The Renters and Sellers Guide to Finding a Home

Whether you are a brand-new beginner to real estate investing or you have accumulated some experience in purchasing homes, there is one part of the process that you can never learn enough about—how to find your next property in the first place.

Locating an investment location can be affected by buyers, sellers, and renters looking for affordable housing opportunities, risks associated with climate and weather damage, and a multitude of other factors that impact property valuation.

Are you new to the area that you are purchasing a home in? Have you been out of the market for numerous years and have to regain your footing? Do you have your eyes on particular locations in your regional area to invest in?

In order to filter through and query properties based on your specific quality expectations, stay a step ahead with reliable real estate investment research by getting started with this renters and sellers guide to finding a home.

Rental Vacation Property

When sorting through vacation rental investment properties, be sure that you pick a place that is not just easy for you to arrive at but is actually a location people would like to spend their vacation at.

Keep in mind that there is going to be a multitude of different guests with their own tastes. Offer amenities and décor that have broad enough appeal while still characterizing the charm of what the geographic area is known for.

Chances are you aren’t going to have the time to take off work and run your vacation rental full-time with your own labor involved—and that is ok.

Be prepared to outsource the more daunting elements of running your rental smoothly, like marketing and advertising, setting a dynamic pricing strategy, and bringing on a property manager.

Calculate your expected income and expense by investing in this property to ensure that it doesn’t become a money pit that causes more to maintain than it can reasonably earn. What type of cash flow will be coming from this vacation property?

Rental income will be contingent on the area that it is built in. But most landlords set the weekly rental rate at 10 to 20 percent above the monthly mortgage payments.

Rental Property Online

When for sale by by owner real estate deals are taking place, you may want to find a way to cut out the middleman of a real estate agency and jump right in and handle using an online listing platform.

Not only can you only pay for the services that you actually use to sell the property to someone looking to buy and rent it, but you can also keep that typical 6% fee for yourself.

Rental Property Through Auctions

Property auctions can be a fantastic place to find a real estate deal because there are multiple ways to engage in them.

There are online auctions on the world wide web that allow you to search for investment properties using websites such as Auction.com.

There are sheriff sale auctions that get conducted in your county’s city hall, hall of records, courthouse, or even at the sheriff’s office itself.

During these sheriff sale auctions, foreclosures are first sold to the general public. If it just so happens that the foreclosure is not purchased during the course of the auction, the foreclosing lender will then seize possession of the property and list the property as asr Real Estate Owned (REO) with a local realtor.

Then there are also properties that get sold at auction companies and are contracted by lenders to sell large numbers of properties all at one time. Keep in mind that these auctions are usually well advertised and conducted at a hotel or conference hall in the area.

Rental Property via Networking

Investment clubs are a useful way of networking your way into real estate deals due to the fact that they often have an email list where members advertise properties that are currently for sale. You can generally join a real estate investment club with a fee of between $100 and $300 a year.

Put together your own personal investor network as a database of investors you have accumulated over time that can include other landlords you have met who own rental property on the same street as you or old college buddies who are involved in real estate now.

Family, friends, and professional contacts like attorneys and accountants can be great resources to find potential investments such as foreclosures or short sales.

Keep your eyes open for personal acquaintances that could own properties that they are looking to unload or who may know someone themselves who is in the midst of striking up a real estate buyer just like you.

You can even go a step further and talk to the real estate contractors that you have been doing business with to learn more about potential leads because they may work for other investors that want to sell real estate off-market instead of having to go through the time and financial hassle of having to list their property and advertise it.

Financing a Home

Once you have found the home you wish to invest in and purchase, you are going to need to look into how to finance a home.

To pick the best lender for your situation, first, understand what kind of loan you need and the service and lending experience you desire.

Mortgage-lending options include traditional lenders like Bank of America, online mortgage lenders, credit unions, regional banks like SunTrust, mortgage brokers acting as middlemen, and more. Contact several lenders to compare and contrast mortgage rates and lender fees.

Tenant Screening Options

With the advantages that come with tenant screening services for landlords, you can save time and make accurate and informed decisions about who you rent your property to.

Screen potential tenants with instant credit data and products to ensure that all of your tenants meet your qualifying requirements to lessen the chance of experiencing rent defaults. Also, run criminal and eviction reports during your tenant qualification process.

Now you can find your next rental property, get it financed, and welcome in a trustworthy tenant online, through networks, in auction scenarios, and with suitable software to make your investment feel like home sweet home.