If you have cash

If you have cash, this is the best time I have seen to buy real estate in several years. If you want a vacation home, they are plentiful, and some at amazing bargain prices. Here in San Diego where the weather is glorious year-round, you can buy some tremendous properties that would make great vacation rentals. Check out some home-exchange websites too. For example, you can exchange a property in California or Arizona for a beautiful lodge in British Columbia that cash-flows at 10% per year. And yes, real estate is much more fun to own than stocks and bonds.