The carrying costs and management hassles make real estate a questionable investment. If you do a discounted cash flow analysis on a rental property you’ll find that the constant outflow of money results in a return that isn’t that good, unless maybe the property is in a hot area, in a great location or has other highly desirable factors.
Its true that dividends are discretionary and there’s no obligation for a company to pay them, but dividend cuts are rare, and often predictable. Of course, any cut will also likely impact the share price as well.
Many years ago we did invest in an manage some rental income property. While it was true that on the basis of the mortgage and property taxes the properties did carry their weight. But, realistically the repairs, maintenance and needed improvements greatly reduced the annual “net” revenue. And, we were generally DIY owners for most things, the annual grind got to us, and our “net” would have been even smaller if vendors had been hired to do everything. We kept them too long and merely “broke even” when we sold them. A good quality bond fund or blue chip stocks paying good dividends would have twenty year in netted us more than the rentals did.