When to buy, when to sell...

As an economist, I'm comfortable with numbers, facts, and clear questions. So here's one: when should you sell your investment property?

When you have a better investment.

How do you know? Here's where the work and the judgment come in.

It's my personal opinion that most investment property owners hold too long. It's understandable; it's a lot of work to market your property, sell it, and find another one. However, the market is always changing, and your excellent decision of 2010 is probably not the best decision in 2013.  Interest rates change, business changes, and population moves. Hanging on to a property may not be a bad plan, but it's rarely the best strategy to make the most in real estate.

This strategy implies a constant monitoring of other investments. Right now, I personally believe that commercial real estate, particularly multi-family, is the best sector for investment and appreciation. However, real estate related stocks might be good, too. The smart investors are always looking at things they turned down in the past; maybe they changed and are better now.

As a commercial real estate professional, I notice that I deal with a lot of mature people with assets. That kind of person probably has learned to be careful with risk, and fairly opinionated (since they're successful, they have every right to trust their own opinions).

However, it's easy to make judgements too quickly. It takes some effort to keep your mind open when you think you already know the answers (I'm really talking about myself here, not you), but I've been surprised in the past when I found the facts were very different from my beliefs.

The U.S. real estate market has changed much more than anyone would have guessed, before the Global Financial Crisis. The rate of change is not slowing down--it's actually speeding up. Stay open minded, and see the opportunities before the crowd.