How Much Real Estate Should Be in Your Portfolio? - SmartAsset (2024)

When diversifying your portfolio with alternative assets like real estate, it’s common to wonder how much real estate should be in your portfolio. While many people own the home they live in, generally that’s not considered a real estate investment. Adding real estate to your portfolio can add diversity and growth to your portfolio without adding significant risk. Here’s what percentage you should invest in your portfolio and how much you could take on.

For help building a real estate portfolio as part of your overall investing plan, consider working with a financial advisor.

Why Invest in Real Estate?

There are many reasons why investors choose to invest in real estate:

  • Recurring income. Investing in rental real estate provides regular recurring income for investors. Examples include owning individual properties, buying shares in a real estate investment trust (REIT)or investing in a limited partnership.
  • Diversification. Many investors own traditional investments of stocks and bonds in their portfolios. Adding real estate investments diversifies your portfolio with non-correlated assets.
  • Tax benefits. Owners of individual rental properties may be able to offset their income with depreciation to minimize or avoid income taxes. Some investors can use their rental property losses to reduce their ordinary income taxes as well.
  • Tangible asset. Rental properties are physical investments that have a functional use in the economy. Even if the value of the home drops due to market conditions, someone can still live in the house and generate rental income.

Benefits of Diversification

Nobody can predict which investment sectors will perform the best each year with any consistency. Diversification is the process of adding bits of each sector to your portfolio to minimize risk and to ensure that some portion of your portfolio will benefit from the best performance.

This diversification takes two forms – the types of investments and the different sectors within each type of investment. For example, stocks are one of the many types of investments that you could have in your portfolio, along with bonds, real estate, commodities and others. However, you should continue the diversification by adding different types of stocks to your portfolio. These might include both domestic and foreign stocks, while also investing in small and large companies.

Real Estate Investment Options

If you’re interested in investing in real estate, there are different types of investments available. These are a few of the most common options:

Individual Properties

Buying an individual property is the traditional investment option for many investors. You can buy a single-family residence, multi-unit property, commercial property, storage facility or other types of real estate to rent. Some investors manage the properties themselves, while others use a property manager to handle the day-to-day activities.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Stocks

Publicly traded REITs can be bought and sold quickly and easily through a brokerage or tax-advantaged account. They report their holdings and financials on a regular basis. This enables investors to compare performance and choose the REIT that appeals to them the most. Some REITs can invest in any opportunities, while others focus on specific sectors or geographies.

Real Estate Funds

Investors can choose among numerous mutual funds and ETFs that focus on the real estate market. These funds have professional management and you can easily compare performance against similar options.

Fintech Apps

Many Fintech apps launched in the last few years to make investing in real estate more accessible to the average investor. Many have lower minimum investment amounts and have easy-to-use apps that appeal to busy professionals or novice investors.

Homebuilder Stocks

Stocks of companies that build homes for sale to homeowners. While they don’t hold properties for the long term, they generate regular income from the sale of homes that they build.

Private REITs

Private REITs are funds that are not publicly traded. They have fewer regulations and reporting requirements, so they can be riskier than other options. However, you may receive outsized returns and gain access to opportunities not available anywhere else.

How Much Real Estate Should Be in Your Portfolio?

It can be a good idea to add real estate to your portfolio, but how much is the right amount. Opinions vary based on who you’re speaking with and there is no one “right” answer to this question. Like other alternative assets, it is generally best to keep the allocation a small percentage of your overall portfolio.

Remember, that when we speak about investment allocation of real estate, your primary residence is excluded. Investments in real estate are properties that you are not personally using, just like the gas in your car isn’t considered part of your commodities allocation.

The decision of how much real estate to own in your portfolio is personal. If you’re looking for a rule of thumb, adding 5% to 10% to your portfolio is a reasonable range. However, the best approach is to discuss with your financial advisor how adding real estate would best advance your goals.

The Bottom Line

Many experts agree that adding real estate to your portfolio is a good idea. However, how much real estate should be in your portfolio? The answer depends on your goals, time frame and composition of your existing investments. Since real estate is an alternative asset, a good approach for many investors is to give it a smaller allocation in the range of 5% to 10%.

Tips for Diversifying Your Investments

  • When creating your investment portfolio, it is best to diversify the types of investments you own. A mix of stocks, bonds and alternative investments is a good idea. How to allocate them depends on your goals, timeframe and appetite for risk. Our asset allocation calculator guides you to an investment profile based on your answers to a few key questions.
  • A financial advisor can help you build an effective diversified portfolio. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

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How Much Real Estate Should Be in Your Portfolio? - SmartAsset (2024)

FAQs

How Much Real Estate Should Be in Your Portfolio? - SmartAsset? ›

The decision of how much real estate to own in your portfolio is personal. If you're looking for a rule of thumb, adding 5% to 10% to your portfolio is a reasonable range. However, the best approach is to discuss with your financial advisor how adding real estate would best advance your goals.

What percentage of my portfolio should be my house? ›

Investing expert Barbara Friedberg says a real estate allocation of 5% to 10% is a good rule of thumb since real estate is an alternative asset class. At the same time, private equity and real estate investor and serial entrepreneur Ian Ippolito recommends putting as much as 13 to 26% or more into real estate.

What is the 5% portfolio rule? ›

The 5% rule says as an investor, you should not invest more than 5% of your total portfolio in any one option alone. This simple technique will ensure you have a balanced portfolio.

How much of your portfolio should be in? ›

If you wish moderate growth, keep 60% of your portfolio in stocks and 40% in cash and bonds. Finally, adopt a conservative approach, and if you want to preserve your capital rather than earn higher returns, then invest no more than 50% in stocks.

How many properties is a good portfolio? ›

Many venture into property investment with distinct goals—some aim to replace a monthly job income, while others seek a secure, long-term investment. Those focusing on replacing a £3,000 monthly job income might require 8-10 single-let properties or 3-4 multi-let properties.

How much should real estate be a part of your portfolio? ›

The decision of how much real estate to own in your portfolio is personal. If you're looking for a rule of thumb, adding 5% to 10% to your portfolio is a reasonable range. However, the best approach is to discuss with your financial advisor how adding real estate would best advance your goals.

What is the 10% portfolio rule? ›

It suggests that 10% of your portfolio should be allocated to high-risk, high-reward investments, 5% to medium-risk investments, and 3% to low-risk investments. By following this rule, you can spread your investment risk across different asset classes and investment types, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash.

What is a lazy portfolio? ›

The key principles of a lazy portfolio are diversification, low fees, and patience. Instead of actively building and managing a portfolio, you invest in a handful of low-cost index funds and hold onto them for the long term.

What is the 75 5 10 rule? ›

Diversified management investment companies have assets that fall within the 75-5-10 rule. A 75-5-10 diversified management investment company will have 75% of its assets in other issuers and cash, no more than 5% of assets in any one company, and no more than 10% ownership of any company's outstanding voting stock.

What is the 70 30 portfolio strategy? ›

The 70/30 portfolio targets a 70% long term allocation to equities and 30% in all other asset classes – the actual portfolio allocation at any point in time will fluctuate to reflect prevailing investment opportunities.

Should a 70 year old be in the stock market? ›

Conventional wisdom holds that when you hit your 70s, you should adjust your investment portfolio so it leans heavily toward low-risk bonds and cash accounts and away from higher-risk stocks and mutual funds. That strategy still has merit, according to many financial advisors.

How much of net worth should be in house at age 65? ›

Therefore, you should consider the role of home equity and mortgage payments in your real estate allocation. According to some experts, the optimal range for home equity is between 20% and 50% of your net worth.

What should a balanced portfolio look like? ›

Typically, balanced portfolios are divided between stocks and bonds, either equally or with a slight tilt, such as 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. Balanced portfolios may also maintain a small cash or money market component for liquidity purposes.

What is the 50% rule in real estate investing? ›

The 50% rule or 50 rule in real estate says that half of the gross income generated by a rental property should be allocated to operating expenses when determining profitability. The rule is designed to help investors avoid the mistake of underestimating expenses and overestimating profits.

How many rental properties to make 100k? ›

The amount of capital needed to generate $100,000 in annual income from rental properties depends on factors like cash flow, financing, and property types. For example, if you have an average cash flow of $1,000 per month per property, you would need approximately 8-10 properties to achieve $100,000 in annual income.

What percentage of Americans have over $1,000,000 net worth? ›

Additionally, statistics show that the top 2% of the United States population has a net worth of about $2.4 million. On the other hand, the top 5% wealthiest Americans have a net worth of just over $1 million. Therefore, about 2% of the population possesses enough wealth to meet the current definition of being rich.

What is the ideal portfolio percentage? ›

If you are a moderate-risk investor, it's best to start with a 60-30-10 or 70-20-10 allocation. Those of you who have a 60-40 allocation can also add a touch of gold to their portfolios for better diversification. If you are conservative, then 50-40-10 or 50-30-20 is a good way to start off on your investment journey.

What percentage of my take home should I invest? ›

According to the rule, 50% of your take-home pay should be allocated to essential expenses (housing, food, health care, transportation, child care, debt repayment), 15% of pretax income (including employer contributions) gets invested for retirement and 5% of take-home pay is used for short-term savings (like an ...

What is the 4 percent rule for a portfolio? ›

What does the 4% rule do? It's intended to make sure you have a safe retirement withdrawal rate and don't outlive your savings in your final years. By pulling out only 4% of your total funds and allowing the rest of your investments to continue to grow, you can budget a safe withdrawal rate for 30 years or more.

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