Currently the world investment market is shakier than ever before. Stock markets are not the stable producers that they once were, mutual funds and other managed investments are great if you can lock away a large amount of money for a long period of time, so what is left for the average investor? Home purchases. Over many years homes have have continued to rise in value and along with that rise has come a security and ROI that is not available in any other form of investment.

Climbing the equity ladder is one of the oldest and most well known investment strategies and its popularity is largely due to its relative accessibility. Once you are set up with a mortgage, as payments are made your net worth increases as your are now building equity. Equity is a powerful leverage tool that can be highly useful in the years to come. The most noted way of gaining personal wealth is by paying a respectable amount on a first property and then leveraging the equity to purchase another, and so on. Essentially you can work the situation so that the homes you purchase are paying for themselves via rentals and all the time, your personal equity is increasing. With increasing equity your earning potential is almost unlimited. It can be quite easy to become a professional landlord/real estate investor if you plan these purchases properly and ensure that no single property or purchase has the ability to "upset the bank," so to speak. You never want to put your investments in jeopardy by allowing one to have the ability to break you.

More than just a few people have made their fortunes in the real estate market and there is no shortage of individuals who will try to sell the secret. Watch TV for a few minutes at almost any time of day and you will likely see an ad or two. The secret is simply good planning and intelligent purchases. Take the time to pick good tenants for your properties and make sure that you maintain them well, good properties and attentive landlords equal good, reliable tenants. Good reliable tenants equal an investments that has little trouble paying for itself over time.