Buying real estate is about more than just finding a place to call home. Investing in real estate has become increasingly popular over the last 50 years and has become a common investment vehicle.

Although the real estate market has plenty of opportunities for making big gains, buying and owning real estate is a lot more complicated than investing in stocks and bonds.

Many excited real estate investors think they can get rich by using a bank loan to purchase and upgrade local fixer-uppers. While investment opportunities in real estate may be better than alternatives like the more homogeneous stock market because the existence of small, local real estate markets that create inefficiencies investors can exploit, you'll need to understand more than this to make money in residential real estate. To go from handyman to real estate tycoon, you must understand the market and the three key ingredients to strong real estate gains.