Mutual fund or real estate investment

[financepro]

For last few days, I find this topic very common in many forums. I myself prefer real estate investments where as there are many other views on this.

Of course both of them have pros and cons and we have to consider and make our choice based on our requirements (what suits us best).

I started this topic here to know your views regarding which one you prefer and why?

Waiting for your response.

[finance blog]

Mutual Fund Investing will outpace real estate gains tremendously over the next 20 years.

Come read my newest article about Real Estate vs. Stock market investing at

www.allthingspersonalfinance.blogspot.com

You will be shocked by the facts about real estate.

[sam2008]

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investments that pools money from many investors and invests instruments, and/or other it in stocks, bonds, short-term money marketsecurities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. Currently, the worldwide value of all mutual funds totals more than $26 trillion.
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[Johansen8]

For the long term, NOTHING beats stocks. Historically real estate barely covers inflation over the long term. There have been short periods over the past 30 years or so of unusually high real estate price inflation but over the long haul real estate generally isn't a great investment UNLESS you are heavily leveraging your investment with credit. That's risky because if the market tanks, you're on the hook for the balance of the loans.

[starshard0]

Originally Posted by sam2008

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investments that pools money from many investors and invests instruments, and/or other it in stocks, bonds, short-term money marketsecurities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. Currently, the worldwide value of all mutual funds totals more than $26 trillion.
__________________________________________________ _________________
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So does that mean mutual funds are a good investment or not?

[mike313t]

I am for real estate, I own 6 rental units where the rent I take in covers my payments, insurance, and taxes. It also provides me with a lot of tax deductions and additional income. In addition to that there is also property appreciation.

Ofcourse this depends on your location and the type of real estate that you purchase. If you purchase cheap property that requires a ton of work that you would have to hire out for, then I'd stick with mutual funds.

[FrugalNYC]

I think you'll always get biased views on this question. Those with more experience on either side will say one is better than the other.

If you want liquid assets, stick with stock related investments.
If you want to be able to borrow and leverage, real estate is probably easier to start.

[racy]

Mutual fund or real estate investment?
To get diversification, I believe in having both. I like low-cost index funds. So I like a mutual fund of stocks, one of bonds and a REIT fund (about 10%) of portfolio.

[RJ W]

Mutual funds are the way to go.

If not investing in REITS, real estate can be a full time job. There is no question a rental unit can give you a decent source of income. Collecting rent, finding renters, phone calls, repairs, taxes...adds up into time better spent elsewhere.

[efolgate]

I think a mix of both is good for long term investing. Real estate is a great investment if you pay cash for it, however, very few people do so. They don't want to tie up their money in a house. But, if you're bringing in ALL of the rental income, it's much less risky and much more profitable over a long period of time.

mutuals do have a better return over a 10, 20, or 30 year period. Don't let the market scare you right now. It has done this in the past, but nobody likes to talk about that. they just want to preach the doom and gloom.