Real estate is working for us, but we are in one of the top 10 fastest growing areas. We bought a farm, subdivided it into 5 acre tracts and are selling for 3X what we have in it. There was some good timing involved (luck) too.

I'm considering getting into commercial real estate now. "Mailbox money" sounds good to me!

Floridian, we tailgate at Wiberts Grocery, across from the law school, before all the home games. That is a great area for rentals. I have some friends who are kicking themselves in the ass right now for not buying there condo when they were going to school. The rents have more than doubled since the early 90s.

I did not read all the posts, so sorry if someone already mentioned this. You could find a vaction spot and buy a condo. In order for this to be a profitable investment, you will have to do a little bit of research. Make sure that real estate prices are rising and that there is no reason that they will not continue in the forseeable future. A good example would be a nice 3-4 bedroom condo at LOTO. The real estate prices are appreciating and there is no reason that they will not contiue to do so. I do not know much about your area, but there may be something like that up there. It is not buying a boat, but it is related.

transferable NFA's

Along the same line as mpally suggests, I have looked into waterfront condos near me. I figured I could furnish them and rent to snowbirds for the winter. That would more than pay the expenses for the entire year and give me a place to keep my boat in the summer.

Tantrum,

The real estate market for vacationing rentals in such places as Maggie Valley, NC and Pigeon Forge, TN and others is a fairly safe investment as long as you can afford to invest the money and let it work for you. With todays low interst rates you can even borrow money to aide in the construction of various rentals and will have no problem seeing a profit within a reasonable period of time. My Father started building in the Maggie Valley area 10 years ago and has since retired. Wish I could retire, but.. ooh well it gives me something to look forward too.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

Give us the 100k so we can draw up a good plan for you to follow when you get the next 100k, they say the first is the hardest or is that a mil.

buy 5, one hundred thousand dollar houses and sell one a year on lease options for five years. it works in Fl.

commercial real estate. Us eteh 100k as a down payment for aloan on a buildign with triple net lease tenant. Its self collaterizing so the loans are easier to get if you set it up properly. Your tenant must also have outstanding credit, AA rated.

You coudl prolly leverage the 100k into 500k and get yoruself a decent biulding. It provides monthly cash throw off and a great tax shelter. YOu can use it to deffer capitals gains taxxes vioa 1031 exchange.