• Look for houses with deferred maintenance; owners may need to sell or have lost interest. —Tom Christensen, Christensen Co., Madison, Wis.

• Look for properties with below-market rents, you’ll get an immediate boost to income when you roll over the leases. —Ken Zablotny, Metro Brokers Zablotny & Co., Littleton, Colo.

• Resist the impulse to over-improve, or your property won’t be affordable. —A. Grant Noble III, Keller Williams, Houston

• Use like-kind exchanges of investment property to defer tax liability.

• Value flexibility and adaptability. A building may be worth more if put to a different use.

• Don’t overleverage your investments and run the risk of foreclosure if the market turns bad.

via realtor.org