Reality check: Before you play landlord

[play landlord]

Reality check: Before you play landlord
There's more to owning property than collecting rentals. Here's some of the downside.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Real-estate investing is big business...and getting bigger.

Second-home purchases, mostly for investment purposes, last year accounted for more than a third of all single-family home sales in the United States, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Throw in sales of duplexes, apartment houses, and condos for investment purposes and you get some idea how many people want to play landlord.

And why not? Not only do you rake in rent money every month, you can also reap profits from soaring housing prices.

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