Is real estate really the best investment, and why do so many millionaires say so?

The interviews point strongly toward real estate. In the first Florida video, a Florida shopping-center owner called a home a terrible investment and said a home is not an investment, but argued that multifamily property is the easiest entry point: you could buy a duplex or triplex with a $100,000 down payment, manage it yourself, and eventually refinance and pull cash out to buy another. He also argued it is always a good time to buy real estate because it is generational, and that nobody can time the market. A Beverly Hills investor said real estate values never go down for good, that they might recede in a recession but always correct above the line, and that there isn't any more land. The Dubai developer said real estate is ultimately what any wealthy person ends up doing, calling it a solid asset you can touch and see, and one of the least volatile, so a safe investment in terms of risk management. Nashville's Dave Ramsey argued the opposite of conventional advice: pay cash and move slowly, because properties without debt throw off lots of cash that lets you buy the next one, and he said he owns hundreds of millions in real estate with no borrowing. So the millionaires' reasoning is that real estate is durable, tangible, low-volatility, and compounds through cash flow and patience, though they disagree on how to use leverage.