Before buying any property , you should get an engineering report , to make sure that the main systems work ; electric , gas , and water . There should not be any structural problems with these , the foundation , or the beams . There may be plenty of minor faults such as chipped paint , but there should be reflected in a lower selling price . You should welcome such defects because you can increase your profits by fixing them.

　　The bank will do an appraisal , but it will be a cursory one . Instead of trying to pinpoint the exact value for your house , the bank appraiser will use the selling price as a starting point , and then test it for reasonableness . A good (well done , not necessarily favorable )appraisal will tell you what the market thinks of the house and why.

　　Cash flow on real estate is pretty much discretionary , at least after the minimum debt service charges are paid off . You can reinvest it in the property to maintain or improve it , you can prepay your mortgage or you can spend it ,either on more real estate ,or on other items . A property can even be " milked " for short periods of time by deferring maintenance , but that is not a wise long-term strategy . Any way you slice it, cash flow is what ultimately drives the return on real estate . If cash flow after expenses and debt service is negative , the property is priced too high and likely to go down in value . For this reason , one should not think in terms of sacrificing cash flow for "appreciation ."

　　Real estate should be bought for intrinsic(i.e., cash flow) rather than resale value . This is true of stocks, but particularly told in numerous places, most notably by John Paul Getty , of Florida swamp land in the 1920s; in which " investors " bought and sold binders, or contracts, on real estate ; with the intention of "flipping" them within a short time . When one skeptical investor asked the agent to show him the land ,which was under a swamp, the agent explained ," This real estate is for trading , not for owning ." When the craze is over , some haplessinvestor will be left with a worthless piece of property . An only slightly less insidious form of "real estate " is one that is uneconomical , except for tax breaks . Then the investor is hostage to changes in the Tax Code .

　　不管买什么房子，之前你都要拿到该房子的工程报告，以弄明白房子的电、水、和气等主要工作系统。房子的基础、大梁也不能有任何结构性问题。当然，一些小的瑕疵也是不可避免的，比如说油漆脱落，可这应该在价格上有所反应。对于这些缺陷，你应该感到高兴,因为通过修补你还能提高你的收益。

　　银行会出一个评估报告，但却很粗略。银行评估师不会给你的房产定价，只是用卖价作为起点，然后用合理性进行检验。一个好的（做得好却未必有利的）评估报告将会告诉你市场对该房产的反映和市场为什么如此反应。

　　房地产现金流的决定权相当之大，要求至少先支付最低的债务偿还的服务费用。你可以重新投资房地产，以便对其进行维持、改善；你也可以预交抵押贷款的定金，你也可以将其自行花掉（可考试*大用于其它房地产投资，也可用于房地产以外的项目）；房地产的款项甚至可以通过推迟保养而暂为"挪用"，可这从长期来讲，却不是一个明智的策略。不管你如何分配，现金流回报最终都会受房地产的引导。如果现金流在扣除各种花销和债务之后为负，就是说房产的价格过高而趋向于跌价。基于此，就不要指望通过牺牲现金流来达到"涨价"的目的。

　　买房与其用转售价格，不如用其固有（指现金流）价格。这适用于股票，因其较低的流动性，尤其适用于房地产。最著名的要数上世纪20年代佛罗里达沼泽地的约翰·保罗·格蒂，他的故事曾被考试*大多处引用。他提出，投资者带着短期弹压房地产的目的对其基料或合约进行买卖。当一位投资者怀疑的向代理人咨询其地皮为何在沼泽之上时，代理人解释道，"这里的房产只是为了买卖，不是为了拥有。"当狂热过去，一些倒霉的投资者将会剩下一块分文不值的地皮。这种唯一略显狡诈的"房地产"形式除了税额优惠以外，对购房者而言并无经济实惠可言。随之而来的就是这些投资者成了税法改革的人质。
关键字:房地产英语
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