Beware of "paralysis analysis" behavior...The funny thing about taking action is that it then causes chain reactions and before you know it, you are making more calls to sellers, deals coming your way, and people around you will then see you as a person who can take action.
You know what I am talking about, over analyzing the deal to the point you are paralyzed.
Imagine if you were playing ice hockey and instead of shooting the puck into the net, you simply circle and circle around the goal area too scared to shoot but my, what a mighty fine skater you are and boy, don't you look good! " Well, hate to break it to you, but no goals means no win and taking no action means no money in your bank account.
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It is a very scary time right now to invest in the real estate market and it is interesting to follow the success of the master investors:Warren Buffet, George Soros, John Templeton.
These master investors do the opposite of the "crowd" and are highly successful from that success secret.
Take note of the tactics such icons of investing do and then follow their example.
The current economy and the decline of the dollar make it very advantageous for international real estate investors to pick up properties at significant discounts.
For example, homes that once sold for over $400,000 in Las Vegas just 2 years ago...
are now being sold for $200,000.
The most important thing to do now as part of your taking action is to research the property you are thinking about buying.
Get a feel for what the values are in your target area.
For instance, make sure you look at 'comparables' in the neighbourhood to see what they have sold for.
Caution:Do not look at the prices of homes 'for sale' as you key valuation research.
What matters most is what have houses sold for that are close, within one mile, of the subject property.
One way to compare is to calculate the price per square foot.
If the house you are thinking about investing in has a total inside heated square foot area of 2,000 and they are asking $200,000 for it, then that is a price per square foot of $100.
That way if you have a sold house within one mile of your subject property have a sold price of $250,000 and it is 2,500 square foot, then the price per square foot is $100 and confirms the asking price of your subject property being reasonable.
If you are real serious about getting to know the values of real estate in a particular area, you should 'take an appraiser' out to lunch!Make it a goal to meet 3 different real estate appraisers, take them out to lunch and explain that you are a real estate investor and interested in making wise investment buys.
The real estate appraiser will be glad to help you determine the value of a home and this is often a better data point than a realtor as the appraiser has typically no bias towards you buying one house or another...
as they know you will typically hire that appraiser after you contract the house.
It is often a good 'value checkpoint' to simply ask your appraiser friend, "I'm thinking of offering $180,000 for this house, is the value of the property based on initial comparables higher than $180,000?" It doesn't take too much extra effort for your appraiserto help you determine the value before you put an offer out to purchase the subject property.