brentm's blog

Here are some sites you can use to do market research:

1. Cyberhomes.com
2. City-data.com
3. Realtytimes.com
4. Zilpy.com
5. Truilia.com

It is important to research the market in the areas in which you do business. Another idea is to call the city's or county's business development department. They should have update demographics for you to review. One good question to ask them is for information relating to new companies coming to the area which will create jobs and increase the demand for housing. Conversely, ask about any businesses that are scheduled to close which will decrease jobs.

If you know of any other good market research sites, please add.

Thanks, and good luck.

The best way to valuate a property is to get recent sales/closings from your real estate agent and compare them to your subject property. You will need to make adjustments for things such as condition, livable square footage, # bedroom & bathrooms, etc.

However if you need a quick estimate there are several web pages that offer free estimates. They are:

1. Zillow.com
2. eppraisal.com
3. cyberhomes.com
4. trulia.com
5. homegain.com
6. electronicappraisal.com
7. ziprealty.com
8. totalviewrealestate.com

If several give similar prices, you can use them for a preliminary value. Nevertheless, these are estimates only and I have seen them off by quite a bit; they should be used as a substitute to making your valuation based on recent sales/closings.

I received a call from one of my clients the other day. He was down because he said that he had worked Dean's program very hard for about a year without any success. He wondered if I knew if anyone in his area was making money. Unfortunately, we don't keep track of successes by area, so I could help him.

I started asking questions to see if I could get to the bottom of his problems and figure out why he wasn't succeeding and down. It turns out that he had studied diligently, worked hard on this Buyer's List. And spent tons of time looking at properties.

I received a call from one of my clients the other day. He was down because he said that he had worked Dean's program very hard for about a year without any success. He wondered if I knew if anyone in his area was making money. Unfortunately, we don't keep track of successes by area, so I could help him.

I started asking questions to see if I could get to the bottom of his problems and figure out why he wasn't succeeding and down. It turns out that he had studied diligently, worked hard on this Buyer's List. And spent tons of time looking at properties.

Google Docs is a wonderful and powerful tool you as a real estate investor/wholesaler can use to keep organized and simplify your business. And the great news is that it is free.

Through Google Docs you can create a questionnaire based on the questions listed in your "Questions to Qualify an Investor" form. Your questions offer responses by text, multiple choice, check boxes, etc. This simplifies things for the investor and gives them an opportunity to tell you in detail what they are looking for in their investment strategy.

A friend was renting a building where his wife operated a furniture store. The landlord approached my friend and asked him if he would like to buy the building. He did. It turns out that there was extra land involved. My friend split the lot and sold the excess land for almost what he had paid for the land and building. What a deal!

This doesn't happen very often, but many people have made money splitting off extra land from the house or other property they buy. It involves some work, but it can be very profitable.