{"id":940,"date":"2007-01-25T10:19:23","date_gmt":"2007-01-25T17:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=940"},"modified":"2007-01-29T06:50:57","modified_gmt":"2007-01-29T13:50:57","slug":"ben-stein-says-real-estate-is-easily-inferior-to-the-dow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/940\/ben-stein-says-real-estate-is-easily-inferior-to-the-dow\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Stein Says Real Estate Is Easily Inferior To The DOW"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, I wish to make it crystal clear up front that I’ve always looked up to Mr. Stein. I have the deepest respect for him not only because of the life he’s led, but because of the kind of person he is. He’s a brilliant, hard working man who generally has not a negative word to say about anyone. In many ways I’ve used him as a partial role model when it comes to how I deal with people. He’s simply one of the kindest most empathetic public figures in America today. And even though what he said Friday in A Home Truth About Real Estate Investing<\/a> is mystifying to say the least, my opinion of him hasn’t changed.<\/p>\n

He’d just finished recalling the condo he’d purchased many years ago, and that the almost identical condo now, though worth much more, had “not fully kept up with inflation.” He then went on to say the following:<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if the same person had bought the Dow in 1982, he would’ve made roughly 10 times the money by now, not counting dividends, which would have meant he would’ve made close to 20 times the money. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to avoid any confusion here, Mr. Stein is saying if you’d invested $100,000 in real estate back in 1982 and the same amount in the Dow, the Dow would have outperformed real estate by close to 20 times<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I read the piece over just to insure I truly got his intended meaning. I had. I’ve come up with two potential explanatons for this astounding statement.<\/p>\n