This is an important question that you must ask yourself long before you consider getting involved in investing in real estate. Is real estate investing for me? Many people ask this question and give themselves the wrong answer. There are a number of considerations that an individual must make before they get involved in this high-stakes business.

Finances - What is my current financial position? Can I really afford to sink money into additional real estate? If you have a large number of other financial commitments then this might not be the area of investment for you. As the owner of the new property you will have to be financially responsible for it until such time as you can flip it or find renters. An investment property should never have the ability to drain your finances,

Focus - What will your focus be with the new investment? Are you looking to flip or rent the home? This will figure heavily into the amount of money that you will have to spend up front. Do you have the time and money to renovate a home or is a long term equity-building more to your liking? Either way, you should be aware of this before you start searching for properties so that these eventualities can be taken into consideration.

Availability - Take some time to think about your availability in regards to making the home sale or rent-worthy. As a landlord will you have the time to see to the upkeep of the home? If flipping will you be able to take the time to do the work, or will you be paying a contractor to do it?

These are all important things to think about before you get involved in the world of real estate investing. Be sure you know what you are getting into before you jump in with both feet, If you have any questions or concerns about the process, get in contact with your realtor and discuss things in better detail. The clearer a picture you have before starting the better things will go after the investment has been made.

One of the things you have to consider as a real estate investor is matching buyers with properties that you acquire. When you develop a buyers list for your properties, whether you’re trying to wholesale or rehab, you will find that the simple saying, “Different strokes for different folks,” applies. Some of the different “strokes” might be low-end rentals, high-end rentals, multiple unit rentals, and rehabilitation projects.

The different “folks” will often match these properties. For every investor, there is a niche they specialize in. If you want to wholesale properties, it’s up to you to offer the greatest spread of properties to fellow investors. Also, you must take into account, your regular home buyers (owner-occupants).

Part of any building block of a business is to identify the target market. For instance, with this site, we identified the people who would be visiting it most likely. We tailor the articles with content that is basic in order to meet the “customer” needs. We don’t overload the articles with complexities, but we do offer the basic 1-2-3 steps for beginning a real estate investment business or a business in general. Part of this required developing a “character” for our visitors. In doing this, we are constantly developing new avenues of interest that we think our visitors will benefit from, including hard money financing (coming soon).

So, for matching buyers with properties is to simply define what each potential buyer prefers. When you decide to advertise for buyers, you might put out ads like this:

Deep Discounts-Properties need Rehab, Priced to Sell, Call XXX-XXX-XXXX

or

Excellent Cash Flow Rentals offered at Discounted Prices, Call XXX-XXX-XXXX

This may attract buyers who are looking for rehab projects. Thus, you’ll be matching rehabbers/contractors with properties in need of rehab. However, when the phone starts ringing, you’ll need to distinguish the type of homes each potential buyer wants. For instance, some might want 4 bedroom, 2 Bath, high-end rehabs, while others will want your basic “bread and butter” home, 3 beds and 1 bath. Also for the second advertisement, you’re looking for landlords. Additionally, you’ll need to identify the different areas each buyer will consider.

You may also run an ad like this:

Stop Renting-Starter Homes Available-Mint-Discounted Prices Call XXX-XXX-XXXX

These buyers might be your owner-occupants that are currently renting that you’ll add to your buyers list. Part of your strategy here might be buying, rehabbing and selling them yourself.

Of course, running one ad might be most economical:

Deep Discounted Properties for Sale, Home Buyers, Investors Call XXX-XXX-XXXX

Now, how do you determine what each investor/buyer wants? You may ask the following questions:

What type of property are you looking for?
Specifics? (# of bedrooms, baths, rooms)
What locations are you primarily interested in?
Have you closed on properties in these areas before?
What are your overall objectives for properties you buy?
What is the ideal return on investment you’re looking for?
What type of rentals do you prefer?
How do you continue to grow your customer base (the amount of people you can sell a property to)?

Well since money is always the bottom line and not all buyers have cash to buy (and you should never expect or rely on that solely), expanding the pool of investors and buyers you can sell to comes down to having contacts. If your buyers don’t have the contacts or the cash, you will need them. So four simple things you should do are:

Make contacts with good mortgage brokers and use them to qualify buyers
Make contacts with good hard money lenders to qualify investors (noobs)
Make sure these brokers and lenders can close deals quickly
Make sure you know the process inside and out so you can expedite the process
Lastly, you may look for ads that offer rehabbed homes for sale. For example, if you see a for sale ad that says, “…renovated” or some variation, call that number and begin the process of adding that individual to your buyers list. Visit the property to get a completely true feel for what they look for. This can be a very effective way of getting investors who are actually involved in performing on a contract because they already have demonstrated the ability to do so!

Always remember that you’re running a business. Every successful business has a well-defined strategy for marketing, sales and growth. Real estate investing is no exception!

A big mistake investors can make is to have an arbitrary number at which they will not rise above, no matter what the value. Poor people base their decisions mostly on what things cost; the wealthy, on how much things make. That is not to say that the price doesn't matter — of course it does. But it's not all that matters. For instance: the neighborhood in which I grew up in consists of houses that are now worth anywhere from $950k to $2,500,000k. In the early 70's, they were selling in the $30,000s. If one bought a house here for $30k or $35k back in that era and sat on it ever since, would it really matter now, that they might have "overpaid" by a few grand? Appreciation has a way of smoothing things over. If positive cash flow was being produced all that time, then real estate actually paid the owner to get rich. Nice, huh? And even if hadn't appreciated a tenth of what it actually has, the benefits of ownership over time have LONG since paid for the property.

A big mistake investors can make is to have an arbitrary number at which they will not rise above, no matter what the value. Poor people base their decisions mostly on what things cost; the wealthy, on how much things make. That is not to say that the price doesn't matter — of course it does. But it's not all that matters. For instance: the neighborhood in which I grew up in consists of houses that are now worth anywhere from $950k to $2,500,000k. In the early 70's, they were selling in the $30,000s. If one bought a house here for $30k or $35k back in that era and sat on it ever since, would it really matter now, that they might have "overpaid" by a few grand? Appreciation has a way of smoothing things over. If positive cash flow was being produced all that time, then real estate actually paid the owner to get rich. Nice, huh? And even if hadn't appreciated a tenth of what it actually has, the benefits of ownership over time have LONG since paid for the property.

Californians tend to swing from a pendulum of needing everything to be dirt cheap, and wanting properties to appreciate California-style. The challenge here is no one can know exactly what things will be worth ten, twenty, thirty years from now — and most investors won't be able to keep their properties for that long anyway because they don't cashflow.

To all would-be investors sitting on the fence: decide whether you want to have a financially-free future to look forward to, and explore whether it makes sense for you to include out-of-state real estate as part of that future. And please, do your homework! Internet search engines are your friend — use them — these days it's more convenient to find information on various places than ever before in history. Take advantage of that, as well as talking to other investors about their experiences in other places.

There's a lot of money out there and a lot of investors cleaning up who "got there first" — why shouldn't that be YOU?

Over the past decade overseas property buyers have become much more adventurous with markets opening in the Baltic states, the far and middle east. However, the mediterranean locations are still the top destinations for the northern Europeans.

Spain the old favourite still offers much for those who seek the sun and laid back way of living, however, costs have soared and are comparable with other European countries which makes mediterranean Turkey a must to be seriously looked at.

New legislation recently passed allows the Turks much easier access to mortgages, which will in no doubt make the home market much more bouyant,in the past shrewd overseas investors have been quick to realise high property yields and in certain areas have seen their investments triple in 24 months.

Planning permission is rigerous, the Turkish government is determined not to make the mistakes that have occured on the Costa's in Spain and frequently consult with Spanish authorities in an attempt to ensure development of resorts are tasteful and environment friendly. It appears in most cases they are succeeding considering the difficulty in policing the amount of investment that is occuring on their mediterranean and aegean coasts.

A top UK television presenter stated 'Turkey has something for everyone', and she is right, natural beauty, a hoard of historical sites to visit, blue flag beaches, championship golf courses, ski resorts and some stunning resorts makes south west Turkey a real contender in the tourist market. What Turkey has to offer its visitors in much more than could ever be covered in this article.

As to properties, where and what to invest in, well that depends on budget and taste and its all to be found when you know where to look.

Antalya the main city and province in the mediterranean region offers much for the investor, the selection of property available is remarkable, and the quality is in most cases high to fantastic considering the prices.

Within Antalya city are three distinctive areas where you should look, Lara to the east is chic and trendy with sandy beaches, impressive jagged cliffs and prestigious hotels, most of the property available is of high quality and very desirable. Kaleici (the old town) a maze of winding lanes and streets lined with sops, small bazzars and boutique hotels offers the property buyer something nique and different and is a must to be placed on the viewing list. To the west of the city lies Konyaalti famous for its palm tree lined promenade the area is abundant with very affordable properties.

Continue west heading out of Konyaalti and within less than an hour's drive down this delightful coast road and you reach a paradise called Kemer, with the outlying areas of Goycik, Camyuva and Kiris each a delight offering sumptious homes at amazing prices. For the more adventurous carry on west to Kas and be dazzled by the views of this stunning coastline.

From Antalya airport travel east and within half an hour you will reach Belek, the golf capital of Turkey, Belek is host to top class hotels with sandy beaches, championship golf courses and a selection of homes to suit most tastes and budgets.

Carry on east towards Alanya and prior to reaching this wonderful resort you will see to your left an array of developments ranging from apartments and townhouse to magnificent Spanish style villas that enjoy panoramic views to the mediterranean.

A few miles past Alanya takes you to Mahmutlar, a seaside town that has been transformed over the past few years, here you will find five star developments that offer indoor and outdoor swimming pool, tropical gardens, tennis courts, saunas, turkish baths and a host of other on site facilities to pamper you or your guests.

With such an array of properties to choose from, activities for the down right lazy to snow skiing, river rafting, water sports, horse riding, golf and more. A paradise for the nature lover and ardent walker, and mecca for the history buff. Not to mention over 300 days of sunshine a year, low cost of living and the friendliest of people.

Yes, Turkey definitely has something for everyone.

Granted, there ARE many places where that's likely to be true. But others are still fairly low and increasing at a decent rate. We want to get in those before it's too late.

My point is that each property should be evaluated in the context of where it is. Just because a house is in Arizona and costs less per square foot than a house in California, doesn't mean that's what an investor should buy. (It may well be a good investment — but not just because it costs less than California!) Learn about regions — that's crucial. A $100,000 house that looks cheap to us Californians could be astronomical to the natives of an area. On the other hand, that house may be worth a lot more in the coming years and new businesses may be moving into the area that will subsidize the higher prices for new residents. Review the facts and base decisions on solid research.

I can't even count how many people we've talked to whose mode of decision making when it comes to investment properties is to, figuratively speaking, throw a dart and see where it lands on a map of the USA. Or worse, wherever a guru tells them. The speaker may be right or wrong, depending on what you want to do. (A place may be ripe for foreclosure opportunities but be lousy for holding rentals, for example.) That also goes for well-meaning relatives, friends, or co-workers.

Have you ever had anyone tell you “Invest in ____, it's cheap there!" without having any other reason to buy there? Cheap is relative. Even if I can still buy a 3/2 for $140,000 in a good neighborhood, if the maximum rent I can reasonably get is $900, that's too expensive of a property for me. Add in other costs like insurance, taxes, and expected repairs to get a realistic expectation of how "cheap" said property will be. Once the facts are known, it may be a "go" if the investor doesn't mind floating the negative, but it should not be assumed to be a cashflow property just because it is not in California.

A leading market economist has said that France is set to become the ideal place for savvy investors to buy property, it has been reported.

Jean Luc Brouillet, managing director of one of France's leading banks, told news provider Functionpix that country is the "new destination for long term European growth".

He added that this year has seen the most significant jump in terms of foreign property investment in France.

Land and property purchases in France

But why are so many Brits choosing their nearest neighbor as the best place to purchase a holiday home or to retire to?

Mr Brouillet explained that the main reason is because France offers "an amazing quality of life, coupled with traditional family values and a strong market economy".

He added that factors such as the country's close proximity to Britain, cheap property prices and affordable services were also encouraging investors to the market.

"Towns and villages around the Upper Normandy Seine Valley have proved very popular with British buyers due to it's proximity to ports such as Le Havre, Dieppe and airports at Rouen," he said.

Guides to investment in France

According to Functionpix, those who choose French buy to let mortgages are almost guaranteed a return of at least 22 per cent a year across most regions in France.

Some regions such as Normandy are particularly profitable for investment and can fetch more than a 30 per cent increase.

With interest rates in the UK on the rise and tourists preparing to flood into France during the summer months, now certainly looks set to be a good time to buy for the first time property investor.

Why buy and sell mobile homes? It is safe and very profitable if you own a mobile home park. You have to own a mobile home park for this to work most effectively. If you don't, you might want to buy one with this in mind as an extra revenue source.

What is the value of a mobile home? That depends on several things. You might think that the biggest factor influencing the market value of a mobile home is how nice the home itself is, but often this comes third, after location and ease of purchase.

In Durango, Colorado, for example, an old mobile on a rented lot might sell for more than $40,000. Why would it sell for more than many new mobile homes? Because it's a town many people want to live in, with high rent rates and houses starting at $180,000. Also, due to zoning, they aren't building any more mobile home parks.

In other words the biggest part of that price is paid for being allowed to live in that particular mobile home park in that town. Drag the mobile away and it might lose 80% of its value. Location, then determines value. But you can't move your park, so let's look at what you can control.

Create Value By Making Buying Easy

What is a mobile home worth? One important determinant is how easy it is to buy. Let's look at an example.

A young couple wants a nice mobile home. They like the new ones, which cost about $30,000. With the required 10% down payment the available financing is at 14% on a 10-year amortization. This means a payment of $420 per month, plus lot rent of $280 per month. That seems too high for housing costs, but then rents in the area are that high, and they would rather own something.

The problem they have is that they don't have the $3,000 needed for the down payment, nor do they have the money needed for moving the home to a park, and to pay the various other expenses, like the deposit for the park. They only have about $1,000 in the bank. A common scenario these days.

They decide to start looking in the mobile home parks. They find many nice used mobile homes that are selling for $12,000 or less. The problem is that nobody wants to finance older mobiles, so they have no way to buy one.

Then they come to your mobile home park. You have a mobile home for sale. The previous owner had a job transfer, and after trying to sell the home for $8,000 for a couple months, he was desperate. He was still paying lot rent, after all. You offered him $5,000 and he thanked you for resolving his problem.

You paid $100 for someone to clean up the home and put a price of $12,000 on it. Why so high for a mobile that might be worth $8,000? Because the price isn't just about the mobile. The young couple like it. You tell them that you won't budge on the price, but you will take just a $500 down payment, along with the first month's lot rent. They can afford that. They will pay the balance at $160 per month, with interest at 12%. It will take a little over 10 years to pay it off. They buy it.

Now lets look at this from their perspective. They have a place to stay that they own. It will have some value once paid off. How much? It doesn't really matter. Their housing cost is a couple hundred less per month than if they rented an apartment or bought a new mobile. That means that in ten years they will have spent almost $30,000 less for housing than if they took one of the other alternatives. How could they be worse off. Also, this may be their only option if they want a mobile home, since they have so little cash saved.

How did you do? You made a profit of $7,000 on the mobile, plus you get 12% interest not just on your $5,000 investment, but on the whole balance owed ($11,500 to start). That's a great return on your investment. Now do a dozen more of these.

These opportunities will arise regularly. The owners of the homes need to sell quickly to avoid paying lot rent for months while also paying the expenses in their new home. Selling a home can be a lot of work too. If they hire a sale's agent they'll pay a commission. You can tell them honestly that you buy mobiles to make a profit and can't pay much, but you'll pay cash right now. Many will be happy that you resolved their problem.

On the other end, you can help buyers without cash. As the owner of a mobile home park, you get to say who stays and who goes. That gives you a good degree of control. That control makes it relatively safe for you to sell a mobile home with a small down payment. Remember that in the above example you only have $4,600 invested after your $100 clean-up and receiving the $500 down payment. Even if the new buyers trashed the place and walked away a year later, you will still be able to resell at a profit.

I read a true story about one owner of a park who bought and resold the same mobile home in his park a half dozen times. With interest and capital gains, he figures he eventually made $35,000 off an investment of $4,000. Does that motivate you to try buying and selling mobile homes in your park?

One of the main reasons people chose to invest in French property is the country's exceptionally efficient transport systems.

Today, many major French towns and cities are within easy reach of the UK thanks to the high speed French railway, cheap airline deals and fast motorways.

This bodes well for investors who would like to purchase a property in France but still wish to maintain a house or business back in Blighty.

Travel to south of France from London

Meanwhile, a new route from London City Airport to sunny Nice looks set to make life even easier for those looking to buy a holiday home in the south of France.

CityJet, part of Air France, will offer the benefit of a ten minute check in time at London City Airport, making it ideal for those who want to head to France for a quick break.

Geoffrey O'Byrne White, CityJet CEO, said: "CityJet for Air France is an important milestone.

"We are pleased to underline our commitment to London City where we have had a presence for many years while simultaneously pursuing our development with our revamped fleet."

Travel to and from France 'a doddle' It seems then that whether you are looking into buying a chateau, a French farm or even considering retirement villages in France, it will never be a struggle to get back to the UK to see family and friends.

Jean Luc Brouillet, an economist and managing director of one of France's leading banks, told news agency Functionpix: "Better transport systems [in France], less cars on the road, lower taxes and higher quality education is tempting for many cash strapped British families."

It's often been asserted that Real Estate investing might be the best and effortless ways to create wealth. In some ways that is true since, with a humble monetary outlay and a reasonable supply of sweat equity, real estate can be purchased and resold for a hefty gain and the opportunity still looks excellent.

While Real Estate investing can be easier than other forms of reaping a good return on investment you should not assume that it is easy.

The largest obstacle to being successful in real estate investing, for those starting out, is the sharp learning curve. Real Estate investing is a complex industry and it does not matter where your real estate is located. You can lose large sums of cash faster than you can say 'stock market crash'. This is especially true if you haven't done proper investigation ahead of time.

Let’s examine the procedure by exploring various things to think about before jumping in to real estate investing.

Before investing cash, invest a little time. Consider what your monetary goals are that you want to accomplish and how soon do you want to arrive there.

It is easy to dream about what we want to accomplish but we must bring these dreams down to earth. Sure you say but how? Housing prices have been going up for a number of years and they still are going up. Real estate is just like all commodities, real estate values vary and may go down, and when they do it could be a sharp, steep decline. If history is any guide, the most likely scenario is a sharp decline.

Writing out your monetary and time commitments is a good and practical exercise. A one year to five year business plan is indispensable and does it in as much detail as you can. A review of your business plan on a regular basis is needed to see how you are coming along and to tweak it as needed from time to time. A good rule of thumb is to check it after six months and again after two years.

Be sure to include an approximation of how much money you have to invest. Since you might choose to use your own house that you are living in as your first investment this financial cost can vary widely among individual investors.

If you plan to operate with less than $10,000 to start with then you are going to need to be looking at either using your primary home or purchasing a 'fixer-upper' to be your first investment.

You can buy a secondary property with no cash down and a few of thousand dollars in closing costs if you have good credit. But the housing market would have to go fast, and you would need to sell quickly.

The problems and risks involved have severe tax and legal penalties. The substitute would be to take on larger monthly payments and maybe extra expenses on repairs. Here again you can this can be dangerous and possibly costly. You have a greater possibility of losing more than your beginning outlay, even if you only interject a small sum of cash, you're going to be legally responsible for the complete undertaking.

An unwise move for the newbie:

Back to your business plan, you need to indicate the level of risk you are ready to take. The level of personal risk one has can be calculated by past experience. If you have not had any past dealings with large sums of capitol on the line then you will have to do some introspection of your personality. Ask someone close to you what they think about your risk level. Some people can deal with an outstanding balance of hundreds of thousands of dollars floating in the balance while others could not sleep with having $10,000 on the line.

Many people invest with a leaning toward capital preservation, others investors want maximum dollar return in the fastest time. Many folks differ widely in their tolerance for risk. Know your limits or you could be in over your head quickly.

How much time do you have to dedicate to your new venture? You will have to create a association with a lender, study all about your individual market, contracts involved, required insurance, your legal rights, other party legal rights and requirements, various tax consequences, and various other facets of real estate investing.

If you find this all to be an interesting challenge and all the above sounds ok, then Real estate investment might be just for you! You can generate a substantial additional income, or a full time living if you want to since real estate investing continues to be one of the soundest investment opportunities obtainable. Although you can generate a pile of money — it's a great adventure too!

Real Estate Investing is simple, but not necessarily easy! You see, people can complicate anything! It's like telling someone how to drive a car. It's not complicated at all. Just open the door. Sit down. Turn the car on and put it into drive. But, people always make things harder than they need to be; They start asking thinks like 'which door should I open - the left or the right?' or 'Do I unlock it with a key or click the button' and on and on we go. Twenty minutes later, we've still not even been able to get into the car.

I liked that analogy because it applies to real estate. There are really 5 things you need to know - or steps - when it comes to real estate.

Here are the 5 Real Estate Investing Tips you need to know!

Tip #1: Find a Motivated Seller
Stop wasting your time trying to make deals out of deals that aren't there. Sellers are motivated to sell a piece of real estate by only 3 things:

1. Change in personal situation. Sellers become very motivated to sell their properties when things in their personal lives change and they can no longer afford the home or there is an emotional reason for selling. Personal reasons for selling a home are: job loss, divorce, relocation, illness, etc.

2. Economic conditions.

3. Property conditions


Tip #2: Evaluate the Deal
Once you've found a motivated seller, it's time to decide if the deal is going to work. Real estate investing comes down to the numbers. There are 5 factors to consider in order to decide whether or not to invest in a property.

1. Location. If real estate is located in an area that is full of abandoned properties and rundown houses, the score will be lower than if the house was located in a prime location, close to all of the area amenities.

2. Condition. The better the condition of the property, the higher the score will be. For instance, a brand new home is going to have a substantially higher score than a property that's rundown and needs major repairs.

3. Price. The lower the price, the better! The goal is to purchase real estate for as little as possible. 30% or more below market value will score much higher than when the seller is asking for market value or better.

4. Financing. Real estate comes down to the numbers. If the seller is willing to give you financing with flexible terms and low interest rates and you don't have to come out with any of your own money, it's better than when the seller needs all cash up front.

5. Seller's Motivation. On a scale of 1 to 10, how motivated is the seller to sell his/her property? The more urgent their situation is, the higher the motivation score.


Tip #3: Write an Offer
After you've done your homework and looked at the numbers, it's time to put the pen to the paper. But before you write your offer, make sure you have 2 exit strategies in place. This way, you're not stuck holding onto a piece of real estate that you can't rent or sell. Many people are losing their shirts in real estate because they jumped in on pre-construction and hoped to "get rich quick". Consider submitting 3 contracts on the same property with different prices and terms and let the seller decide what works best for his/her situation. For instance, you may have a wholesale offer at 50% of market value, a seller financed alternative that you might use for a rental, and a lease option which you might do a sandwich lease-option.

Tip #4: Line Up Your Financing
Once the seller has agreed to one of your offers, it's time to get the deal closed. If you're wholesaling the property, find your investor-buyer. If you're going to close on it yourself, line up the financing via a conventional lender, hard money lender or line of credit. Also start looking for a tenant or tenant-buyer if you're goal is to build a long term real estate portfolio. The key is to get your financing lined up in accordance to your exit strategy and begin moving immediately.

Tip #5: Follow Through with Your Plan
Many real estate investors purchase a piece of property with one plan, buy-fix-sell. They write the offer based on a certain sale price and with a specific plan to renovate. Then, once they close on the home, they over-improve and try to sell it for more than it's worth or use a hard money lender and then decide they want to rent it.

If you follow these steps and remember the tips, then you will make money in real estate. If you deviate from the plan, then your chances of running into problems increase. You wind up with the wrong type of financing, you can't find tenants, the holding costs eat the profits, etc.

Remember, real estate investing is like driving a car. It's simple. Get in, turn the key, put it in drive, and go!