robert Kiyosaki, and it is so good that we would like to share with our readers.

The subject of that email was “Pros and Cons of Real Estate Investing…” But we believe in real estate investing so much that we do not want to project a perception of “cons” and therefore we slightly modified our blog title to be “Benefits and Efforts of Real Estate Investing.”

Benefits

• Using other people’s money.  When investing in real estate, most of the money is the banks. Typically, only a small percentage is your own, and of course there are many ways to leverage other sources of money that you can learn about later.
• Cash flow. If you purchase and manage real-estate properties wisely, they can provide consistent and significant cash flow each month.
• Appreciation. This isn’t guaranteed of course, but over time rents and property values can increase so that while you are acquiring cash flow, the value of your asset is simultaneously growing.
• Control. I find real estate gives you more control over income and expenses than any other type of investing. When I invest, I don’t like to gamble. Control is important.
• Stability. Although all investments can go up and down depending upon the economy and other factors, cash-flowing properties are generally less subject to daily ups and downs. Many people just dump their money into the stock market and hope it turns out well, but I prefer the stability of real estate.
• Tax Advantages. There are significant tax advantages to real estate, including depreciation and write-offs, that are not available in other forms of investing.

Efforts

• Due diligence. Other than perhaps investing in businesses, real estate requires more time-consuming upfront due diligence than other forms of investing. Getting educated and surrounding yourself with the right team can help a great deal.
• Liquidity. The ability to turn your asset into cash is a consideration. For real estate it could take weeks or months to move your money into and out of real estate.
• Management.  Investing in real estate can require more time-consuming management than other forms of investing.  Depending on your preference here, you can also get help with this area.