They choose real estate because it is tangible. You can see it, touch it, and walk on it. When you own a quarter of a million dollars' worth of stocks, you have nothing to hold in your hand, nothing to show to another person. A Matter of Control Real estate is a hands-on investment. In normal language, that jargon means that work is required.
Work can and usually does mean time spent in planning, supervision and control.
The work involved in most real estate investment is another factor that sets it apart from investment in the financial marketplace. But there are rewards that come with real estate's demands, some financial and some self-satisfying. One of the most important rewards is control. A small shareholder has no control over the workings of General Motors or Microsoft. Investing in stocks is like buying a pari-mutual ticket at the track, whereas investing in real estate is like owning the horse, feeding it, training it, and maybe even riding it in the race.