Real estate investment is a form of investment involving the purchase, management, rental, ownership and the sale of real estate with the goal of making a profit. Improvement of real estate property is also a sub-category of real estate investment, although it is more commonly referred to as real estate development. This sub-category also includes flipping properties, in which the investor purchases a property, fixes up the property and then re-sells it as quickly as possible to make a profit.

Investing in real estate is a potentially risky business. First, real estate is an asset that has low liquidity when compared to other investments. Liquidation is simply the ability to convert the asset into cash in hand. Real estate can take time to sell, which makes liquidating the asset more difficult. Additionally, real estate usually requires a large initial investment. Property is not cheap, and real estate investment is a hard business to get into without the requisite capital. Potential investors can find information here to help them avoid the potential pitfalls of this type of investment.