Home prices are still sitting at record lows around Central Florida. If you’ve got the extra cash and are looking for a good, profitable investment, then now may be the time to purchase your first property. That is, as long as you can remember one key thing: manage your expectations.

“I would say now is a good time to buy a residential investment property, with some qualifiers,” says local expert Gail Moncla, broker and owner of Rental Home Management Services, Inc. “From the standpoint of the current value of investments homes, as far as purchasing them goes, it’s a good time because prices are down to where they were in 2002-03.”

Moncla cautions that, at least for the time being, many properties are not as likely to create immediate positive cash flow as in they did in previous years however. “Rental rates are still being pushed lower because of the larger supply than in years past,” she says. “It will take more cash down than in the past to create that immediate cash flow, so for many it’s more of a long-term investment proposition.”

Of course, there are exceptions. “If you can find that magic number for you, even with maintenance costs and taxes, plenty of properties are still producing a net income at the end of the year, often much higher than the typical .1 percent you would make on some other forms of investment,” she says.

Before buying a property, Moncla suggests speaking to several industry professionals to get a true sense of the market. “Get advice from multiple sources and listen to it,” she says. “Sometimes the numbers may work for you right now but they won’t in the future due to the location or maintenance costs or what have you; so, I suggest consulting with a few people so you can filter through to the good information and decide for yourself what recommendations are worth following.”

Once you do take the next step and purchase your property, it’s important to ensure everything is ready before putting it on the market to rent. “You have to price them right and they have to be rent ready,” says Moncla. “There is a steady flow of renters right now, especially those looking for single-family homes because they may have had their house foreclosed on.”

As long as you manage your expectations, Moncla says that you’ll be just fine with your new investment property. “You can still turn investments into income with the right leverage,” she says. “Just be prepared that you’re making a long-term commitment and it will pay off for you in the end.”

Article by Corey Gehrold