Real estate investing

Real estate investment is defined as the acquisition, ownership, management, rental, and/or sale of real estate with the intent of making a profit on the transaction. Generally, the improvement of real property as part of a real estate investment plan is referred to as real estate development, which is a sub-specialty of real estate investing in the traditional sense. Real estate is a kind of asset with restricted liquidity when compared to other types of assets (such as stocks or bonds that openly trade on financial markets). It is also capital-intensive (although capital may be acquired via mortgage leverage) and extremely cash flow reliant (although capital can be gained through mortgage leverage). The investment in real estate may become a hazardous one if the investor does not have a thorough understanding of and ability to handle these variables.