What’s the smartest rule when buying an investment property?

Insight

The results split clearly between time (40%) and price (40%) as the dominant investment strategies, with a smaller group (20%) prioritizing personal appeal.

This suggests that most buyers think of real estate investment in terms of timing and entry price, two factors that they can control, rather than positioning within the market.

What Most People Miss

Notably, no one selected “best in its niche,” which requires evaluating the property relative to others. That type of judgment is less obvious and harder to quantify, yet it often has the greatest impact on performance. 

Investors often rely on time in the market and buying well to drive returns. But when it comes time to sell, performance is not determined by price alone, it’s determined by how the property compares to everything else available at that moment.

A property that stands out within its category, better layout, better line, better views, better positioning, has a structural advantage in any market condition.

Time and price help you enter the market well, but positioning determines how well you exit.

What makes a property seem like a “good deal”?

Insight

A majority of respondents (53%) associate a “good deal” with long-term potential, followed by immediate visual appeal (29%). Only a smaller group relies on pricing signals such as being below comparable homes (18%), and none consider price reductions meaningful.

This indicates that buyers are not primarily reacting to discounts or urgency. Instead, they define value through a combination of future upside and perceived quality.

What Most People Miss

There is a clear gap between how buyers define a good deal and how they make decisions.

In the first poll, respondents focused on time and price as the smartest investment strategies, while overlooking the importance of buying the best property in its niche. Yet in this poll, the majority selected long-term potential as the defining factor of value.

Long-term potential is not created by time alone. It is driven by how a property stands out in its category. The properties that perform best are the ones that differentiate immediately and justify their value over time.

At the same time, nearly a third chose “looks better than expected.” This reveals a second layer: buyers recognize value intellectually, but their initial evaluation of a property is often emotional.

This is important to keep in mind, how a property presents itself in the first moments can shape how its value is perceived from that point forward.

Header image courtesy of Jordan Lederman. Las Palmas 21 A Casa de Campo, La Romana, Dominic, Dominican Republic. View property here.

^{Poll conducted across Fortune Christie’s social media platforms in 2026. Responses include buyers, sellers, and agents.}