When investing in real estate,

Beware of “analysis paralysis” behavior… You know what I’m talking about, about analyzing the deal to the point of being paralyzed. Imagine if you were playing ice hockey and instead of shooting the puck into the net, you just walk around and around the goal area too scared to shoot, but oh my! What a great skater you are! “Well I hate to break it to you, but no goals means no win and Taking no action means there is no money in your bank account.”

The fun thing about taking action is that it then sets off chain reactions and before you know it, you’re making more sales calls, deals are coming your way, and people around you are seeing you as someone who can take action. It’s a very scary time right now to be investing in the real estate market and it’s 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 very successful because of that secret to success.

Take note of the tactics these investment icons use, and then follow suit. The current economy and the falling dollar make it very advantageous for international real estate investors to purchase properties at significant discounts. For example, houses that once sold for over $400,000 in Las Vegas just 2 years ago…are now selling for $200,000.

The most important thing to do now as part of your action is to research the property you are thinking of buying. Get an idea of ​​what the values ​​are in your target area. For example, be sure to look at ‘comparables’ in the neighborhood to see how much they have sold for. Caution: Don’t look at ‘for sale’ home prices as your key valuation research. What matters most is the sales price of homes that are close, within a mile, of the property in question. One way to compare is to calculate the price per square foot. If the house you are thinking of investing in has a total interior area of ​​2000 heated square feet and they are asking $200,000 for it, then that is a price per square foot of $100. That way, if you have a house sold within of a mile of your subject property, has a sales price of $250,000, and measures 2,500 square feet, then the price per square foot is $100, and you confirm that the sale price of your subject property is reasonable.

If you really want to know real estate values ​​in a particular area, you should ‘take an appraiser’ out to lunch! Set a goal to meet 3 different real estate appraisers, invite them to lunch and explain that you are a real estate investor and are interested in making smart investment buys. The real estate appraiser will be happy to help you determine the value of a home and this is often a better data point than a real estate agent since the appraiser is generally not biased towards you buying a home or another… since they know it usually will. Hire that appraiser after you hire the house. It’s often a good “value checkpoint” to simply ask your appraiser friend, “I’m thinking of offering $180,000 for this home, is the property’s value based on initial comparables greater than $180,000?” Your appraiser doesn’t need a lot of extra effort to help you determine value before making an offer to purchase the property in question.