The state of the U.S. real estate market may have you questioning whether or not investing in real estate is worth it. Let’s get this out of the way: every stage and season of the market carries distinct challenges and advantages. It doesn’t benefit your portfolio to wish for a bygone era.

We’re always evaluating the best way to secure our best financial future. There are countless strategies at your disposal – a hundred different assets to invest in and even more strategies to utilize. One of the most popular avenues of investment, however, is the stock market. While the S&P 500 has been on a rapid upward swing since 2020, 2022 saw a turn.

You’ve heard the billionaire success stories, and you’ve seen the statistics. You know that real estate is the best way to build lasting, inflation-resistant wealth.

At one time, it was thought that owning a home was a great investment. While this is true in a sense thanks to real estate being a hedge against inflation, your home alone isn’t something to hang your financial hat on. The truth of the matter is more complex: appreciation rates shift based on national, even global, economics, market-specific characteristics, and individual property qualities.

By the time you retire, you should be a real estate investor. You aren’t required to retire early to be successful. In fact, your investments don’t even have to totally unlock the coveted “financial freedom” raved about by the top voices in the industry.

Recently, Forbes published a list of “booming” housing markets amid the COVID-19 crisis. In this case, “booming” means “more quickly recovering” than other housing markets around the United States. These markets share a few things in common. 

When you decide to take on the role of real estate investor, you are faced with a slew of choices to make and questions to ask. The strategies you employ as a real estate investor are extremely significant in terms of future opportunities, risk management, and how hands-on you have to be. For the new real estate investor, the first choice you make is whether or not to invest in the short-term or in the long-term.

Real estate investor’s aren’t always buying. Even as a buy-and-hold investor, sometimes, you want to sell. Maybe a property isn’t working out for you, maybe your goals are changing. Maybe you just want to streamline your portfolio. Either way, there will come times—especially with many markets seeing returning and accelerating home values, when it becomes tempting to sell. But should you?