The housing market is still struggling, there are still lots of bank owned real estate (REO), foreclosed, and pre-foreclosure real estate properties out there and interest rates are a multi-year lows. Is now the time to invest in some property?

I’ve been considering some kind of diversification into real estate and this is the year I make a decision. There are multiple types of investments that you could make, from buying actual property to buying into a real estate investment trust to holding mortgage paper.

My Dad owned rental property. He bought a house and we lived in it for 7 years. He then bought another house (one that was in the path of a freeway and had to be moved) and put it on the lot next door. He rented our first little house for years. Since we lived next door, and since he was the landlord, he was probably pestered by the renters, but he didn’t seem to mind. Only one time did he have to evict anyone and that was during the 2 years when we moved out of state. He had a neighbor manage the property and the neighbor didn’t check out the renter well enough.

Since I am considering a real estate investment, I am trying to learn all I can about the subject. As part of that learning, I asked the financial bloggers in the Yakezie network if I could pull together and publish a list of their posts on topics related to real estate.

Book mark this post so you can refer back to it as you plan your own real estate empire.

Here is the first of several posts listing the real life real estate experiences of these bloggers. Most of the links in this post have general information about real estate as an investment as well as income streams possible from real estate properties. Next time, we’ll take a look at some great posts that cover experiences buying and selling real estate.

Types of Real Estate Investments – this article talks about various ways you can get into the real estate sector (not necessarily by owning actual property).

Tax Lien Certificates – a series of several articles telling what these are and my own experiences researching properties and attending a tax lien certificate auction.

How I Make Over $250,000 a Year in RealInvesting (And I’m Only 29).  Eric – a three year investor, talks about how to make money in real estate with no money down using leases with option to buy; options to buy and wholesale deals.

The Must Read Property Guide to BuyForeclosed Homes and Make Money…Serious Money.  Eric – the same three year investor, tells all about the stages of foreclosure and the positives and negatives of buying in each stage.

Time Vs. Money . Barbara Friedberg wonders if she should spend the time and take on a real estate investment to increase her family wealth.

How to Buy a Foreclosure . Your Finances Simplified bought a house from foreclosure and explains the general steps needed and gives pointers on things to think about.

Passive Income with Real Estate.  Derek explores the possible cash flow for a landlord with an 8-plex.

Using Rental Properties as RetirementIncome. Corey thinks that you could start young, buy and rent out real estate and then use the cash flow from the paid off houses as your inflation adjusted retirement income.

4 Plex 3 Months Report.  Actual numbers from a new 4 plex purchase done by the folks at Retire by 40. He reports some good lessons learned!

Stay tuned for more on real estate investing as this is a subject I will be exploring frequently in 2012.

Do you know of some good real estate investment stories?  If so, please comment below.  However, comments with commercial links may be deleted.