How to Buy Investment Property

How to buy investment property is a question frequently asked by budding property investors. This question is tied up with the other great question, how do I start investing in property. The following list provides several things that you need to have sorted both mentally and physically on how to buy investment property when you are getting started.

1. Have clear goals. These goals could include how many investment properties you want to have at the end of a certain period, 5 years, 10 years, etc. Your property investing goals will also look at how much income your investment properties should be producing at the end of those time periods, whether you want enough income at the end of 10 years so that you can leave your job, and so on.

2. Have a plan. This plan will state how you will achieve your goals. So it will include things like how many properties you will view and make offers on per week, what types of houses you will focus on, what area or suburb you will focus on, how much rental income you expect from each house, what price range you will buy in, etc. As an example you will look at 10 houses per week and put in at least one offer. You will only look at 3 or 4 bedroom houses with two bathrooms, on stand alone properties with garaging and fences. Rental returns will be a minimum of $300/week and the maximum price you are prepared to pay is $250k. Through making your buying investment property strategy this specific you will save your self time by not wasting it looking at properties that don't fit your criteria and you will stay focused.

3. Have a pre-approved loan before you go out looking for an investment property. When you have a letter from the bank saying what you can borrow this gives you confidence and a very powerful bargaining tool. You will always win negotiations over other buyers who have to confirm funding with their bank. This costs time and they are not reliable buyers whereas you with your pre-approval is a reliable and genuine buyer.

4. Get investment property educated. There are a wde range of property investment books, internet sites, and property investment courses available. Your only problem is sorting out the best from the rubbish. I personally prefer books because I always have the info at hand, I can go to book review sites (Amazon provides book reviews) and the better Property Investment authors have usually been around for a while and have published several property investment books. You should also join property investment clubs and assosciations because you will meet like minded people there who are only too willing to help. 

5. Get a mentor or two. If you know of anybody who is already investing in property ask them if they will help you but be prepared to offer them something in return even if it is just buying them lunch every time you meet. There are also investment property mentoring courses available but do your homework on these as they do charge, usually quite a few thousand dollars. 

6. Take action. Even if this is just visiting open homes to begin with. At least you can then talk to real estate agents, get an idea of price ranges and maybe meet others. You can also write out your goals and strategic plan without having to leave home. Go and get your pen and paper now and write up some ideas. I DARE YOU! This will get your creative juices flowing, your motivation and confidence will rise and before you know it you will be on the net looking for property investments which fit your criteria. Another great place to go to are property investing forums. You don't even need to enter into the discussions if you don't want to, just read through the questions and answers that have already been posted.

These ideas on how to buy investment property are by no means a definitive list. There are other things that you might want to consider like getting experts like property lawyers and accountants sorted first. However the main thing is that you get started by at the very least getting yourself educated about property investing. All the best and if you have any questions about property investing leave a comment below. Cheers.