Real estate investing refers to buying and holding land as well as any other form of real estate, such as apartment complexes, office buildings, residential houses, manufacturing plants, and so on. Real estate investing is basically a field of “asset investment” which includes anything and everything permanently attached to a property, whether man-made or natural, including forests, minerals, houses, bridges, fences, buildings, and even streams. In other words, real estate investing is simply buying something that has the potential for producing income. This can be a home, an apartment building, or even a piece of property in the country.
Now that you have decided to invest in real estate you have many options available to you. You could invest in a rental property, which is essentially any building that you rent out to tenants for a living space. You could also invest in a single-family home or condo. Many people who are interested in real estate investment choose to invest in commercial properties, such as apartments, storefronts, stores, warehouses, shopping centers, and the like. Some people invest in both rental and commercial properties, but commercial properties have a much higher profit margin, while a rental property will not.
Whether you invest in a single-family home, a rental apartment building, commercial real estate, or even in sewer systems, your primary types of investment property are either residential land (which could be anywhere from land to subdivisions) or industrial land. Residential land tends to be the more stable of the two due to its high value and relatively low rate of depreciation. Industrial land, on the other hand, tends to be less valuable, and is used mostly for development. The type of land you invest in depends solely upon your goals and financial circumstances.