The market has been extremely unpredictable and volatile for the last few months, and there’s no end in sight. With such an unpredictable market, we have no choice but to turn to real estate investment experts like Ryan Hoggan.

Ryan Hoggan has been in the real estate game for a long, long time. He’s seen his fair share of ups, downs, and bubbles, so there’s no one that has more experience than him.

I was able to sit down with Ryan Hoggan for an interview, and I picked his brain for advice on the current real estate market.

Do you think it’s worth hopping into the real estate game at the moment?

It all depends on your current market, but overall yes, I think it’s a good time. I’d hate to say it, but it looks like a recession is coming. The government is likely going to continue increasing interest rates until inflation is settled down, and who knows how long that’ll take.

So, now is a much better time to get into real estate than 6 months to a year from now, when interest rates are much higher.

You mentioned “your” current market. Can you expand on that? Are we not in the same market?

Investing in real estate isn’t the same as investing in stocks. Real estate is always a local market, and that’s what makes it tricky. If you’re in Michigan, you can’t take a lot of advice from someone in Florida or Texas.

You can’t even take advice from someone in the next county over. Real estate is a local market, and you have to take a look at your local market to know how you should navigate it. Knowing what to do comes with experience and research.

So how can people know what decisions to make in times like this? If real estate is always local, is there no way to predict what the future looks like?

Not exactly. Real estate is always local, but patterns exist everywhere, even in real estate. So, while you can’t base your investment decisions on what is currently happening across the country, you can certainly look at past bubbles, bubble bursts, recessions, etc., and determine the best course of action.

Of course, there is a lot to look at and study, and it takes many years of dedicated studying and practice to know how to navigate specific markets. This is doubly true for unpredictable markets like the one we’re in right now.

If you could say one thing to those looking to invest in real estate right now, what would it be?

The fundamentals are still important. In fact, they’re more important than ever. It was actually hard not to make money investing for the last couple of years, but eventually, it always catches back up to use.

For the past couple of years, it was easy to make a bad investment and still make money, as crazy as that sounds. Now, you have to make those good, solid investments. This takes a very high understanding of fundamentals.

Can you explain some of those fundamentals? How can people make money right now?

Spend time planning out your investments. If you’re investing in a rental, how much are you going to rent it out for? How much money will you spend on maintenance?

How long before you make your money back? Are you going to finance it, even with the increased interest rates? There are so many things to think about, and it’s not easy, especially nowadays.