"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now." – Chinese proverb

It's understandable if you're feeling hesitant about real estate investing right now. Maybe you've been watching the headlines about "cooling markets" and "stubborn interest rates," or perhaps you're remembering the head-spinning price swings of the pandemic and thinking, "I'll wait until things settle down."

Of the 19.3 million rental properties in the United States, 85.6% are single-family rentals. By and large (70.2%), these properties are owned by individual investors. In fact, the smallest portion of rental properties are owned by real estate corporations and REITs – just 1.2%.

We’ve all seen certain assets and investments go in and out of fashion.

However, real estate has long been a cornerstone of the economy at-large, mostly because land is a finite resource and shelter is an essential human need. There will always, then, be a demand for real estate in some form or fashion. For an investor, this lends certain reliability and stability that you would not find in other asset classes.

No matter what assets you invest in, your return on investment (ROI) is the metric that matters. ROI shows how profitable an investment is compared to purchase and operating costs. When investing in real estate, there are ways you benefit that aren’t reflected in pure profits.

Before you can start generating rental income from your latest property acquisition, you’ve got to go through the process of buying the rental property. That process can be a challenge all on its own – particularly when there are so many financing strategies to consider!

At one time, it was thought that owning a home was a great investment. While this is true in a sense thanks to real estate being a hedge against inflation, your home alone isn’t something to hang your financial hat on. The truth of the matter is more complex: appreciation rates shift based on national, even global, economics, market-specific characteristics, and individual property qualities.

At the foot of the Ozark mountains sits the proud city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. As the second largest city in the state, Tulsa has a storied history as a titan of the energy industry and the cultural and arts hub of Oklahoma.

If you drive up Interstate 55 from Memphis, you’ll reach St. Louis, Missouri in no time at all. The “Gateway to the West” has been part of the REI Nation family of real estate markets for a few years now. As you know, our markets are hand-selected for their long-term wealth-building potential in real estate investment.

Now more than ever, real estate investors are looking for key opportunities in unsuspecting places. In these extreme real estate market conditions, we’re craving reliability and consistency. Beyond the usual suspects, real estate investors would do well to consider secondary and tertiary markets – those that have overcome pandemic-era odds and present fresh, promising opportunities for investors.

Want to succeed as a real estate investor? Know your market. Each of REI Nation’s eleven markets (and counting) has been thoroughly analyzed and vetted for their wealth-building potential. Little Rock, Arkansas is no different.