Real estate is better for those that want a steady income stream and don't mind the work involved with it.

In the Dallas area very few people will be willing to rebuild in the Houston area because of the steady jobs here. 

Other tense up without a steady paycheck, and every small problem becomes a major catastrophe.  

But if you buy right and if you stick to areas with both cash flow and slow and steady appreciation, there's no way your returns can be even remotely close with stock than with real estate.

In the simplest form, you can look at long term historical pricing to see if/how long/how steady the history of price and rent appreciation is ... there WILL be some fluctuation as RE is somewhat cyclical and nothing ever goes up in a straight line always, but does the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods have a long term track record, spanning several up/down cycles of appreciation and rent increase?

Geographically it is a perfect location for my venture and the apartments keep the income steady. 

If you have to have a steady paycheck then you can work for anyone who does any aspect of real estate.

the slow and steady buy/hold IMO!   

While I have a steady W-2 job as a VP of Sales, I work from home and have lots of freedom throughout the week and weekends.

This means that the guests in the downstairs apartment will not be able to adjust the temperature.