This Simple Investment Is Actually Better Than Boise Real Estate

You may have heard the Boise housing market is wild. You might be under the impression that it's cooling off, but the data from realtor.com would suggest otherwise. It's not at an all-time high like in April and May 2022, but August, the last month they had numbers for, showed that the median list price was $575,000, up 4.5% from last year. Redfin paints a much different picture. They use actual sales data, not listing prices. They say the average sale price in August was $477,000, down 2.8% from a year ago.  

Home prices set a new all-time high in August, with the average single-family home in the United States selling for over $425,000, up almost 3% from last year.  

There are a lot of ups and downs when it comes to Boise real estate. And even if sale prices are coming down, they're still expensive. So what is a savvy Treasure Valley investor with little capital or credit supposed to do to stay afloat? It may be time to look at a more non-traditional strategy: LEGOs.

We're not suggesting you build a home out of various colored interlocking plastic bricks. We're simply saying it might be time to invest in LEGO sets.  

Vintage toys have always made big money on sites like eBay or Mercari. Still, they are a little hit or miss based on age, popularity, brand, condition, or historical significance. LEGO sets are a lot easier to figure out. You are looking for new, unopened, limited edition sets based on nostalgia or pop culture.  

Sets based on movies, especially Star Wars, get huge money after they have stopped production. Large and small sets make more money than medium-sized sets. If you buy them when they are new in the store, you might pay around $100, but over time, the value increases more than the Boise housing market. A study by the Research in International Business and Finance says that LEGO sets typically increase in value by 11% every year, which is a better return on investment than stocks, bonds, or even gold. No wonder the grand opening of the LEGO STORE at the Village at Meridian had people standing in line for hours! The giveaways at LEGO STORE Grand Openings usually go for big money.

More good news is that collecting LEGO sets as an investment means they'll never leave their boxes, and you'll never hurt yourself by stepping on one.