Cash Flow Is King When It Comes To Real Estate Investing 
We Need To Play By Some New Rules
The new rules of real estate are simple the focus is now on cash flow. If you are interested in buying real estate of any kind, you need to leave the old rules behind and focus on the cash flow, not value. Even if you are buying and holding only single family homes, creating a stable and sustainable net positive cash flow should be your most important parameter.
If you want to weather any future economic storms, then cash flow is the key to survival. Creating a reliable, dependable, and self sustaining source of income is the fuel that builds investment momentum and creates sustainable real estate generated wealth.
Many skilled and extremely experienced real estate investors that I know, and others that I have interviewed, believe that the real estate market will likely experience a significant pullback in th near future. They do not expect it to be as large or as devestating as the 2008 Great Recession, but it will be significant. If your real estate investments are based on current makrket value and the future appeciation, and not cash flow, then you will suffer when this happens. If, however, you focus on creating sustainable cash flow, then no matter what the real estate market does in the future, you will be prepared to come out on top.
An investment property that has a meager cash flow is simply a “hope for the best” and a “wait and see” property. This creates a huge risk for the investor. What is the market does not produce the increased income or value growth you hoped for? What if after years of counting and depending on market value appreciation, it dissolves before your eyes? Millions of investors and homeowners saw that happen in 2008. All they were left with was a barely adequate income stream that left little, if any room for capital investment.
Worse yet, they lost their entire investment. However, if your initial investment criteria is based on locating strong cash flow opportunities, then future value appreciation is only the icing on the cake.