Real estate - still a better option?

[vandana7]

Real estate continues to remain the better option as in worst scenario, its value never touches zero, and in the best scenario, of course, there is a lot of capital appreciation. It cannot be robbed, like gold can, nor does it involve costly security measures for protecting the asset. Though gold is considered a better hedge against recession, real estate properties do have an edge. Long term loans can only be obtained on real estate properties, and not on gold. These mortgage loans carry lower interest rates, and the equated monthly installments over the period, if recalculated keeping in view the inflation in each year of the mortgage, would be considerably lower. There are tax advantages as well, as the interest part from these EMIs, is allowed to be set off against income of the year, thereby bringing down the income for the year for calculating tax! And then there is annually increasing rent, which can offset any inflationary effect on income.