The US real estate market is changing quickly and many investors do not understand how to be successful in today’s nosediving real estate market. It used to seem like everyone was involved in real estate and making money. In today’s market you need to be utilizing strategies that are effective and limit your risk.

Resources

Before you jump into the real estate investing game you need to do your due diligence and arm yourself with the proper tools, resources and knowledge. Some of this can be done online for free but inevitably you should do your homework and invest in some resources and tools. Could be how-to articles, courses, programs, etc.

The key thing is to find a trusted resource and do your homework to make sure the source is somebody that has investing experience. Crazy as it sounds there are a lot of self professed gurus out there that have no experience and have never done the hard miles. Famouse people like Donald Trump even sell info on how to make bank with homes… but you have to ask yourself how much money has Donald Trump made with Single Family Residential Houses. Not much at all, so why would you listen to him talk about properties when he has no experience in them?

If you are looking for sound advice, tools, tips, resources and even a free newsletter they can all be located at www.kickassrealestate.com. A word of warning… the information can be very direct and too the point.

How To Limit Your Risk:

In the end real estate comes down to supply and demand and no matter the state of the economy people need a place to live, a place to call home. The question now becomes what type of home will have the highest demand? Will it be a grandiose property? A condo? A property in a bad neighborhood? Or a blue collar 3 bedroom 2 bath house?

Hopefully you answered the 3 bedroom 2 bath home will have the highest demand and this makes it a great home for an investor because it is easy to sell or rent in good or bad times thus limiting your risk.

Successful Investing Strategies:

As a real estate investor there is a credo you should adapt: “Know your exit before you are in the deal!” In other words you want to have a clear plan on how you are going to get out of every deal before you even make an offer.

One of my favorite strategies is flipping houses and this can be done in good or bad markets. In fact, in a risky market this can be the best strategy because of the amount of time you hold the property could be as little as a minute or two using a double or simultaneous closing.

Unfortunately many people think flipping is only profitable in rising markets. Not true. In a rising market you might buy at 75% of value and sell at 85% of value. In a falling market you may buy at 50% of value and sell at 58% of value. It’s all simple functions and your view of things. The bottom line is that there will always be a bargain price that somebody is willing to pay… and you just have to buy at a lower price and make the difference between the two prices.

Another successful real estate investment strategy in the current falling real estate market is purchasing rentals. It’s hard to talk dress this up as some sexy type of investing since you or your property manager are dealing with tenants and toilets. Sexy it is not but profitable it can be.

Here’s an extremely simplistic method for investing in rentals. Look to get a 20% Cash on Cash return. This means that after you total all of your income and expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, vacancy, repairs and upkeep, advertising, interest, etc) you are making a 20% return on your investment. In simple math that means if you put out $10,000 TOTAL to purchase the property at the end of the year you netted 20% which equals $2,000. This sounds simple, and you will most certainly avoid trouble.

In conclusion you want to have and use great investing resources, limit your risk, and follow proven successful real estate investing strategies.

About The Author:

Gerald Romine is a nationally recognized real estate expert that has been featured across North America sharing the stage with political leaders, film stars, and business leaders. Since 1989, Gerald has been involved with real estate as a real estate agent, broker, rehabber, investor, and builder and has been involved with everything from houses to apartments. For more information about Gerald’s products or services visit www.kickassrealestate.com