New To Real Estate Investing?
December 14, 2009 by Doc Schmyz
Filed under Investing
So you decided to get into real estate investing. Good for you! While at first, real estate investing can seem a bit overwhelming, if you pay attention, you will be paid in rewards and dividends for years.
Where to start? Well lets look at a few basic tactics for a new investor.
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.
Lets say you choose a “fixer” for your first project. Be ready to put on your team a contractor, an electrician, heating and AC guy…and of course a plumber. Now a word to the wise. IF you can find one…a GREAT handyman will be able to do all the above mentioned and normally at a far cheaper cost.
Working with an investors real estate agent in a dream….but they are a nightmare to find. Interview your agent. Tell them exactly what you want to do. Tell them…I want to invest in real estate…I want to buy x amount of properties a year”. This means you need to have an agent thats willing to do far more for you then just show you a house or two. A good agent will write offers…LOTS of offers, and show you the selling history for a given area.
Time is always a key factor in real estate investing, so always look to ways to “turn” a property in the least amount of time. A property that remains unsold or not rented is eating up profits every day it in your possession. Learn to cut the losses on properties that fail to meet their profit potential.
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 worked with investors all over the US and Canada. He built a free website shares Real estate investing information for all over the US. Findreal estate information by state
