In my case I sold off appreciated properties in a location I deemed as having limited future upside, and used the proceeds to eliminate all debt on the better located prime properties I wanted to keep long term.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Taking the higher of the two, that's 52k in debt service for 12 months.

Not only was my market timing great, but I sold my less promising buildings and used the proceeds to pay down debt on my long term keeper properties, which have higher end tenants and are thus more stable and much easier to manage.

Ultimately it will depend on the property (banks perform stress test-debt ratio)-but I think 5 year term is what I found so far.

Hundreds of hours spent listening to podcasts and reading books on and off during that time kept the dream alive and prepared me to take the leap when an opportunity came up.I had received my real estate license about a year earlier to make some extra money but we were hitting a point in our debt and near future expenses that I knew I had to step out and make something happen.

And if they are in low value markets maybe they have zero debt..

The real property investment can be repositioned if it proves disappointing in its original form; it can be refinanced or recapitalized if it has too much or too e pensive debt; inflation over time bales out many bad purchases, and finally the investors knowledge, experience and abilities can be leveraged to turn around a cash flow negative property.I’ll provide an exampleThree years ago we purchased a note from a bank secured by two auto repair facilities with a large amount of excess land.  

But the thing is, I don't want to completely rely on other people to manage my money, so I've been experimenting with a bunch of alternative investments, including some exotic ones, like marine vessel acquisition, law firm financing, lawsuit pre-settlement advances, etc.