To get the maximum gain from investing in real estate, you have to do a lot of research. Before you fix up your mind to buy a certain property it is important that you find out its market. Make sure to get all the information that you can get. For instance find out if the area is seeing a lot of sales or the properties in that area are slow moving ones. Getting all the information can greatly help in making a better choice.
To make a great investment, you should first know the features that sell.
After getting overall information of the market, it is now your turn to find out what are the properties that aided the sale. Most of the times, small cosmetic changes, lure the investors. Sellers avoid making any structural changes as it tends to cut down on their profit. Generally plumbing, repair of electric wiring, sub flooring and painting is all that is required to make the property a great sell. When you are buying a property it is also important to check out if you can make changes to suit your needs, e.g. check if you can split the garage in to two etc.

An ugly house can easily be your cash cow. As an investor you should make sure to embrace overgrown gardens, nasty smells and stained carpets. It is because these things can be easily fixes and once fixed the property can give you a decent profit.
If you are new at real estate investment, then it is advisable that you take the opinion of inspectors, plumbers and other experienced people before finalizing anything. Chances are that a shrewd seller may convince you and sell a rotten property that is no good for you.
For most of us real estate investment is limited to buying homes as very few of us have the adequate resource to buy a commercial property. But in case of buying a residential property you do not generate any cash flow for yourself. You, in fact create a liability for yourself in the form of maintenance and upkeep. But there is a financial incentive to invest in a home. This way you can save the cost of rents and you can also enjoy capital gains when you decide to sell your home.

Most of the advisors are of the belief that the best strategy of investment is to pay off the loan as soon a possible and to reduce the debt. And if you want to invest in another property after that you can choose from either the commercial property or residential property.