Currently the Real Estate is down owing to COVID but then again so are the shares

If it was me I would ride it out

I would sell the unit and invest in shares - but forget the trading. Too risky unless you really know what you're doing.

It does seem tempting to buy shares now. It reminds me of the share prices during the GFC when CBA for instance went down to $25 after reaching $95 which it had almost recovered to before covid19. At my age, 75, I dont want to be on the roller coaster of the share market so I'm sticking with my rental unit. As you say, it's easy to manage and although it's value may decline during this crisis I will not be worrying every time the Stockm Market farts and I will still have a unit when all this settles down.

I have no idea tilt and I would suggest that this forum is not the place to ask for advice on such an important decision. There are some very clever people who contribute to this forum as well as some complete idiots and you will have to work out which group to believe.

I agree with all of the above answers. See a good financial advisor. Ask around to friends and acquaintances for recommendations. Many of the advisors, of course, get kickbacks for recommending particular companies , so you may not get unbiased advice but you might get a general idea that helps you to decide. Ours charged nothing for the initial consultation in the hope of getting business so try to find that (but getting a highly recommended one is more important). 

My advice is to stick with bricks and mortar at our age. It will always be there. As long as you can manage to live relatively well, you don't need the stress of watching the values plummet.We bought shares in 2008 and for all the hype about how they bounce back, they've never bounced back to anywhere near the original amount, although we have lived from them.

If you were determined to dabble in the market at this time, how about taking out a SMALL loan on your unit, and see how you go?

Good luck. 

Centrelink would consider you to be "in business" if you are share trading, so it would depend if you make any profit etc. Lots of paperwork.

What concerns me about the share matket slump is this :

For them to see the drop prices and the subsequent 'losses', there have to be sales.

If there are sales, SOMEBODY is buying.  I wonder who that could be?

Is it a case of the rich getting richer?

I agree with most of the above.

I would suggest you talk to a professional or two but only consider their advice as part of your research. Share selection is key now more than ever and as we can see some of the star performers and dogs may be surprising. Do you have wide industry knowledge to pick these?

Remember, only a few weeks ago the experts were saying you'd be crazy to hold cash, I'm delighted I ignored that advice.

Unless you have strong nerves now may not be the best time for the newcomer to start share trading. Be aware that trading conditions have and may further change from the norm. While many traders will continue to trade on volatility which is now far greater and unpredictable, cash flow will become far more important to long term investors so early dividend prospects which are currently quite unpredictable, will be key.

This may not suit your property sale plans but my inclination would be to start small maybe with some spare cash before you sell your property even then break your investment into parcels and commit progressively at  different stages of the cycle. While it appears that shares are  now recovering we don't know yet how long the cycle will last and what's in store. Will there be a long recession after the virus when you may want to be out of the market?

Before you do anything, there is plenty of uncertainty right now so whatever you do can you accept adding to this in your life so give some serious thought to whether you will be able to sleep at night.

Beware of professional share advisors. My experience is that they are sometimes sitting on a pile of shares they are keen to unload and if you need advice on every trade your margins will shrink.

I have been trading shares for about 40 years now and it is not easy unless you can read charts and /or financial reports. You also need to have some idea of what the future holds. ie airlines and cruise and travel companies share prices have been smashed but may or may not be a buy at resent depending on what your outlook for the futrue is. My outlook tells me not to buy them yet. Can you read share charts? Have you got the discipline to sell a losing share with little loss? Do you know when to sell? Believe it is not easy to make money otherwise why isn't everyone doing it? 

You need to be able to watch for things that are not normal. A good example now is that banks are likely to have the capcity to pay dividends but APRA is doing its best to discourage them from paying dividends even though certain banks are giving them the finger treatment. 

Yes you will have lots of paperwork and you need some way of organising that paperwork. You can use preadsheets or buy a simple softare program to do it for you. 

Unlike your unit where you will only ever know 2 prices the buy and sell price shares are valued sometimes every second of a trading day. The swings can be wild at times at times. Can you stumock these swings? 

I'm not liking the current market so am doing very little trading but have been doing some rebalancing in my portfolios. 

What happens in the US will determine what happens with our market. 

Either or.

If you sell the unit then you may lose out on any potential gains on the upturn.

As for shares, the paperwork is dependent upon how much trading you do. A good advisor will always direct you towards blue chips stocks which have recently ,either corrected or  been revalued closer to their tangible value.

Ultimately the only necessary paperwork for your accountant is that which involves buying and selling and of course any dividends in between. A former are used to calculate capital loss or gain and this is what you are taxed on. How much tax you pay is contingent to how long you have held them for and your income for that financial year of sale. 

As per real estate blue chip shares and the stock market is a long-term game. Right now there are plenty of bargains in the market.