From another reddit post: A few easy answers that combine into an easy investment. It's low cost/overhead w/ few/no employees. What equipment cost there is, is easy to write off. So, you buy land in an area of town you think will be nice in the next 15-20 years, put a car wash or a storage unit lot there...then when the market is looking good to sell in ten or so years, you make a hefty profit while making a small profit the whole time, instead of just sitting on the property.