Refine your real estate search first or waste lots of time or lose millions of dollars!

 You must be very careful when you are choosing your ideal property type by first refining your real estate search parameters BEFORE going out enthusiastically going out and buying your investment.

Careful and steady is the main character of the successful real estate investor. If you are an impatient and reckless pretender you will be tied up in deals that will not only bankrupt you but financially imprison all your descendants up to three generations.

You need to write down your intended goal. Do you wish to buy and hold or to sell immediately?

You need to write down the exact type of property you wish to invest in starting with choosing commercial or residential or agricultural. When you choose one you completely disregard the other types and walk away from anyone who tries to distract you.

Remember that the deal of the year comes every week, do not rush.

After choosing the major real estate category you must choose the ideal location which you can invest in and get a descent return on your time and financial investment. Do not take shortcuts; the area you choose must be either good for rental income or for capital gains depending on your intended goal. Do not deviate from this path while searching otherwise you risk buying a property more suited to renting in an area where you won’t get adequate rental income or a property that is more suited to resell in a place where people just want to rent. It happens, trust me on this, I have done this mistake a few times.

After choosing a great location, do the appropriate leg-work. Is the area changing, is employment on the increase, are there appropriate houses on sale in the area?

Do you see that the amount you can afford only comes now in your real estate search plan? Most people put this step first and it shuts their enthusiasm out of the bat before they even have a chance to get of their backsides to look. I see them all around me saying things like, “The real estate market is down and I can’t afford real estate investments and How do you make money with properties when they are so expensive?”

I try not to listen to them because I not only do not have the time to entertain them (such people demand to be entertained, they probably watch Reality shows back to back), but I am too busy profiting from their ignorance and laziness. Poverty is non-existent and people have the mental resources to change their own circumstances.

I do not mean to sound harsh but this is the harsh truth and you will do well to forget what they say and follow your own beliefs and go for it.

The next step to follow when you find your ideal real estate investment in an area that matches your goals and is within your price range; is to asses it deeper. The search must yield you with about 3 to 5 ideal properties that you would like to buy. If the yield is smaller you must keep looking and if it is larger you must apply your preferences more strictly and narrow it down.

To asses properties you need experts. Do not take shortcuts; remember you are buying to resell after you improve or to rent after you also improve. Improvements can seriously throw your budget out of whack and you end up indebted and unable to profit from your property investment.

An expert in assessing the structural integrity of your future acquisition has to be an accredited contractor with current and up-to-date membership in the national builders or contractors association. Yes, they cost some money but the property repairs will cost you ten times more.

After the contractor’s evaluation get the real estate assessor to assess the worth of the property with a realistic estimation with your intended improvements. Another expert is a rental agent or real estate agent depending on whether you wish to rent or to flip the property. The estimations of the experts must not be too far above your expectations or your real estate search was highly flawed.

Remember that you do not wish to be surprised by anything. The exciting part of real estate investing is when you make money not when you are paying or building your investment.

After the experts have given you the best estimations and you can handle the downside plus 30% margin of error then you should place a low but not insulting offer. The offer must take into account the findings and include the market value assessments less the location or the cost for repairs. Remember not to include the costs for improvements or the new market value estimates after the improvements or the current owner will just do it themselves and then up the selling price. Do not gloat after they sell to you, it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and you will quickly develop a very negative reputation.

Remember that you make money when you buy cheaply and humility is the most powerful way to reduce asking price on any real estate deal. Don’t show up with your Lamborghini at the private viewing and do not make it obvious that you are acting poor when clearly you are not. Don’t act too poor either or they will question whether you can afford the property.

So to make money in real estate make sure your search is laser sharp and energetic. You can make millions of dollars or lose millions in property investment deals.