A house is a decaying pile of materials in need of constant maintenance. Well, maybe your house is. But in the general case -- it's that and "location, locati

A house is a decaying pile of materials in need of constant maintenance. Well, maybe your house is. But in the general case -- it's that and "location, location, location" of course. On top of finite (in some markets highly constricted) supply. Plus, some are ... beautiful, well-designed, well-built, and/or historic (never to be made again). And finally, for very rich people, they have added functionality as value stores (particularly when favorable tax conditions come into play). The factors taken together explain why houses and apartments are not only not completely insane as investments -- but in fact can be quite lucrative investments.