I've been thinking about this a lot lately, having just past my 17th year anniversary as a rental property owner, and I've come down to this one, immutable fact. Every adult should own real estate by the time he/she is age 25...maybe extend that up to age 30 if there are extreme extenuating circumstance.

Everyone? You mean like, Artists? Yep. Doctors? Yep. Blue collar? Yep. Disabled people? Yep. Cops? Yep. Robbers? Yep (but legally!).

Now to be clear...I did NOT say everyone should be a LANDLORD! That's a calling in and of itself.

But what it means is a person has a stake in our nation. It also makes for a valuable, tangible store of value that protects against things like the rampant inflations we've seen recently, and which according to every article I've read isn't going away any time soon, regardless of who is in or gets into positions of power. It gives you something to say, "This is mine, and I can do something with it to make it better." It is a hope for the future while being physically present today.

Notice, I did NOT even say it has to go up in value (but covering inflation should happen automatically). I also did not say in must be rented out. I didn't say it must be a house, or an apartment, or a shop, or a store front, or a piece of land. It can be anything. It should be well located and free from environmental contamination and restrictive zoning laws that prevent any use of it, but those are about all the requirements I'd have. I also didn't say it must be exclusively owned: a co-op / family ownership / business partnership is also acceptable, so long as the owner retains the right to have a say in what happens and can sell out of it when the time comes.

When does the time come? Ideally, never. But I hate deals that have no Exit strategy.

So...what say you? Should every adult own at least some real estate? Or is Sid off on another tangent?

Busy, heh, yep. I realize the irony in the statement.

In the past I put too much importance on the management/land lording/investing factors, so some people seemed not to "qualify". And you know how sometimes the most obvious thing can stare you right in the face and not always come clear until later?

So yes....in the past I would've said "most people should own real estate", but now I'm ready to say everyone should, regardless of the thousands of reasons or excuses one could come up with. Even if they hate the "evil 1%". Even if they have zero interest in investing. Even if (fill in the blank). I simply haven't found any legit reason why it's a bad idea. Everyone should own SOME real estate.

Those reasons you listed. Isn't that why it's called the American Dream?

In an ideal world, "everyone" would do that & more - to have ownership & participation in their society, and pride in their accomplishment.

But, we are living very far from that reality. Our public schools, hand-in hand with societal trends in general have seen to that.

Amen! Dodge!

I read that when this country was first founded and won their independence from England that one rule they made regarding being able to vote was that you had to be a landowner. I think their purpose in that was to require some skin in the game if you wanted a say in things. It was to prevent those with no stake in the country from finally outnumbering those who did and then voting themselves all kinds of things at the expense of those who did have a stake.

It worked well and, in my opinion, was a good idea.

Well, time passed and those who had no stake in anything finally did outnumber those who did and, sure enough, they voted themselves all kind of benefits and free stuff at the expense of those who did have a stake in things. You can see the results today.

First, maybe "everyone" should work and be a productive

DJ, yes, but owning real estate is both more specific way and yet at the same time less burdensome. I think some are still stuck in the old idea of the suburban house with a white picket fence as the American Dream. Others think owning a business. Those all require work/effort to maintain after purchase that some cannot/do not want to do. Owning RE could mean being in a co-ops that rents farm land to farmers...or an apartment syndication where owners have fractional shares...or a personal residence...or a family vacation home, etc. The possibilities are both endless for all levels of finance, ability and interest/competency and yet specific to real estate as compared to stocks, bonds, gold, businesses, etc.

Ken, all that you say is true, but if we did get everyone owning something, perhaps the attitudes would start to shift? I don't know...crystal ball is murky, as usual.

Dodge...yes!

Having come from a place where I would have been considered one of those kids or people that were doomed and never able to own RE, I agree.

I grew up in the environment that Ken speaks of. I was blessed enough to have something in my thoughts that set me on a little different path. I don't know where that came from. Don't get me wrong, those thoughts were pounded into my head and will always be in the background of my mind, as is the nature of conditioning. It is a constant battle to change one's thoughts in a 180-degree direction, especially since we are more impressionable as kids. The good news is, it can be done, or at least improved.

The environment that one grows up in as a kid will make all the difference in the world, as the knowledge base is going to be so much different. Garbage in, garbage out. So, how do you get younger people, especially those in uneducated environments, to realize that they need to own some form of RE?

There is a lot of learning that would have to be done and breaking through some of those barriers would be a tough nut to crack. That said, I definitely agree with your statement. I think that when you are a part of something that you begin to see things from a different perspective.

My perspective has changed so much these last few years and is changing still. I struggle but learn so much from you guys and gals, you are a blessing to me.

What are the possibilities of getting people from that age group and background, that you mentioned, to realize this and be able to legally do it?

BTW, I bought my house when I was 23, not even knowing what I was doing, and I bought my rental at 40, also not knowing what I was doing and still learning on that one. I didn't even realize it was called investing. How crazy is that?

I don't think everyone should own RE, but I do think everyone should have assets that are diversified...and RE is ONE of the best ways to do that.

The main reason I got into RE was to diversify. I worked as a corporate executive for years and most of my savings/assets were in the stock market. As my balance grew in the market, I started diversifying into things like bonds, commodities, and even REITs. But the return on REITs was poor compared to owning rentals, so I decided to get just enough rentals to make my asset allocation meet my target %...and then I stopped buying.

I don't see RE as a "guaranteed" hedge against inflation...just look at what happened in many cities back in 2008 after the housing bust...cities like Denver saw housing prices get clobbered. However, RE values don't have a high correlation with stock market values, which made it very appealing to me. The past year or so this has paid HUGE benefits for me, as the market is down 12-20% (depending on which index) and yet my RE holdings are up 20-25%!

I don't see someone owning property as the issue in driving the behavior. How many times have you seen people inherit property only to loose it to stupidity. The only way it works if they have to earn their own money to buy it, that gives them a personal connection to the outcome.

My grandmother is long gone and she could never relate to what I do.........

She would ask me two questions, 1) How many places do you own 2) How many of them do you live in.......

Then she would ask me why do I own more than places that I live in.

I tried to explain it to her this way, Grams - everyone should own at least two places. One places where they can live in and a second one so they can collect rent rent so you can pay taxes on those two places.