How do you determine if you’re at the top of the market? When cranes are in the air, beware. If you see cranes everywhere, you are at the top of your market. We haven’t had a real estate collapse since 2009—that is 8 years of prices going up. You don’t want to buy at the top! There will be a pull back, it’s just a matter of when. Builders over build. Yet every 10 years, apartments double in value. Always keep in mind rents, rates, and supply. 1. Know you market—This is a prerequisite for doing anything in real estate. 2. Know the rents—What’s the cost to build? 3. History—What’s the history been on the place? Go back 5 years on the T12’s. 4. Plan for a pullback—The market won’t go up forever. Be careful not to buy at the top! 5. What’s the market going forward? Look to the future. The place to learn real estate is not in a book, it’s in your neighborhood. Analyze the deal you live in.