I actually do have clients that are liquidating stocks and buying commercial re assets.They do not like the volatility of the stock markets and are just worn out.

If I refinance or sale the property in less than a year, you're still guaranteed to get the 12% return for the year.This is a better return than any bank, CD, money market account or stock return in this volatile market.How does it sound?

In today's high volatility environment, most investors I talk to are seeking ways to insulate themselves from volatility using alternative investment vehicles and RE funds are a good venue for that.Cons:Typical REIT strategy is investing in class-A assets in core markets, where assets trade in the 4-5% cap rate range.

But real estate is an all-local business, don't invest in what you do not understand.If you have strong enough local ties in foreign markets and comfortable with the volatility and characteristics (good or bad) of the specific market and can expect good returns, go for it.

Prices are not so volatile in our area like they are in other markets.

Volatility of the Cap rate needs to be factored in to see if the spread is adequate.If I was renting office space to the US Treasury at 4.25% Cap rate, and all of my expenses were locked in for the next 15 years, I could reap the 0.25% spread over my cost of debt.  

The reason why I want to invest in real estate in USA is because real estate is usually less volatile compared to shares.

A real estate crash typically takes months or years giving you time to think, strategize and react.It's true that the stock market historically has more volatility but as many have learned when the real estate market crashes some times you can't get out in time.What is fundamentally true with any asset market is those who try to time them get burned.

However, despite Texas' propensity for cyclical extremes, evidence suggests its real estate markets may now be less volatile than in the past.

Their specialty is managing liquid assets and hedging the risk - not easy with the current volatility of real assets.