Hunting Down Your Real Estate Investment
After making the decision to become involved in real estate investing, the next step is hunting down the perfect project for you. If it’s your first investment deal or your 50th, locating the right project is the most important part of the process and while things like profit and loss come later, nothing can happen until you locate the property that will get you on your way.
Outsmart and Work Harder
With that in mind, the real estate investment industry is a competitive landscape. To get the best deal, that true gem in the rough, you will have to outsmart and work harder than the slew of other prospective investors looking for an edge. To do so, you’ll need to go beyond just one resource. Instead, you’ll have to be thorough in your search for the perfect property. As always, work hard and dividends will follow. These are some areas you can hit for prospective properties that others may not think up.
Naturally, as in many other areas of business, networking works great for searching out investment deals that others will not be privy to. Get the word out that you’re looking for a possible investment property and you might turn up deals among friends or other acquaintances that have yet to hit the open market. Sometimes these deals have good potential and sometimes they don’t, but getting in on the first round of those that find out about it gives you a sort of right of first refusal that may be invaluable in your real estate dealings.
Do you drive by a property that seems like it has had a “For Rent” sign posted forever? That real estate property may just be a candidate for sale with a frustrated owner that has not fully rented the property. Of course, you must also take into consideration that it has been vacant for a reason. If you can find that reason, perhaps you can solve it after purchase and attract new renters, giving you instant value added to the property.
Existing Properties
Go after properties that might need a little work or that have fallen on tough times. Eviction notices, if published, and abandoned properties offer good hints of owners that are tired of dealing with property and may be willing to sell at a discount. Sometimes these types of situations can scare off investors, but they also present opportunities for those with the courage and ability to wade through the negative connotation of property and search out its potential profitability.
Of course, there’s always the age-old tactic of throwing some money at the problem. Perhaps you know some well-connected real estate professionals with possible leads that have worked on investment properties in the past. Offer a fee for those that find strong investment opportunities and that will offer them to you first before all else. You’ll have to give up some money to get in on this tactic, but having a team out in the field working to find you investment opportunities can unearth strong investment opportunities.
No matter what your tactic, be thorough in your search for a strong investment opportunity and hit areas that perhaps others may have overlooked. Whether that be looking through eviction notices, placing ads in a local paper, or just keeping your nose to the ground in hopes of unearthing an opportunity, you must understand that there are scores of other people out there looking for the same great opportunities. Your commitment to the process and ability to work through periods of nothing but bad investment opportunities will ultimately dictate just how successful you can be with your foray into the real estate investment market.