House hunting

We've spent a lot of time house hunting this weekend. It's not as bad as it sounds; we are looking to invest in rental properties. We already have a house we like. We got our house in 1998, and I can't believe how much the prices have increased since then. It's scary.

I had hoped we could find something in the county we live in. The prices are more than we had hoped to spend, though. The house we live in is not one of the finer ones in the county, but it has apppreciated greatly since we purchased it. We'll probably have to purchase a house in the city near us to use for a rental since the county prices are so high. Unfortunatley, the city has a LOT of crime. The places in the city where the crime isn't as much of a problem might still cost more than we can afford.

We did find a neighborhood in the city where the houses were modest but cared for, and we are hoping something there has potential for us.

Real estate seems to be the only investment with a chance at keeping up with inflation.