Info For The New Real Estate Investor
ByOne of the best ways to get started with building your own personal wealth-building system is by investing in real estate. Becoming a real estate investor is a daunting task, but one that will, if operated efficiently, pay dividends forever.
How does one start with the business of real estate investing? Let’s look at plans to get started buying and selling real estate property:
Plug into your local real estate investors association. Most medium to large communities have a real estate club where other real estate investors attend regular meetings. These are other investors with the same goals and dreams as you.
Most of these clubs are very open with new members or any one interested in investing. So show up and mingle. Most investors love to share war stories or exchange information on purchases they have mad or services they have used.
Before you spend a dime. Make sure you map out what you want to invest in and what youre going to do with it. BE SPECIFIC. What type of property? Are you going to hold it for appreciation or are you going to turn it over?
At first you need to decide on what type of property to start with. If your goal is to find distressed houses then focus on those. If you want to deal with the condo market…then thats where you look. Keep in mind when you focus on one area you will become more understanding of what those types of property can be sold for, not to mention how much it cost to get them sale ready.
Building your team is the hardest part of the whole process. You need to find good quality craftsmen who wont break your budget. Contractors, sub-contractors, plumbers, electrical guys…all of these are important. GREAT ones who do good work are harder to find then a good real estate deal. When you find one…hold on to them.
So lets say you choose to do the “fix and flip” game. People to have on your team are a contractor, electrician, plumber, and to be safe a heating/air condition guy. Now if you can find one…and the property isnt getting major work (like say a room addition) you can get away with a good handyman who does all the above.
Find a good agent. This is harder than you might think. You see most agents dont work well with investors. Why? Investors want the agent to do tons of work the normal buyer doesnt. Offers counter offers…spread sheets to show profits and losses…not to mention all the surrounding research on the sales in the area in the last 6-12 months. A good agent will do this. A good agent understands that they may sell you more than one house in a years time…and that means repeat business for the agent.
Exit Strategy. How to unload your investment. Think about how youre going to sell it. Are you listing it yourself?? Or using the great agent you found. How long will you stick with a price before you lower it? These are things to make sure you have set up in your plan already.
Are mistakes going to happen? Yes. They happen to every real estate investor…the trick is to learn how to spot them. The longer you hold on to a property the lower your profit.
Be resourceful and pay attention to your bottom line. Build a good team and you will have a nice profit at the end of every investment.
Doc Schmyz has done real estate deals all over the US. He owns a free website that shares Real estate investing information for all over the US. Find real estate information by state