Hi,

I agree with Michele. I am a pretty risk-averse investor, buying only second market UK residential property. Having said that, my wife is even more risk averse, but she has bought land (five times) in Syria. It is, after all, her country of domicile. What I don't like about land is that there is no obvious exit strategy. If you think property is illiquid, it's like water compared with land.

Now here's some interesting anecdotal facts, just to show that there is never one "most clever" solution.

My wife sold her first land investment after 2 1/2 years for a 100% return (about 80% return after all costs). She has negotiated the sale of her second land investment for a 120% return after 20 months (but sale not concluded yet).

Here's an even more extreme example. We have a friend who's father bought around 10,000 sq m of land nearly 20 years ago for US$0.20 per sq m. Over the years, they have hand-built a summer home on one tenth of this plot. Three years ago, building exploded in that area, and they were offered $10 per sq m (50 times their investment). They don't need the money, so kept the land. It's now $30 per sq m, and rising by the day. Now that's what I call a good return on investment. They didn't need the money when they bought, and they don't need it now, but a great legacy for the children.