Investing in Real Estate? 6 Properties That Will Earn You The Most

By Leonard Baron

If you're interested in improving your lot in life -- no pun intended -- by becoming a property mogul and investing your hard-earned capital into income-producing properties, there are some general guiding principles that should increase your chances of earning wealth.

One of the better ways to improve your wealth is to reduce your risk on the properties you purchase. This will allow you to buy lower-risk real estate, which hopefully will earn a fair amount of wealth for you over time. Go for these:

1. Properties in very good shape.

Too many people buy fixer-uppers thinking they'll add value by doing a renovation. Then they get mired in a much more expensive and time-consuming property than they ever expected. More money into the property means lower investment returns for you and less wealth-building than you expected. Skip fixers and instead buy properties that are in as good shape as possible, which should get those rental checks coming into your bank account in as short a period as possible.

2. Properties in moderately priced areas with good cash flows.

Real estate is all about location, location, location! The properties in the best locations (think beach areas, downtown, wealthy enclaves) generally have very negative cash flows, so those are the location, location, locations you want to avoid. The moderately priced properties in working-class areas are the real gems; they generally have the boring locations, but much better cash flows. Of course pencil out any deal with conservative rents and expenses, and go for beginning year cash on cash return of at least 4 to 6 percent, based on your conservative estimates.

3. Communities with HOAs in good financial, legal, operational shape.

There are many, many landmines in buying properties in common interest developments. And you aren't just buying your property; you're buying into a larger entity called the homeowners association (HOA). And if it is in financial, legal or operational trouble, you pay the bills. Make sure to do your due diligence on this -- and it's a lot of hard work to do it properly. Learn what you need to look at way before you go into escrow.

4. Properties that come with decent credit quality tenants in place.

There is nothing better than buying a property with a decent tenant already in place. You get the security deposit and pro-rated rent, and you don't have to go in and clean, paint, update or fix too many things in the unit. If you buy properties in areas that have decent credit quality tenants, that's hopefully the type of tenant you will inherit. Also take a look at the current tenant's lease, credit application and credit report, if you can, before you make the decision to purchase the property.

5. Properties in low vacancy areas.

Vacant units get robbed, incur vandalism and don't have any rent coming in to cover the bills. If you buy in places with really high vacancy, it might be months or years before you get the property rented out at a fair rental rate. So really think through buying properties in areas with many unoccupied units. Drive around at dinner time: No lights in a lot of neighborhood houses means no one is residing there, and you shouldn't, either.

6. Properties you will own a long time.

The most important factor in real estate investment property is to own it for a long time -- in fact, forever is the optimal ownership horizon. So do your due diligence and buy quality properties that you really like for all the right reasons, and plan to own them for good. That's your best bet to earn wealth on real estate.

If you buy properties with ALL the above characteristics, that will greatly increase the chances you will add wealth to your nest egg from your real estate ownership. So try to acquire properties that have as many of the above good qualities as possible, and skip the ones that don't make the cut!

See more on Zillow:
Buying? Use This Checklist to Avoid Surprises
Investing in Real Estate -- What is a Good Deal?
What to Review in HOA Documents When Buying

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