Part II How to Become a Real Estate Rock Star! (Or at least a successful investor ;o)

Part II in Investing Series of Blogs

Ok, you so you want to be a Real Estate Rockstar! You see yourself telling your friends, oh yeah, I have properties in AZ. Don’t you? Like that idea? Well let’s see how can you get from here to there? The first couple of steps are important. Don’t skip them.

First stop: Find a reliable Realtor. One that has experience in real estate investments. Not a newbie. (I always recommend RealAZ Team at RealAZ.com) Ask friends and neighbors for Realtor’s names, then interview them. Interview a few. Ask questions like:

How long have you been working with investors?

Do you personally own investment properties?

What are the most important things for an investor to be looking for in a property?

Experience counts. If the Realtor has their own properties, they know first hand what to look for. You can’t underestimate the value of their personal experience. Pick one that you have confidence in and that you like. You will be working closely with this person.

Next, I advise my clients to read up on the investment process and recommend my favorite trade books. You need basic knowledge of how the real estate investment world works. A little bit of knowledge can save you thousands in the long run. Your Realtor can guide you but you need to know what you are doing, so don’t skip this part. Books I like include: Real Estate Investing For Dummies, 2nd Edition by Eric Tyson and Robert S. Griswold, Rich Dad's Advisors®: The ABC's of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss by Ken McElroy, and The Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing by Gary W. Eldred will all help build your knowledge base.

With these two steps taken care of, you are ready to start looking.

Oh, but how to chose? That is the tricky part. You will need to look at properties with an eye to their income potential not their appreciation in value. As the market has shown us, investors cannot count on properties appreciating. The money will be made in monthly cash flow. And if down the line the house does appreciate a great deal, all the better. Your Realtor will help you look at profit and loss of a rental property, and since you now have a rudimentary understanding of what this means, you can make an informed decision on whether a to purchase or to pass on any give property.

In my next blog post we will look at how to determine a rental property’s performance so that you can make smart decisions. RealAZ.com