You would think that with all the foreclosures and Real Estate Owned properties available and all the seminars springing up on how to by foreclosed properties, that more property investors would be savvy to what to do with the properties they already have or want to buy.

I know from experience, I use to do Fix and Flip, how easy it has been to buy properties, (Little or No Money Down,) but because I help investors finance properties, I still find it amazing that those I meet for the first time never mention an exit strategy for the properties they already own or for the property they intend to buy.

Buying investment properties is not un-like buying a commodity. Unless you have unlimited financial resources or even if you do, you should know when to buy, when to hold, and when to sell. Here are some simple questions to ask when considering investment properties...

• When to buy: Is the property below market value, in a good neighborhood, and does it need minor repairs so I can get my initial cost back?
• When to hold: Has the property equity market slowed down and would it be best to rent or offer a lease option until market values pick up?
• When to sell: Have I reached my intended value return on investment (5% - 10% - 15% - 20%) and now time to liquidate, to buy something else?

     Now this may be over simplified but investment properties do carry a risk so sometimes a simple strategy is better then no strategy at all.

I learned the hard way with my investment properties, by not having a exit stratigy, which only experience can teach. 

Investment properties are here to stay for a long long time but it is still a good idea to Know when to Hold Them and Know When to Fold Them.

     Recently I closed on a loan for a couple that had spent over six months with their Realtor trying to find just the right house that fit within all the changes that we ran into within this fickle market. Everything seemed to be finally worked out between the seller and my borrowers. They had dickered back and forth over this, that, and many other things as is sometimes the case.

The seller's had come down on the price and was willing to cover part of the closing cost because my borrowers weren't able to get the 100% financing that we tried for when we first started the process of financing a home purchase.

Everything was set to close once the inspection was completed. Well the inspection went fine except for the fact that the inspector pointed out how much the stairs to the upper floor of the older house squeaked so loudly.

Because I close loans from out of state most of the time, I could only take my borrowers and the inspector's word for it. My borrowers wanted the stairs fixed before they would buy the house and the sellers weren't willing to put any more money into a house they were about to sell. We had a stalemate.

If it hadn't been for the seller's Realtor, who offered to cover the majority of the 2400.00 cost to replace the set of stairs before my borrowers would buy this house, I don't think the deal would have gone through and so much time and effort would have gone down the tubes.

This just goes to show that I believe and know there are Realtors that Step Up, more times than not, to help get buyers into the homes of their choosing.

The stairs where replaced, the sales / purchase went through and I can only hope that they will all live happily ever after!