If you’re investing in real estate, we have some helpful tips for you. Some of the tips are applicable for all investors, and some are more helpful for beginners.
If you are a long-distance investor, these tips can also help when choosing a local company to guide you through real estate investing. The tips we talk about here, are the things you want to look for in a local Investment Group.
Here are the tips, as succinctly as we can put them, so they’re easy to remember.
#1 Be Patient and Think Long Term
Get-rich-quick schemes don’t result in long-term financial gains.
Real estate ownership is one of the best ways to build wealth and financial security, while providing a steady stream of income.
#2 Keep Saving
Continue to work and save, at least until you can live independently as a real estate investor. This will give you the ability to make more investments, increase your cash flow, and get better financing.
#3 Look for Cash Flow Properties
The best real estate investments are those that can immediately generate cash. Learn the physical characteristics of high cash flow properties, and be ready to snatch them up.
#4 Listen to Your Gut
If you are uneasy about an investment, even after all the due diligence involved in finding a great investment, listen to your gut.
There’s probably a reason for the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach or tightness in your chest. There are a lot of good real estate deals out there, so there’s no need to jump into a deal you could regret.
#5 Avoid Luxury Properties
Especially when starting out, it’s best to stay away from luxury properties.
As a beginner investor, especially if you’re not going to use services from a real estate investment firm, you’re more likely to make mistakes. One mistake with a multimillion-dollar property could quickly end your real estate career. Besides, there’s a lot of money to be made with less expensive properties, and the mistakes don’t hurt nearly as bad.
#6 Stay Away from Fixer-Uppers, Unless You Have an Expert Team
Most investment properties need some work before they’re put on the rental market. Often times, properties that need a little more work can be purchased at a lower price, resulting in higher cash flow and more profits.
Beginners in real estate should be careful. Without an expert team to find, purchase, rehab, maintain, and manage the property, it can be difficult to reap the rewards of a high profit fixer-upper.
#7 Research, Research, Research
Knowledge is power, and that is certainly true with real estate investing.
Make investments based on sound research backed by a proven track record. This is the only way you can limit your loses and increase your profits.
#8 Location, Location, Location
Location is more important than nearly everything else when it comes to real estate investing.
Research neighborhoods down to the street and the block before buying your first investment property. A poor location equals a poor investment, no matter the price or condition. Stick with profitable neighborhoods.
#9 Live There First
Experienced investors with investments in different parts of the world often times use local firms to help navigate local real estate markets.
If you are going to personally choose, purchase, rehab, maintain and manage your own properties, you’ll find it difficult to be successful without intimate knowledge of the community. So for these investors, a good rule of thumb is to live in a community before you begin investing there.
#10 If it Sounds Too Good to Be True, It’s Too Good to Be True
Two good adages are: “There’s no free lunch,” and “Unscrupulous men sell to suckers.”
Profiting from real estate investing is hard work. It’s not a get rich quick scheme, and there’s no free lunch. If you here someone pitch a real estate deal that sounds too good to be true, conclude that it’s too good to be true and move to the next deal.
#11 Use Conservative Estimates
When running the numbers, be conservatively realistic by overestimating renovation costs and underestimating rental income.
This will help you search for the better investments, rather than settle for mediocre properties.
#12 Prepare for Hiccups
There will always be snags and unexpected problems. Be prepared to quickly and efficiently respond. Keep your properties up to date, keep good insurance on each property, and keep extra cash on hand to address problems as they occur.
Invest Like a Pro
Professional real estate investors don’t have the time or inclination to be experts in every community in which they invest. They can make more money by using experts in each community to purchase, rehab, maintain, and manage the properties.
We are an experienced Investment Group wholesaling properties in the Northwest coast of Florida with an office in Tampa. When you are ready to investigate real estate in one of the best places to invest, please fill out our Investor Profile or contact us direct.
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