My eyes were opened to the world of real estate investing out of frustration with our traditional 529 account investments in mutual funds. The overall market does trend up, but it has a high volatility along the way and there is no control of the underlying asset, not to mention the hidden fees and unpredictable nature of these investments.

Real estate on the other hand involves investing in brick and mortar assets that you can see and touch. These have a much more predicatble value that can strategically be increased significanly by implementing value-add strategies to force appreciationand increase cash flow. The benefits of investing in real estate include tax benefits, cash flow, appreciation, and having an asset that will only increase in value as inflation continues.

Commercial Real Estate is a broad definition that includes asset classes like office, retail, industrial, multi-family apartments, self storage, hotels, etc..

There are innumerable ways to make great returns within real estate and it can be easy to get shiny object syndrome. However, we prefer the benefits and outlook provided by self storage, mobile home parks, and multi-family apartments.