Land is the only safe investment but you have to have enough money to do it. You can't do it with a couple hundred you have left over.
A very important rule of real estate that's often ignored is that you can't invest borrowed money. That's what got so many in trouble in the real estate market 10 years ago. They bought on credit thinking they were 'investing' but their interest payments over time are much higher than the appreciation of the property.
Another problem with buying real estate on credit is that if you miss even a single payment, you MUST catch it up or you'll never pay off the mortgage. Each month the money that would have been applied to the principle is instead paid to the back interest. At the end of the mortgage, there will be a huge balloon payment due that very few can pay off.
If you are expecting run away inflation, you want to buy real estate with borrowed money, and a fixed interest rate. You will be paying the loan back with less valuable, inflated dollars, while the real estate appreciated in value due to the inflation.
In a stable inflation enviroment, the problem with real estate is TAXES.
