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Loans are certainly a lot more common for real estate investments than stock investments -- that's just one more reason why real estate is more appealing if you don't have a lot of money (i.e., because you can more easily get it loaned to you). If you already have a lot of money but no time, it will be very difficult for you to wisely invest that money in real estate because buying/managing properties consumes a lot of time (if you do it well). To buy 4 houses takes at least 4 times as much time/effort as it takes to buy a single one. On the other hand, if you have a good idea of where you want to invest in the market, it takes no extra time to invest a larger sum of money.

In practice, though, you need to use these formulas the exact opposite way. You can't say, I paid X for a place, what should I charge for rent, because the market will determine what rent you can get. Instead, you need to say, this house will rent for Y, so what is the most I can offer to buy it.

A big difference is time. RE can take up a lot of time. You need to find the place you want to buy (some here say you'll screen through a hundred or so properties and maybe look at/seriously consider 10 for every one that you ultimately buy). Also, depending upon your exit strategy, it will take time to find someone to either buy it from you or rent it from you. If you rent, then there are hassles that you'll have to deal with (repairs, tenant complaints, non-payment, etc.). Some of these things you can pay others to do, but then you lose some of your profits. With the stock market (especially mutual funds) you need to do some up front research to make sure what you are buying meets your needs, but the hassles/time issues drop awfully close to zero.

The upside of real estate, though, is that you really can put your time and effort to your advantage. The stock market is very nearly an efficient system (that is, there are few real "deals" out there, because changes in a companies value are almost instantly reflected in its price) so your only real source of income is long-term appreciation (or maybe dividends if you go with a more conservative portfolio). With real estate you can use your knowledge, time and effort to find true deals and you can use "sweat equity" to increase the value of your investment.

One thing that might be interesting for you to do is to calculate what you think your time is really worth. For example, if you could predict that a particular mutual fund will appreciate 10-12% over the next year, and you could also predict that a rental property you might buy would get you 25% return (make up whatever numbers you want), at what point would the extra effort needed to find, fix up, rent out, manage the property would make it not a good deal for you. Everyone will have a different cross-over point. I would love to be doing more RE deals right now, but my time is very short (and valuable to me) right now, so I've had to cut back. When things settle down, I may switch over to more real estate.

I would say that a real estate deal that nets you the same as what you would get with a basic stock deal (say an S&P index fund) is no deal at all, since you could just invest in that mutual fund and save yourself a lot of time, effort and aggravation.

I would guess that on the average it works out that if you have lots of time and little money, real estate will be better, but if you have lots of money and little time, the stock market will be better. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle and need to find the right balance.

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NOT for a rental, NOT for a resale.

I'm thinking about having a pool installed at my home (personal residence). I know you don't get the money back when you sell, but I'll probably be in this house for at least 20+ years, so that's not an issue.

Does anyone have any wisdom/experience to share about installing an inground pool? I'm interested in anything you might know -- what should I pay, what's the best type, are there any parts that can be done DIY, filtering systems, diving boards, etc., etc. Any mistakes you've made, regrets, etc. Anything you did or have seen done that is really cool? I haven't created a budget yet, so I'm at that dreamy stage where theoretically anything is possible (until reality sets in).

Don't be surprised if you find that most people using these signs are not following the regulations.

Just check your county/city codes dept. to see if the place ever got an occupancy permit to be used a duplex. If it was built as a duplex, the original occupancy permit would reflect that. If it ever was a SFH and got switched over to a duplex, then the owners had to get a new occupancy permit. If they didn't then it isn't a legal duplex. [I realize this doesn't answer the original question, but I thought I'd at least offer this since I've seen people get stuck with illegal duplexes before.]

I'd check the lease on that. The lease I use says that you're responsible for the entire term of the lease and failure to pay on time will result in the entire amount being due on demand, and that's all terminology I got from a standard lease that lots of people use. Now, it would take going to court, etc., to get a judgment before a landlord could ever collect, but that may be worth doing in some circumstances.

Since she lived there an entire year before renewing that lease, she may have a hard time getting out of her commitment. It would be one thing if she was duped into moving in and discovered the crime was worse than she had been led to believe, but obviously she knew what she was getting into after living there a year.

I do agree with dal1's idea about helping the landlord get that place filled. She might even be better off just finding someone to sublet. I think her best chance of walking out of this place is if she can keep the landlord happy (which means the rent coming in from someone).

But, from talking to agents, I understand that there's almost no money in it for the listing agent. They have to give the banks a huge discount on the seller's percentage, and most of the agents who do it are mostly trying to grow their name recognition and meet prospective buyers who may hire them as buyers agents for other houses.

I think PMs stay in your "out" box until they are seen by the recipient, then they will disappear.