Posts Tagged ‘investment property’

Choose Investment Property With Care

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Deciding to look at real-estate for investment in your financial future usually brings on numerous questions especially for beginners.

If you listen to some real-estate experts, they will tell you that a good way to getting started is by doing what is known as birddogging – this is where you run around looking for dilapidated properties which you pass onto an experienced developer who buys it and gives you commission, called a referral or a birddog fee.

This option may be a good way to start gaining some experience and gain knowledge, but its ability to make you lots of money is quite limited as the developer is tho one who makes the real money.

The next step most people take is known as wholesaling – similar to birddogging, but taking it a bit further – it involves finding the abandoned or rundown houses but actually negotiating and buying the property at a wholesale’ price and then finding an investor to turn or ‘flip’ the property, making a tidy little profit as part of the deal.

A great many books and courses are available on this process, and many a good investor had their beginnings like this, but there are pitfalls that need to be avoided, especially for the inexperienced punter. The learning curve is often long and slow and money need to be risked – as will all risks, as the term implies there is the possibility of losing money.

Short sales are another way for beginners to break into the property ladder game. This involves dealing directly with banks and financial institutions regarding a property that is in or about to be in foreclosure. This process of ’short sales’ can lead to buying properties at a greatly undervalued price but the process of negotiation is quite complicated and the details are long – be prepared to do your homework and play the waiting game.

These above mentioned methods are only 3 of many many ways of getting into the investment property game. we will be looking at some of the other methods in upcoming articles so be sure to look out for these.

Find Investment Property Online

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

As the market fluctuates in shares and property, many investors have decided to invest more into the property market as it is more stable and offering a better return. But having a rental property, there is still a lot of responsibilities that come with it, such as finding someone to rent it and managing the people living with it and ensuring they are looking after your investment.

Before deciding to buy into an investment property you need to consider a few things like, how long will I invest for, because the longer you decide to keep the property the more maintenance repairs and improvements that will be required over the years. Things that you may need to consider if you keep your investment property for around 20 years is roof repairs, paint, electrical etc.

You have to also consider the market you are buying in, if it is overheated, you won’t want to be selling up in 5 years, therefore you need to consider if you do how are you going to cover yourself to ensure you don’t lose money. For small investors long term ownership is the way to go, as you will have plenty of time to ride the market wave and sell in the best time to ensure you maximize your return.

A lot of research is required when buying a rental property, location, bank interest rates, what are renters looking for can you rent it out for the right price. All these things need to be considered so sometimes it is in your best interest to look at Associations in your start that can offer you information on what is currently happening in the rental market.

So people have bought rental properties that they have been renting themselves for years, owners get fed up and want to sell, this way you know what you are getting and you may be able to negotiate a good price with the owner.

Many landlords advise that it is important to have cash reserves available when buying a property as many things may arise, in regards to repairs or not being able to find a tenant.