In 1995, I rented an apartment and kept it for 10 years at about $1000 per month. Total invested: $120,000. Had I purchased in about 1998 or '99 when I was s

In 1995, I rented an apartment and kept it for 10 years at about $1000 per month. Total invested: $120,000. Had I purchased in about 1998 or '99 when I was single, making good money doing hourly contracting, my then-$200K property would have risen to $500K by 1995 (in the area that I was house hunting). By today it would be $700K or more. I was ill-advised by parents to not buy ("Not a good investment and you don't know where you'll be in five years") and I foolishly listened to them. Now I own a couple of houses but with a lot of years left on the mortgages. Oh, how I wish I'd listened to my gut instead of lazily putting off purchasing! Today I'd have a positive net worth of probably over $1 million, instead of probably half or one third of that. To young people in their 20s-30s, I strongly recommend getting some property. Buy the least expensive condo in the best neighborhood you can find, preferably with great schools (whether you have children yet is irrelevant). Live in it a while, then try to buy a standalone house with a bit of land--either trade up or, preferably, hang onto the condo and rent it out. There are cycles in real estate, but over the long haul, prices go up. The best time to buy a house is 20 years ago. The second best time is today. Words of wisdom that are as true now as they were 50 or 100 years ago.