photo credit: billaday

Thinking about investing in property is a big step, but there are several steps between your initial thoughts and actually purchasing the property. In fact, a lot of people never actually get to the last step. But if you’re in the thinking stage then it may be time to move into phase two, researching the area and the property.

Begin your research by getting to know the community and the neighborhood. Make a list of features that you think are the most appealing. If you’re buying property for yourself then these are the most important factors. If you’re going to purchase a rental property, then you may want to consider what aspects would appeal to renters. If you don’t have children you can’t forget that your future tenants may and they’ll be interested in good school districts.

Once you’ve compiled your list it’s time to hit the internet. Do your research and find out where the best schools are, where the crime rates are the highest, where the bus lines are, the closest park, etc.

Then, it’s time for some leg work. Visit the areas that seem best to you during the evening and during the day time to get a feel for the neighborhood when people are at work and school and when they’re home. If you’re lucky enough to catch someone outside, ask them what they think of the neighborhood. If you’re brave, knock on a couple doors to get the impressions from residents. Drive around the area and check out the local coffee shop, grocery store, park.

Once you’ve researched the property, then you can begin the next step, researching available property.

Tags: Investment Property, Research, Tenants, real estate

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 3:00 am and is filed under Investment Property. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.