Income - Rent pays for the property and in essence, the tenant is buying the property for you. Aim for positive cash flow, but be willing to endure a little negative cash flow to ensure the potential for future appreciation of the property.

Depreciation and Other Tax Benefits - Depreciation is a non-cash expenditure, and can be used to offset income from other sources. That's a tax shelter. The profit from a home sale is taxed at long term capital gains rates which are lower than regular income tax rates. The profit isn't subject to Social Security tax of over 15% like ordinary income.

Equity Buildup - Sooner or later, the loans on all of the property you own will be paid off, and after that, it's just taxes.

Appreciation - Each day houses are worth more than they did the day before. The stock market is volatile, while real estate tends to be stable. When home sales are slow, prices tend to be flat, and when the market's hot, prices tend to jump up, but it's unusual for prices to decline.

Leverage - Leverage is the ability to use other people's money to control a large asset. It allows you to acquire and control huge dollar amounts of real estate without having to have a lot of cash. By using the tax deferred exchange technique, you can move from property to property always leveraging your way up in the world of property ownership and never have to pay a dime in income tax.