> "Suppose you find a stock that you know will increase in value. You go to the bank and say, “hey, can I borrow $90k to buy this stock? I’ll put down a down pa

> "Suppose you find a stock that you know will increase in value. You go to the bank and say, “hey, can I borrow $90k to buy this stock? I’ll put down a down payment of $10k.” You’ll be laughed right out of there." Actually, pretty much any brokerage will allow you to purchase with "25% down" on a margin account. It is extremely risky as at that point, any drop will force a sale and a 25% drop would completely wipe out your capital and leave you with nothing. It's certainly not difficult to borrow money to purchase equities. > This is because "owning a home" has a sentimental value attached to it by policy makers While it's true policy makers unnecessarily encourage home ownership and related credit, that is not primary reason credit is more widely available for real estate. Equities are extremely risky - companies can and do go bankrupt overnight, wiping out shareholders. Real estate, particularly expensive real estate, always retains some value and can always recover in value. Real estate very rarely collapses into worthlessness, whereas almost all equities eventually will. > the size of your return is related to the risk you are taking on Not true. Markets are not that efficient, and information, understanding, and wisdom are not equal, and credit and cash availability varies widely for different people and assets. Finding a good investment opportunity, by definition, is finding an investment with lower risk and higher return. Purchasing real estate in 2008 was low risk, high return. This was a market distortion caused by credit contraction and irrational panic. In addition, real estate has higher return because it requires work and adding value by maintaining buildings, finding and managing tenants, etc - these are not related to risk/return. Anyway, sorry - this is just too much information not to challenge.