Some people feel that it’s always a good time to buy real estate. But often these are people (such as agents) who depend on a steady stream of sales for their income. Investors, however, need to be more discriminating. His¬torically, real estate goes through up and down cycles. A great time to buy is when the market has just gotten off a low and prices are beginning to rise. You can buy almost anything and ride the boom to profits. On the other hand, buying right after the market has peaked is not necessar¬ily a good idea. No matter how good a bargain you may get, you could find that you’ll have trouble reselling quickly at a profit because of stagnant or even falling prices. Timing your investment to coincide with real estate market conditions can mean the difference between success and failure. Of course, if you plan to buy and hold for the long term, then over time the ups and downs of the market will tend to even out, and you should end up with a very valuable piece of property. But, if that’s your goal, be sure that you know how to buy right so that you don’t have negative cash flow.