Rental Property Investment - Finding The Properties

Rental property investment starts with finding the best deals.
To do this, you can increase your odds by finding more deals.
Who's more likely to get a cheap apartment building, an investor that
looks through the MLS listings and calls it a day, or the one that uses
ten resources? Here are those ten:

1. Look in old papers to find "For Rent" ads. Call if they are a few weeks old. The landlord
may be ready to sell, especially if he hasn't yet rented the units out.

2. Look up old FSBO ads. Call on two-month-old "For sale By Owner" ads, and if they
haven't sold, they may be ready to deal. Owners often give up the effort, but still
would love to sell. Help them out!

3. Drive around looking for "For Sale By Owner" signs. Owners often don't want to pay
to keep the ad in the paper every week, so you won't see all properties there.

4. Find abandoned properties. That's a pretty clear sign that the owner doesn't want to
deal with the property. He might sell cheap.

5. Talk. Let people know you are looking and sometimes the properties will
come to you. There are a lot of owners out there who want to sell, but haven't yet listed
their property.

6. Talk to bankers. You might get a foreclosed rental property cheaper if
you buy it before they list it with a real estate agent.

7. Offer someone a finder's fee. There are people that always seem to hear
about the good deals. Have such people coming to you.

8. Eviction notices. If your local papers publish eviction notices, or if
you can get the information at the courthouse, it can be useful. A landlord
who just went through the procees of evicting tenants is a likely seller.

9. Use the internet. Go to a search engine and enter the type of real estate
you are looking for, along with the city you want to invest in. You never know
what you might find.

10. Put an ad in the paper. "Looking for rental properties to buy," might be
sufficient to generate a few calls.

There is a lot more to learn to do it right, but finding good properties is a good
place to start for rental property investment.

by: Steve Gillman
About The Author

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To get a free real estate
investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought
for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com.