2-14-06
Thousands of people fall for “get rich quick” schemes, when in fact, the only people who are making the money are the ones selling the product.
Flip around the channels on your television or surf the internet and you will likely find somebody promising to make you wealthy and your life one of easy living.
This could be from answering emails, buying real estate WITH NO MONEY DOWN or many other ways.
The sales people use copy writers to attract us to whatever need we want. All for a low-low price.
Most of the information they send out is worthless. If you want to find out about buying real estate, do a search for real estate. You will come across people trying to sell you stuff that probably won’t work, but there is a ton of information out there in cyberland about buying real estate.
Many people buy the courses or the information and if they follow through on the suggestions, find out they are in worse shape than they were previously. This isn’t always true. But if you are interested in say buying investment real estate, research the topic first.
If you do buy real estate the right way, that could eventually be your calling. Based on some of the things we have learned through the years, here are a few simple tips.
1. Research your market. Go through the newspaper, shopper or web sites in your area. Then go look at the houses and compare prices.
2. Make sure your finances are in order before you start buying real estate.
3. You make money when you buy the property, not when you sell. That means to buy property at a good price, not the first one you come across. You can find houses for sale at a bargain, through proper research. There are a lot of people needing to sell their houses because of job changes, divorce, bankruptcy or because they are buying another home.
4. The best way to make money through real estate is to buy the house, make a few cosmetic changes and then resell or flip the house.
5. Don’t buy the nicest house in a neighborhood, unless it is a really good buy. Also, don’t buy homes in rough neighborhoods. The chances of reselling or getting somebody in the home will be tough and you will have to put up with people messing up your property.
6. If you do want to buy some rental property, follow the same advice as above. But you will need to know how much property in this area will rent for and make sure after you make your payments, pay the insurance and taxes, that you will make a profit.
7. After you get your feet wet by buying single-family houses, consider moving up to multi-family units such as a duplex, triplex, fourplex or above.
8. If there are any economic factors that could cause a downgrade of property values, don’t buy. Wait until prices have dropped and that will be the time to buy. Even if you get a great deal on a house when the market is hot, if the market cools off, that could wipe out whatever equity you have built up.
9. Unless you are a good handy man or woman, don’t buy property where you are responsible for maintenance. That is why it is better to buy and resell the property. If you do want to buy and rent the property out, consider doing a lease with an option to buy. I love these deals and that is what we do on most of our investment property. First off, we get some option money up front that reduces the sale price. Then, the renter is responsible for maintenance, upkeep and a lot of other expenses.
10. Don’t get greedy. If you are using the property as rental, don’t take all the income and blow it. Put some back in case the property becomes vacant or you need to repair something. Also, if you are trying to flip the property and you get a good offer, even though you think the property can bring more, go for it. Then go and find another good deal.
Again, these are just a few lessons I have picked up through the years with our properties and dealing with other real estate investors.
Flip around the channels on your television or surf the internet and you will likely find somebody promising to make you wealthy and your life one of easy living.
This could be from answering emails, buying real estate WITH NO MONEY DOWN or many other ways.
The sales people use copy writers to attract us to whatever need we want. All for a low-low price.
Most of the information they send out is worthless. If you want to find out about buying real estate, do a search for real estate. You will come across people trying to sell you stuff that probably won’t work, but there is a ton of information out there in cyberland about buying real estate.
Many people buy the courses or the information and if they follow through on the suggestions, find out they are in worse shape than they were previously. This isn’t always true. But if you are interested in say buying investment real estate, research the topic first.
If you do buy real estate the right way, that could eventually be your calling. Based on some of the things we have learned through the years, here are a few simple tips.
1. Research your market. Go through the newspaper, shopper or web sites in your area. Then go look at the houses and compare prices.
2. Make sure your finances are in order before you start buying real estate.
3. You make money when you buy the property, not when you sell. That means to buy property at a good price, not the first one you come across. You can find houses for sale at a bargain, through proper research. There are a lot of people needing to sell their houses because of job changes, divorce, bankruptcy or because they are buying another home.
4. The best way to make money through real estate is to buy the house, make a few cosmetic changes and then resell or flip the house.
5. Don’t buy the nicest house in a neighborhood, unless it is a really good buy. Also, don’t buy homes in rough neighborhoods. The chances of reselling or getting somebody in the home will be tough and you will have to put up with people messing up your property.
6. If you do want to buy some rental property, follow the same advice as above. But you will need to know how much property in this area will rent for and make sure after you make your payments, pay the insurance and taxes, that you will make a profit.
7. After you get your feet wet by buying single-family houses, consider moving up to multi-family units such as a duplex, triplex, fourplex or above.
8. If there are any economic factors that could cause a downgrade of property values, don’t buy. Wait until prices have dropped and that will be the time to buy. Even if you get a great deal on a house when the market is hot, if the market cools off, that could wipe out whatever equity you have built up.
9. Unless you are a good handy man or woman, don’t buy property where you are responsible for maintenance. That is why it is better to buy and resell the property. If you do want to buy and rent the property out, consider doing a lease with an option to buy. I love these deals and that is what we do on most of our investment property. First off, we get some option money up front that reduces the sale price. Then, the renter is responsible for maintenance, upkeep and a lot of other expenses.
10. Don’t get greedy. If you are using the property as rental, don’t take all the income and blow it. Put some back in case the property becomes vacant or you need to repair something. Also, if you are trying to flip the property and you get a good offer, even though you think the property can bring more, go for it. Then go and find another good deal.
Again, these are just a few lessons I have picked up through the years with our properties and dealing with other real estate investors.
posted by Craig Hall | 4:30 AM
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