The huge advantage of housing is that the government essentially supports infrastructure to get massive leverage. With 1:5 or 1:10 leverage, 10% appreciation with 1:10 leverage means you double your money. The downside is that with a 10% decrease you lose all your money.
Otherwise real estate is not liquid, annoying to manage, and constantly incurs real costs.
The stock market is relatively competitive as an investment and includes REITS which let you get some of the returns of real estate without the hassles.
I had vacation rentals that cost about 50K each and returned about 8K/year after costs (each). But in the end when there was a problem and the maintenance company wasnt available, I was the one that had to drive 3 hours. I really needed to own at least 5 to make them worth owning. But then there would be the hassle of people constantly coming and going.
Otherwise real estate is not liquid, annoying to manage, and constantly incurs real costs.
The stock market is relatively competitive as an investment and includes REITS which let you get some of the returns of real estate without the hassles.
I had vacation rentals that cost about 50K each and returned about 8K/year after costs (each). But in the end when there was a problem and the maintenance company wasnt available, I was the one that had to drive 3 hours. I really needed to own at least 5 to make them worth owning. But then there would be the hassle of people constantly coming and going.