Ok, these aren’t really secrets, but they are good advice. Once upon a time back in the days of the Wild West, Easterners who traveled West looking for opportunity were often called a ‘tenderfoot’. This wasn’t a complimentary term but it was a rather apt one. They wore ‘city’ shoes that weren’t designed to withstand the rigors of the western terrain, not to mention their hats didn’t have wide brims, and their clothing wasn’t sturdy.
These new Westerners didn’t know how to take care of themselves and avoid danger, because they didn’t know what was dangerous. If you are just beginning to consider the idea of investing in real estate, you are a tenderfoot and you do need some instruction to avoid losing your shirt…and probably your pants, hat and boots, as well.
We’ve talked a bit in prior blog posts about how to find investment property, but today, we’ll take an even bigger step back. First and foremost, you will need to determine what your strategy will be in real estate investing. Do you want to buy a property, fix it up and sell it quickly or do you want to buy a property, hold it and wait for the market to increase? Do you want to deal with renters?
You will need to learn how to investigate the value of properties yourself. It isn’t fair to use the time of a real estate agent and have them show you property after property while you try to look for a good deal.
There are several online sites that are helpful in determining a more realistic value of real estate. Don’t rely on tax records as they are not reliable and probably not accurate either.
After you have learned how to determine property values yourself and have chosen a real estate agent that you can work with, the next thing that you need is a professional mortgage broker that you can also work with. Ask your real estate agent or friends for the names of three mortgage brokers. Talk with them about your goals, and see which one you mesh with best.
Then you need to get pre-qualified or pre-approved, which we’ve talked about in the past as well. It’s essential to be pre-approved if you want to move quickly when you find a property.
Once you have all of your ‘ducks in a row’, it takes about 30 days to make the final close of escrow.
Okay, remember the first thing that you needed to do? (Determining your strategy.) Now is the time for you to execute that strategy. If you bought it with the strategy of flipping it when the market went up, you just simply wait. If you bought it with the strategy of renovating and then selling, then it is time to start your renovations. And, if you bought it with the strategy of renting it, now is time to start looking for tenants.
There are several online sites that are helpful in determining a more realistic value of real estate. Don’t rely on tax records as they are not reliable and probably not accurate either.
After you have learned how to determine property values yourself and have chosen a real estate agent that you can work with, the next thing that you need is a professional mortgage broker that you can also work with. Ask your real estate agent or friends for the names of three mortgage brokers. Talk with them about your goals, and see which one you mesh with best.
Then you need to get pre-qualified or pre-approved, which we’ve talked about in the past as well. It’s essential to be pre-approved if you want to move quickly when you find a property.
Once you have all of your ‘ducks in a row’, it takes about 30 days to make the final close of escrow.
Okay, remember the first thing that you needed to do? (Determining your strategy.) Now is the time for you to execute that strategy. If you bought it with the strategy of flipping it when the market went up, you just simply wait. If you bought it with the strategy of renovating and then selling, then it is time to start your renovations. And, if you bought it with the strategy of renting it, now is time to start looking for tenants.
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