What are the pros and cons (or downsides) of real estate investing?

The pros of real estate investing are pretty well known, the ability to use leverage (debt) to buy properties that generate passive income (cashflow) that also appreciate in value (equity) while giving tax benefits (depreciation).

But every investment has its cons, some of real estate's downsides are market volatility, bad tenants, vacancies, maintenance, and legal/regulatory issues. Basically it comes down to tenants, toilets, and termites.

Tony Javier's career as a real estate investor was almost derailed by those downsides.…