Originally Posted by
artemis
IRD says there are no tax advantages for residential property investing. In fact there is a big disadvantage now that residential building depreciation has been removed.
IMO it is not easier to invest in residential property rather than in, say, the sharemarket. It may, however, be harder to borrow to buy shares though of course plenty of people do. One reason people buy rentals rather than shares is because they have some understanding of property. (So they think, anyway, until things turn to custard.) Plus most people are concrete rather than abstract thinkers, so would rather see the bricks and mortar.
Disc - I have $ in both. Shares are waaaay less time consuming than rentals.