Real Estate Investing Blog

Real estate investing is a great way to accumulate wealth. Those who get started with finding real estate investment properties - and learn the best methods up front - quickly find that a part time project can become a full time career.

It takes time to really learn the ins and outs of real estate investment. Beyond due diligence, one of the most essential skills that you can learn while you’re getting started comes down to this: where should you be looking to find real estate investment properties?

Here are 5 great places to look:

1. Look for public auctions, divorce settlements and foreclosures (bank/FHA/VA). In each of these situations, you’ll discover that the price that you pay for a home is likely to be lower than the value of the property.
2. Looking for old listings. Once a property has been on the market for a long while, you’ll find that the sellers are far more motivated to just be done with the process. Often, it becomes possible to negotiate the price down, however, in this case you’ll need to be sure that there isn’t some really good reason why the home hasn’t sold - such as it’s completely unsound structurally.
3. Look for hidden treasure. Now that’s not to say that real estate investing is a lot like pulling out a map and looking for the X that marks the spot of a great deal. What it is to say, however, is that there are abandoned properties that are run down and are a deterrent to home buyers because of the amount of work that it will take to get them fixed up. When you’re able to find these properties and make considerable changes, you’ll find that there are profits to be made.
4. Get to know local attorneys. There are a number of attorneys who handle property sales in special circumstances. If you’re someone who has an in with an estate attorney, for example, you’ll find that you can be the first to find out about a home they are looking to liquidate, and that gives you a chance to save on the purchase prive - and to be aware of an investment property that will become available.
5. Keep an eye on announcements in your local newspaper. Foreclosure notices and other legal notices will appear in your newspaper. These can give you a sense of properties that you might want to look into.

When you know where to look to find real estate investment properties - you’ll find that it’s much easier to learn the art of the deal; and that’s something that, over time, will help to ensure that you see the profits that will fuel your business.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under Buying Multiple Properties. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.