Buy a condo for the college student in your family

When I was a freshman at the University of Massachusetts -- Amherst last year, I took the plunge: I pulled some money out of savings to make the 20% down payment on a condo near my school, planning to live in it (After I bought it I decided that I could make more money renting it out and living in the dorm, but that's another story that involves night of stepping over other people's barf to get to the shower while the tenant relaxed in my hot tub.).

Admittedly, most students don't have the resources to invest in real estate but maybe their parents do. If you're a parent in that fortunate situation, buying your student a condo to live in is something you should give serious consideration to.

Realty Times recently reported that "Student housing in major college and university towns has been one of the steadiest performing niches in real estate throughout the current down cycle. After all, no matter what's going on in the economy, college students are still flooding campuses, they still need a place to live, and they strongly prefer private rental housing over dormitories."