Only hold onto it long enough to break even and then sell.Even holding onto a property until the market recovers is a gamble in profits vs. loss.

I posted a question about comps about a week ago and the question was primarily to see if the real estate agent I have chosen to help me is the right one or not.

For now think of investing dollars instead of exchanging dollars as a gamble -- the first factor.The second factor is that when a nation's currency becomes worth less, the value of the goods and services of that nation start becoming a lot cheaper to a foreign buyer.

According to persons I've talked to at REIA meetings apparently I've chosen some tough areas to focus on in real estate investing (buying and selling non-performing notes, bird dogging/wholesaling and out of state foreclosure prop owners with the intention to move into a couple flips and buy and holds by the end of this year).I can't focus on all of them at once and have decided to work the bird dogging/wholesaling and note buying at the same time for the next 2 - 3 months to determine which marketing strategies work best for finding leads and establishing relationships with banks for the states I'm interested in.I've known this person for about 10 years and he is very successful at wholesaling/foreclosure/short-sale/flipping.

To bet on appreciation is more closely akin to gambling than investing in my mind.

The thing about appreciation is that it's not as much of a sure thing as cash flow so it is more of a gamble.

Send them a letter.If it cost you $1/ea letter then it is worth the gamble to see if they are motivated!

Honestly, I have always had real estate on the brain, it was going to be my chosen family investment profession regardless of my wife and I's professions, but seeing as I am at home with my kid for now, why waste time waiting to invest when I could just start now?

For an investor focused Realtor, having a mentor in your chosen area of focused is far more valuable than the retail/primary residence focused training regimens of the big national houses like KW and L&F.Best of luck!

I don't like their contracts and have chosen to not post and deals on the site, but they are good for finding new investors.