Photo Source (CC0 License)

Real estate investments can help you generate big bucks in a short amount of time – but only if you know what to invest in. The good thing with real estate is that it is a struggle to make a considerable loss. Unlike stocks and shares, you will never really be in a position where your asset isn’t worth anything. Any losses are usually minimal, and a lot of investments can be saved if the investor just holds onto the property for many years. 

Anyway, enough about the legitimacy of real estate investments, that’s not what we’re interested in! We know they’re great ways of making more money, but what properties are the best investments? How do you find the properties that will give you big profits in a short space of time? 

To start, you have to consider what types of property are available for you to purchase. Typically, you’ll be looking at the following categories:

• Residential buildings – houses, apartments, condos, mobile homes, etc…
• Commercial buildings – retail units, offices, etc…
• Industrial buildings – warehouses, factories, etc…

So, looking at these options…which one is the winner? Which one should you focus on?

Well…it’s not as simple as that! Unfortunately, you can’t pick one specific property and claim it is the best for investments. A lot of people will have success investing in apartments or retail units, but does this mean they will work for everyone? Most of the time, when you look at what properties are successful, it’s usually down to certain factors that make them successful. 

When it comes to thinking about the best property investments, you should start viewing things from a different lens. Instead of looking at specific property types, you should view properties with some of the following features:

Affordable prices

The best properties will always be properties you can afford. For an investor, the lower the price, the better. It’s the age-old idea of buying low and selling high. Well, if you’re property flipping, that is. If you want to make money from rental properties, you’re not going to sell them. However, the lower the price, the easier it is for you to reclaim that money in rent. 

This is why a lot of people opt for apartments or mobile home investing. The smaller nature of these properties means they are cheaper and more affordable. It usually means you can get your hands on property within a prime location. Of course, you can still find houses and other properties that are affordable. Sometimes, this means they are a little rundown, but that’s fine. Because they’re cheap, it opens the door to make improvements and sell them for a profit. Ideally, you want to avoid buying expensive properties as they are harder to turn into a profit. 

Photo Credit (CC0 License)

Great locations

It was touched upon above, but the location of a property is pretty much the key indicator of if it is a good investment or not. In fact, this is why it’s stupid to say that one property type is the best for investments. Houses make great investments, but a house in a terrible location will be a much worse investment than, say, an office in a great location. The location influences the price and determines how valuable your property investment will be. 

So, what is a great location? Effectively, any location that’s a busy urban area can be considered a good place to invest. If crime rates are low, the economy is thriving, and there are lots of residents flocking to the area; it’s a good location. You want to avoid investing in properties that are located in areas of the country that aren’t very sought-after. Nobody wants to live or work there, there’s a minimal investment in the infrastructure, and you don’t even get a lot of tourists going there. 

Things do change slightly when you look at the different types of properties. For example, a great location for a commercial or industrial property may differ from a residential one. Commercial property locations are usually ideal if they’re in busy cities with lots of opportunities for businesses to find customers. Likewise, industrial ones are often best located in areas with other industrial properties, typically close to good transport links for shipping. 

Regardless, the best properties are the ones found in great locations!

Room for improvements

You can buy a brand new property that’s absolutely perfect, but it won’t be the best investment ever. Okay, that’s harsh. It’s still a good investment, but if you want to make a profit on your investment as quickly as possible, this isn’t the ideal route to go down. Those of you that are happy to get on the property ladder and own some real estate can buy a new house, live in it for many years, then sell it for a profit. However, those of you that want to make a lot of money as quickly as possible should look for properties with room for improvement. 

We’re talking about older buildings that can be improved by you for very little extra investment. This could mean something simple – like an office that can be improved by installing better internet connectivity throughout it. Or, it can be slightly more complex – like a rundown home that you transform into something more modern. When you find properties that have room for improvement, the opportunities are endless. You can make them better and flip them for profits, or you can make them better so they attract more potential tenants. As a result, you can charge a higher rent for them, helping you make more money. 

In conclusion, let’s look at the original question: what properties are the best for investments? Houses, apartments, mobile homes, condos, offices, retail units, warehouses, and every other property type are all excellent investments – but they can also all be awful ones. It’s got very little to do with the type of property, and everything to do with the factors to look for in a great property. The best investments will be affordable, in excellent locations, and with room for improvement.