Real Estate & Investing

Chris B. Jenkins asked:


Everyone you know seems to be getting into the real property investment bandwagon. Their prospects for revenues seem bright, and you are almost tempted to get into real property investment yourself. Only, you need to be convinced some more.

It is a good thing to take your time in deciding whether or not to go into real property investment, especially so if you are eyeing commercial property investment. Investing in commercial property often entails bigger investment costs and higher risks. The secret to a successful real property investment venture is to know the property that you intend to purchase, and to make sure that the risks are low, and the prospects of earning are high. You can do this if you know how or where to look for commercial properties that you can invest in, and how to assess their viability.

The first step is to look for—and find—a good commercial property to buy. If you have been complaining about not finding a promising property after driving around your block or your neighborhood, you are missing the point. The meaning of “searching” means you have to go out of your way to find commercial properties that you can invest in. The Internet is the best place to start your search. It is more convenient and less costly as well, considering that it lets you go places while staying in your couch or desk. There are several websites out there that regularly posts available investment properties from different states, whether urban or rural. There are also the newspaper classified ads, but experts say the Internet is a better search tool.

If you don’t find anything promising to start your commercial property investment venture with, you can also drive out of your neighborhood and around your immediate localities to sniff around for properties. Be especially observant of any abandoned properties that you pass by, as these most often turn out to be the best buys. If you do find any property with potential for commercial use, you may want to set a preliminary meeting with the owner to see if he is open to selling it. There are others also who resist the urge to ask a real estate agent for advice. Expert investors do this a lot, especially those who are admittedly not experts in the matter of real estate. A real estate can do a lot of great things for you, such as help you look for promising properties, or compare your prospective property investments.

Once you have found what looks like a good investment, it is now time to assess and see if it is really a smart move to purchase the property. For this purpose, you need to look at your expectations for the commercial property, looking at it as an investment rather than a piece of property that you would like to own forever. How many returns do you expect it to generate? This is called the quantitative approach. Then follow through with the qualitative approach, this time assessing whether or not your goals are realistic, given the amount of time, commitment and money that the investment requires. If it appears that this is something that is feasible for you, then you are ready to sign on the dotted line.

Surinder Ahitan asked:


Whenever I get asked by anyone how to invest in property, I respond with a series of questions:

• What are your financial aims? In other words what are you after? Are you seeking an income, capital or both?

There is a big difference between wanting to retire in 2 years so you can live off your investment income and wanting to help your children with tuition expenses in 12 years.

• Will you need to borrow money and how much risk are you willing to take?

• Will you consider investing overseas, and if so, where will you invest – Europe, the Far East or the Middle East.

• What level of risk are you willing to take?

• What happens if you need your money back quickly?

Remember, liquidity is a major problem in property investment. If you invest in the stocks and share market, you can pick up the phone and sell in minutes. That’s liquity. Just try doing that with property and you’ll see that it’s a completely different story.

• What about your tax liability and what would happen if it all went wrong?

• Do you want to invest in commercial or residential? Do you even know the difference?

These are the type of questions you should be asking yourself before you dive in and invest in property. It’s very helpful to write down your reasons for wanting to invest in property. You can always revise your list if you change your mind about your investment motives. But I guarantee you won’t be sorry for spending a little time up front making the list. On the other hand, if you’re unable to come up with any motivating factors for investing, you’re also setting yourself up for failure.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it’s a crucial part of the process if you want to succeed. Remember: buying property BEGINS with a well thought out plan for your exit strategy!

You should also be aware of the intense marketing hype of many online estate agent sites; they often prey on gullible, uninformed individuals. Be careful not to fall for the hype regarding the off plan deals marketed in nearly every country. Media such as glossy overseas magazines that advertise second homes for sale as investments are often very misleading.

Another word of caution – don’t be fooled or conned by the promises of “get rich quick” property schemes. Property is a long-term investment. It’s easy to lose sight of this as you hear any number of different, new and possibly more exciting property investment strategies that appear to be making money NOW. Years ago you could purchase reasonably-priced property, rent it out and make good money in a relatively short period of time. However, times have changed and this is no longer the case.

Not all real estate agents will be upfront about this fact. Like many others, you may mistakenly assume that your real estate agent is determined to help you obtain the best possible return for your money. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. The main goal of real estate agents is to sell property – period. Do you think it is in their best interest to convince you to make long-term property investments? Definitely not!

Media resources can also hamper your property investment opportunities by writing bad or good reports about property investments that simply aren’t true. Property-related journalists are being paid to write, not to conduct research about the real estate market or lucrative investment opportunities.

Advertising is big business and journalists may be paid to write a scathing or glowing report about various overseas or local investments that is completely false. Hence, it’s best to ignore the majority of what you read in the magazines and conduct some solid market research on your own. After all, it’s your money so you want to invest it wisely!

Fortunately, there are some reliable resources available to help you learn about current trends in the property market. Start by consulting one of the following websites before you invest in any of your hard-earned cash:

Collierscre – One of the leading worldwide real estate consultancies

Knight Frank – Residential and commerical property professionals

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – Leading source of information relating to construction, the environment, property and land

Estates Gazette – Magazine offering detailed information about commercial property trends

Also be sure to talk to local real estate agents as well as some reliable rental management companies. They can discuss some of the more successful local invesment property strategies. Don’t forget about members of your local business community and shop owners in your community. They can prove to be invaluable sources of information when it comes to local property invesmtent.

If you establish clear investment targets, you can focus only on the relevant types of property. I don’t recommend choosing more than two property types if you’re an inexperienced property investor. Given the vast amount of possible investment properties, this small step can save you a lot of wasted hours.

You should also limit the cities you’re considering to one or two. You can then determine the best and worst investment areas of a specific city by analyzing various factors such as crime and employment statistics.

The bottom line is don’t rely on only the latest investment fads to determine where to invest your money. This can prove to be a very costly mistake, especially if you are new to property investment. Spend some time determining your motivating factors for investing, ask yourself several important questions and narrow your target area to one or two cities. These steps will greatly improve your chance of success. With a little planning and advice, you can develop a clear investment strategy and avoid the most common property investment mistake.

James Kobzeff asked:


cle covers six dynamite real estate investing tips intended to help anyone just getting started in real estate investing to successfully launch and hit the ground running with real estate investment property.

1. Develop the Correct Attitude

To stand a chance of succeeding at real estate investing, foremost, you must understand that real estate investment is a business, and you will become the CEO of that business.

As your first order of business, then, it’s crucial to develop the correct mind-set about investment real estate and be able to make this distinction between buying a home and investing in real estate:

“You buy a home to live and raise a family; you buy real estate investment property to pay for the home, live comfortably, and raise your family in style”

As one very successful real estate investor said, “Only women are beautiful, what are the numbers?” In other words, you will not succeed at real estate investing until you acknowledge that it’s not curb appeal, amenities, floor plan, or neighborhood that should turn you on or off to the investment opportunity; what counts most is the property’s financial performance.

2. Develop Meaningful Objectives

A meaningful set of (realistic) objectives that frames your investment strategy is one of the most important elements of successful investing. Yes, we may all desire to make millions of dollars from real estate investing, but fantasy is not the same as expressing specific goals and a method on how to achieve it.

Here are some suggestions:

How much cash are you willing to invest comfortably? What rate of return are you hoping to achieve by making the investment in real estate? Are you expecting instant cash flow, looking to make your money when the property is resold, or merely looking to achieve tax shelter benefits? How long are you planning to hold the property before you dispose of it? What amount of your own effort can you afford to contribute to the day-to-day operation of running the property? What net worth are you hoping investing will help you to achieve, and by when would you like to achieve it? What type of income property do you feel most comfortable owning, residential or commercial, or does it matter?

3. Develop Market Research

If you’re new to real estate investing, you undoubtedly know little about investment real estate in your local market. So, do market research to learn as much as you can about income property values, rents, and occupancy rates in your area. The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to recognize a good (or bad) deal when you see it.

Here are some good resources:

(a) The local newspaper, (b) A local appraiser, (c) The county tax assessor, (d) A qualified local real estate professional, (e) A local property management company

4. Run the Numbers

I can’t stress enough the importance of running the property’s cash flow, rates of return, and profitability numbers. Remember, real estate investing is a business, and as the CEO of your investment enterprise, you’ve got to know what you’re buying, especially if you’re trying to determine which of several investment opportunities would be the most profitable.

You have two options:

(a) Invest in real estate investment software. This will enable you to discover for yourself the investment property’s cash flow and rates of return, and create your own analysis reports. Plus, by running the numbers yourself, you gain a broader understanding of real estate investing nuances, and in turn might be less likely to fall victim to the wiles of someone with little concern about how you spend your money.

(b) At the very least, work with a real estate professional that has invested in real estate investment software and can calculate, present, and discuss the property’s financial data with you.

5. Develop a Relationship with a Qualified Real Estate Professional

Working with a qualified real estate professional is a great way for beginners to get started with rental property investing because an astute professional can acquaint you with local market conditions, recommend a property that meets your investing objectives, and discuss strengths and weaknesses about specific property performance.

Here’s a warning, however: Work with a real estate person who understands investment real estate.

Be sure the agent has a firm grip on key financial measures inherent to real estate investing, knows how to measure profitability and rate of return, has the ability to present the data you need to make wise investment decisions, and, most importantly, shows a genuine interest in how you spend your money. The last thing you want to do is to get involved with a real estate agent that would throw you under the bus just to make a commission.

Here’s a good way to interview for an agent. Ask them for the property’s cap rate and then request an APOD. If their response (even to these basics) is to stand there looking at you like a deer into the headlights of a car, find another agent.

6. Start Investing

Hopefully, this has given you some insight into real estate investing, highlighted a few things to make you a more prudent real estate investor, and perhaps alerted you to a couple of things that should be avoided.

Okay, that does it for us, now it’s time for you to get started. Here’s to your success.