My clients often ask me “Is this the best time to buy real estate”?
Most likely my answer would be “There’s always an opportunity to buy in any given market, therefore there’s no such a thing as the BEST time to buy real estate”
Whether the market is up or down, there are always distressed properties and foreclosures to be found, there are always people and companies who are under pressure to sell.
But most importantly, you should define what you’re looking to achieve when buying real estate.
Let me elaborate on that…
Before considering investing in real estate and in order to do it professionally one should define a proven Strategy and a very good Criteria in place!
When it comes to rental properties, most obviously the strategy would be Long Term Passive Income.
In order to form a very good criteria here are the very basic questions you want to ask:
What is the best region to buy (East coast, south Belt, Midwest) and why?
What type of industries are supporting the economy there?
What is the migration rate in that region?
What is your budget?
What type of properties (Single family homes, Condo, Apartment complex, Office, Retail etc.)?
What type of loan you are looking get (commercial, residential, conventional, private money)?
What is the loan to value (LTV)?
What is the rate of return (ROI) you’re looking for?
Who will manage the property (property management company or yourself)?
What are the risks associated with this investment?
Once you have answered all these questions and defined your criteria, only then, you should contact real estate professionals, lenders, property managers, insurance companies and accountants in order to help you find the specific deal that matches your criteria.
And remember, there’s always an opportunity in every market!!!
