The following are some real estate tips you can use to find some good deals.

Look in publications

Look at local papers, small independent publications, websites and bulletin boards. Be the first to get the copies as they come off the press. To beat your competition, go to the facilities where the publications are printed and get your copy. Better still, market yourself and let people who are considering selling call you before they place an advert in the paper.

Watch publications for tax sales, foreclosure auctions, and VA and HUD listed investment properties. Keep in mind that auctions held in unfavorable weather where the property must be sold off are your best opportunity to limit competition and obtain property at very low prices. Since there no lower limit on what is acceptable, you could win big.

Contact attorneys and heirs, and sales in the estate or garage sale sections. A good percentage of people having garage sales intend to move soon. Inquire about their house or neighboring homes. Always keep your ear on the ground. Your chances of success increase when you are in the market continually looking for deals.

Lookout for vacant houses

Identify vacant houses that are fire damaged, abandoned or run down. Talk to those who live near these homes. They are likely to know the owner and the circumstances surrounding the home. They may be interested in it being renovated. Get in touch with out-of-state owners by letter, phone or through property records. You could also leave your card with contacts on the door.

Other Real Estate Owned (OREO)

Befriend your local lenders and ask them to call you when there is a foreclosure anticipated or in progress. If you are prequalified with lenders in advance, they might call you sooner.

Post fliers everywhere

Colleges, shopping centers, Laundromats, public bulletin boards, bowling alleys, local businesses, churches, wherever many people congregate. Give them an opportunity to inform you about a hot deal. To motivate them, you could offer to pay a commission to anyone who gives a lead to a house that you eventually buy.

Use headhunters

Don’t leave anyone out. Utilize everyone from property managers, relocation services, moving companies, to landlords, tenants, neighbors, the mailman, gardeners, the paper boy, pest control people, service technicians, acquaintances, friends, relatives and other investors.

Network widely

Go to seminars and exhibitions on real estate. Capture contacts and network with real-estate minded individuals. Once you capture their names, keep in touch constantly and network to prosperity. In addition, you could join different organization which would give you the chance to meet people and market your services.

My name is Mitch Painter. I’ve sold over 250 houses, over 150 apartment units, and I have a ton of free information on my blog at http://www.Real-Estate-Rocks.com. You can get a ton of free information there. I post 2 new blog posts every week about deals that I’m doing, negotiation tips of a sellers, how to find deals that are not on the MLS or listed with a Realtor.

KEYWORDS:

-          Real Estate Investor

-          Real Estate Investment

-          Real Estate Tips

-          Investment Property

URL: www.Real-Estate-Rocks.com

When it comes to selling a wide range of merchandise without actually using you vocal powers to convince people, eBay is your best bet. As a matter of fact, eBay is used to even sell big items like boats, electronic devices, and even vacation packages. More importantly, you may now use eBay to sell real estate. There are millions and millions of buyers that frequent the site every night, and at least one of them is bound to be looking for a piece of land to invest on.

Here are a few tips that will guide you on how to use eBay to sell real estate. With enough luck, you should be able to sell or rent out a piece of property by simply publishing a sales page and approving the deal.

Use eBay to give exposure to what you are selling. The internet is such a great way to get noticed. Make your page and anchor text stand out from the rest.

Take note that investment properties sell the fastest on eBay. If your piece of property has remained bid-less despite days and days of being up for grabs, offer seller financing on initial repairs and up-keep. Just make sure that you will gain the sum back once the payment starts to come in.

Most importantly, follow real estate rules and regulations. The internet may be an intangible space, but it remains within the jurisdiction of the laws of the land. Stay within the lines to avoid dealing with troubles in the long run.

If you have an even passing interest in real estate investing, perhaps you should consider first investing in a real estate investing seminar. These seminars are generally a few days long and offer a brief oversight into many different aspects of real estate investing. Not only do they show you the things you may have considered before, but also introduce you to new ideas for investing projects, prospects, and financing.

You can find ads for these weekend and daylong seminars at almost every turn on the web. Finding one in your area may be a little trickier. A word of caution though, not all real estate investing seminars are created equal. In fact I would talk to someone who has attended one of the specific seminars that you are interested in attending. Many feel that they have been ripped off by seminars that offer a great amount of hype and only ultimately become a session explaining what should be done but offering no advice whatsoever on how to do it. Many leave feeling very disappointed and as if they have been taken advantage of. These seminars offer big returns but no substance and exist solely for the purpose of making money off of the dreams of others.

Not all real estate investment seminars are put on by crooks, in fact many do offer information that is beneficial to all of those who attend. If you choose to attend a real estate investment seminar in your area, be sure to take copious notes. Check and see if bringing a tape recorder into the seminar so that you may record the session and listen to the information when your mind isn’t distracted by the presence of other people. Ask others what they thought of the information they discovered there and compare notes. Make contacts while attending. One of the most important things to bring away from a seminar is contacts.

The people you meet at the seminar are people who are also interested in some way, shape, form, or fashion in real estate investing. These people are people you should get to know. Some will have experience, some will be completely new, but all will have different understandings of investing and different contacts of their own. They may know a good contractor or other contacts. They also may be interested in investing rather than sweat equity, which you can provide, or the other way around. Seminars can be very much worth every penny for contacts alone.

No matter what your interest in real estate investing, it is most likely worth the cost of attending even if the information isn’t something that is completely new to you. Sometimes rehashing information that you’ve heard before, or seeing it presented in a different manner can make a light bulb go off in your mind. Also by brainstorming among others you can hear different perspectives of a common problem that you may not have considered previously.

But please do due diligence when seeking out the right seminar for you to attend. Find out everything you can about the specific information that will be presented. Call the organizers and ask specific questions and go with an open mind. Don’t attend however, if you truly can’t afford the cost of the seminar. More importantly treat this as a business rather than a hobby and pay close attention to the details rather than paying marginal attention and hoping to glean some tidbit of information.

Over the last several years, real estate investment has been the center of much interest. Infomercials abound about the money to be made by real estate investment, reality television shows concerning fixing houses and reselling them are in great abundance and a new American dream has been born. While real estate investing can be quite profitable it’s not as easy as they make it look on television. You must know your market area very well and while there is

There is always the possibility of failure and that must be an acceptable risk for you, if you wish to prosper through real estate investing.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when investing in real estate:

1)   Specialize. Don’t bounce back and forth between different types of real estate investing (such as fixer uppers, rentals, lease options, low down payment homes, etc.) if you specialize in one and become an ‘expert’ in that particular type of investment you will only be making the costly mistakes that are made during the ‘learning curve’ for one type of investment property rather than for several. In addition to missing out on some of the costly errors, you are becoming more and more accomplished in your chosen area of expertise with each new transaction.

2)   Inspect. Always, always, always have a thorough inspection of any property before you buy. This can be costly but it is much less expensive in the long run to know without a doubt what you are getting into before buying the property.

3)    Compare. Compare the value of other properties in the area with the asking price of the property you are considering. You want to insure that you have an accurate understanding of the value of property in the area in which you are buying. If you are buying a fixer upper you wouldn’t want to pay a price equal or near the prices of houses of similar size and better condition in the area.

4)   Education. Educate yourself on the local market. This should include information such as the number of bedrooms the average home buyer wants, the school districts that are in demand and those that aren’t, and the features that home owners pay the most attention to in homes (such as kitchens, bathrooms, fenced in yards). Find out what the housing trends in your area are and make it your mission to provide houses that fill those particular needs.

Following the tips above will not guarantee you success or prevent failure but they will get you started on the right foot in real estate investment. Keep in mind that there are other extenuating circumstances that must be considered when investing in real estate: among these are taxes, back taxes, the local economy, and actual demand for housing. If you have a firm understanding of the local real estate market perhaps you are ready to delve into the world of real estate investing.

Throughout the last few decades, people have had mixed emotions concerning time-shares and time-share ownership. Some people tout them as the best thing since sliced bread while others turn up noses and disdainfully accuse them of being scams and those who utilize them for being gullible. Unfortunately it’s quite difficult to change these preconceived ideas; especially when the one most common complaint about time-shares is that they are virtually impossible to get rid of.

First of all, most people are trying to get their initial investment out of the sell. That almost never works out. People tend to forget that overall, even if they don’t get the same investment on the outside, they had years of vacation enjoyment out of the deal, which was the original purpose of a time-share. It was to allow families that may not be able to afford two homes the amenities of two homes for less than a fraction of the cost, without the worry of maintenance, and without the ‘other’ expenses that would traditionally come along with maintaining two properties. It’s someone else’s problem to fix the leaky roof or to put in new carpet or replace the AC, etc.

Before deciding to sell, find out why you want to sell and see what your options are. Perhaps you want a different location, a different sized room, more time, less time, more luxury, whatever, it is possible that you can work out something with the company that owns your unit. If you do decide that selling is right for you, here are a few suggestions to help you along.

1)    Be honest in your description of your property. Shouldn’t have to be said but you’d be surprised how many people exaggerate the positive while completely glossing over the negative.

2)    Do your homework before deciding whether or not you wish to use a broker. If you chose to avail yourself of the services of a broker, be sure to do your homework and chose the broker that you feel will represent you and your interests best. If you choose to represent yourself check out websites such as Tug2.net or any number of other sites for an idea of the price you can expect for your time-share.

3)    Don’t get greedy. If you are able to get 50% of what you put into a time-share out of the timeshare then you’ve gotten a really good deal. Most time-shares resell for 10-20% of the purchase price; so don’t expect to see big dollar signs on this particular transaction.

4)    Don’t let anyone talk you into getting an appraisal. It simply isn’t necessary.

Keep in mind that when you originally purchased a time-share, most of the cost that you were paying was marketing budget. Time-share companies invest huge amounts of money into ‘prizes’ to get people to look at their promotions. They are also all too happy to pass those expenses along to you, the consumer.

This being said, I wouldn’t expect people to be lining up outside your door to make the purchase on a time-share. If you need the money quickly or simply don’t want the hassle you may consider a business that simply buys timeshares rather than attempting to market to the average consumer. The profit margin may be smaller, but if you count time as money as many of us do, it may be worth the loss of a little money.

Investing in real estate is like any other venture you enter into it. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to make it work for you. While it takes a lot of work, it can be a very successful venture. There are many options for investment properties. Whether you are considering property rentals or buying property and fixing it up for resale there is a significant investment not only of money but time as well. No investment venture is going to be successful unless there is a great amount of love and labor involved.

Here are a few tips for investing in rental properties:

1)    Make sure that the area you are buying your rental property in has a very high demand for the type of property you are offering. You don’t want to invest in a family home as a rental property if your market is mostly college students. You could consider subdividing a larger home for this type of market and having two or three smaller rentals rather than one larger rental.

2)    Check the property value in the area you are investing in. You don’t want to choose an area that is in decline for rental properties if you can avoid it. The declining state of the neighborhood will minimize your potential profits.

3)    Be absolutely sure that the income generated by the unit will cover not only the mortgage you are taking on but also the empty times, repair, and upkeep. If you’re investing in a property you want to make sure that you are actually making money.

If you aren’t considering turning your investment into rental properties but are more interested in fixing it up and selling it at a higher rate there are some guidelines you should follow as well.

1)    You must make your best effort to be accurate in your estimate of the work that needs to be done so that you can recoup your expenses and earn a little profit when you turn the house.

2)    You need to educate yourself about the area the home is in. Learn the value of similar houses, or houses in a good state of repair in the neighborhood to see how much your potential profit may be. Remember that it isn’t necessarily a good thing to have the best house in the neighborhood. Potential buyers will assume that the value can’t go up much from that point.

3)    Make sure you have a detailed inspection and are aware of every potential repair that needs to be made, which ones are immediate needs, which ones are cosmetic needs, and which ones can wait. Don’t waste money on the ones that can wait unless they will significantly improve the value of the home. Kitchens and bathrooms are the only ones I would consider for cosmetic needs and structural needs must be addressed before cosmetic needs. Trust me, it isn’t fun hanging drywall twice because the first job was ruined by the new leak in the roof.

Overall, keep in mind that this is about making the most money possible for your investment. Keep the improvements as simple and cost effective as possible and you should be able to enjoy a nice profit. Also keep in mind that it takes money to advertise your home regardless of if it is a rental or you are trying to sell so keep a budget set aside for that. Remember that you will still have to make the mortgage payment even if it sits empty for a while so set your prices competitively for the area. Good luck with your investment and try to have some fun with it.