Why real estate?

Investors surveying the world in the early 1900s had every reason to feel confident about the future. The global economy had enjoyed a long period of unprecedented growth. Why worry?

Then, all hell broke loose.

"The unsinkable Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. An assassination by a Bosnian revolutionary triggered a chain reaction that precipitated the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The New York Stock Exchange closed for four months during the war, and every major European exchange shut down. The flu pandemic of 1918-19 killed as many as 50 million people. Hyperinflation gripped Germany in 1922, setting the stage for Hitler's rise to power, which began in 1923. The Crash of 1929 was followed by the Great Depression. Then World War Il struck from 1939 to 1945. Thus, a period of calm prosperity gave way to three decades of disaster."

During this time, global markets were ferociously volatile.

So why invest in real estate (RE)?

RE provides a margin of safety for RESILIENT wealth creation. Forget about the double-digit returns RE has shown in the past decade; that part of the upcycle is done, and returns have begun reverting to their historical norm.

Instead, focus on the asset's resilience to weather economic downturns. Just like gold, RE doesn't rot, and it doesn't fade like a business or a regime. RE endures. RE has always been and will be a long-term play.

The quoted text above is an excerpt from the book, "Richer, Wiser, Happier" by William Green.