The properties I own are out of state and run by a property manager right now.I am trying to make this decision as the entire real estate and economic market is being turned upside-down, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wow , just wow........Of course, we'd need better numbers about the properties purchased and if they're cashflowing.I agree with most of what has been said, you have over leveraged and made very poor choices.

Originally posted by Jordan Sabo:as far as there being no clothing designers, i went to macys earlier and i tried to find a goddamn jacket for under $100. it took me an hr and it was a perry ellis. what amazes me is that retail stores bi*ch about poor consumer spending but they had maybe 2 clearance racks in the entire store which is asinine.

So you can contact the decision makers directly instead of going through the generic REO department daisy chain.

Credit poor buyers will do just about anything to get their chunk of the American dream.

I have a vague goal of financial independence, but no specifics on that.i deal with the day to day decisions to make the short term goals happen, assuming this will make the long term goals occur as a direct result.For the short term goals, I focus on the next property and look no further than that.

However, it seems to encourages more bad behavior because people won't feel the pain of bad decisions.

I went into business with a cousin of mine a while back... probably one of the worst decisions of my life.

Chris thanks for the info, chris i also found out that my thoughts were correct.there is no set value, the value of the property is based on what makes sense for you to achieve your investment goals (that's it).some will say to not rely on the cap rate for your purchase decision (which i agree), but to use it to compare to other similar properties that have sold in the area, which is actually not reliable because 1. there will be less comparables, 2. how properties were purchased vary from deal to deal, 3. the inner workings of most transactions are confidential.so the best way to analyze a deal (while using cap rates) is to add your financing terms into the picture (principal + interest and etc) and calculate what the deal is really worth to you.see the normal NOI/Asking price = cap rate is based on if someone were to pay all cash, this is the return they could expect first year, but paying all cash for a property doesn't happen all that often (bank funding will be use for a large portion of that cost).so i found the best way to use this formula and analyze my deals is by look at all factors but also including my financing terms with my desired return objectives into the picture to get a proper view and value to me.

You need to spell out how decisions are made.