Real estate investment is the purchasing of a fixed asset, usually a piece of land, and using it as a place to live, build a home or raise a family. Usually real estate includes immovable real property like buildings, mines or natural resources like water, crops or land; personal real estate in the form of property held by an individual; and a mortgage on real estate. Real estate investing is a high risk activity which can make returns few and far between and requires extensive planning and research. While real estate is considered a long term investment, profits are available almost immediately, so investors must be prepared to lose some money as well as gain some.
Residential real estate encompasses real estate purchased for resale and the lease of such property, while industrial real estate is real estate intended for development use. Most real estate transactions are structured through a sale and purchase agreement where the two parties sell (or transfer) control of the property to one another and the buyer becomes the new owner of the real estate held by the seller. The majority of real estate transactions occur directly between buyer and seller where brokers are not involved. A few transactions are created by investors who control the selling process, but do not have actual direct involvement with the actual selling and buying process.
There are many ways to invest in real estate investment, you can purchase and hold land, a piece of property used for a business or building, residential property used as rental property, and even real estate owned outright. When looking to invest in real estate consider the type of property you are interested in purchasing and research the economic characteristics of that particular piece of land. You should also research local and state taxation laws for the area in which you plan to invest. Investing in real estate can be a very safe and lucrative investment if you know what you are doing and the risks you are taking. The more research you do into real estate the better prepared you will be to make an informed investment decision when it comes time to purchase real estate. You may decide to start your own real estate investing business to manage your own real estate investment.