I realize I'm a little late to the game on this topic, but I would hesitate to say that real estate qualifies as a 'hard asset,' which I would define as a commodity that someone can truthfully say that they own outright, with no outside claims or leins. I am no lawyer, but my understanding is that what one purchases when they obtain real estate is what is called 'fee simple' ownership. Fee simple is a legal concept that empowers the government to "relieve" said owner of said property when certain conditions are met. These conditions include such concepts as eminent domain, taxation, police power, escheat (I'm paraphrasing here from this source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fee_simple). Bottom line: you don't own your real estate; you rent it. Don't believe me? Try not paying your property taxes and see how long you continue to 'own' your home. Try preventing a police state from requisitioning your property because of it's "strategic" location. Or try to prevent your municipality from forcing your move when they decide your backyard is the perfect location for an overpass. The only way to obtain outright ownership of anything, including real estate, is to obtain allodial title:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodial_titleAllodial title for real estate is a precious and rare commodity. The only example of true allodial title in the present day I am aware of is found in many Native American tribes that have allodial title of their 'reservations.' (I apologize wholeheartedly if these are not the currently politically-correct terms). These areas are literally considered sovreign nations with their own laws and are not subject to federal government interventions. I live in Wisconsin, where allodial title is actually written into our state constitution as a right of citizenship (one of only three states, I believe, that have this law on the books currently). There also was a Wisconsin supreme court case precendent that reiterated this right. However, when I contacted a real estate attorney recently here about trying to obtain allodial title on a property I was looking to purchase, he hadn't even heard of the law(?)! After investigating this law with my help of resources (and billing me hundreds of dollars per hour to do so), he basically told me I had a snowball's chance in hell of obtaining such a title. When I asked why, he said it would take more money in court costs to obtain it than the property I was looking to purchase was worth. So, in the end, real estate is not a hard asset at all, as it can be legally taken from you at any point on a whim by the feds with no legal recourse by the 'owner.' Period.
