3 Tips For Beginning Property Investors
Posted on: 12 November 2015
If you are interested in investing in property, you need to be prepared to invest a considerable amount of time into the learning process. Here are three things you should do as a beginning property investor.
#1 Determine Your Investment Area
The first thing you need to do is determine your investment area. You need to decide if you want to spend time learning about either residential or commercial properties in your area. Both types of properties allow you to be a landlord and make a return on your investment; however, working with residential rentals and commercial rentals are entirely different experiences.
With residential rental properties, you will need to focus on keeping your properties filled and general property maintenance. With commercial rentals, you'll need to work with a business and perhaps even renovate your property to fit their needs.
Determine if you want to focus on learning more about residential or commercial opportunities in your area before you move onto the next step.
#2 Get Out & Analyze The Local Market
Once you determine the area you want to focus on, you need to get out there and analyze the market. Don't just sit at your computer and look at properties; schedule viewings and go the actual locations. This will allow you to really get to know the quality of properties that are available for investment opportunities and will allow you to really get to know the neighborhoods they are located in.
You should try and see as many locations as possible so you can really get a feel for the opportunities that are out there. Try to visit and view somewhere between 75 to 100 properties; although that number may seem like a lot, viewing properties is a great hands-on way to learn about the feasibility of investing in property in your area.
As you visit each property, make sure you collect information such as asking price, the expected monthly rent, and the level of repairs the property needs. Depending on the type of properties you are looking at, you add additional categories to your list. Put all the information you collect into a spreadsheet so you can get a visual overview of the investment landscape you are interested in.
#3 Determine What Matters To You
After you have spent considerable time looking at local properties and analyzing the market, use that information to determine what matters to you.
For example, you may want the rent to be higher than your payments on the property. Or perhaps you are willing to purchase more run-down properties if you believe that the repair budget is reasonable and that you will be able to make your money back after the property is fixed up.
These factors will likely be based on both personal and financial reasons. You need to determine what level of money you want to invest and what type of return you want to make on your investment.
Before you just snatch up the first investment opportunity that comes your way, make sure that you take some time to really study the market and figure out what is really out there. Once you do that, determine what you are willing to invest and put into a property investment. When you have done both of these things, you'll be ready to put in an offer on any property that meets your criteria. If you're looking for a local realty company, visit Plaza Realty.
Share