Online Sites to Make Your Search Easier

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Whether you are a seasoned investor or just starting out, knowing where to find investment property is one of the biggest challenges facing real estate investors. Online websites are a great place to search for property. They allow you to view properties from all over the country from the convenience of your computer. Here are seven websites that could prove very helpful in conducting your search.

1. LoopNet.com

LoopNet is a site that allows you to search commercial real estate for sale and for lease. It has an extensive inventory of investment properties. In addition to allowing you to search its massive inventory, LoopNet has a few other features which are very useful to property investors .

The first useful feature is the ability to search sales comparisons in a targeted area. You can type in an address and other qualifying criteria such as price, square footage, date of sale and number of rooms and it will provide you with a list of comps for that area. This can help give you an idea of the potential value of an investment property .

Another useful feature is the ability to search property records in a targeted area. You can search by type of investment property. owner information, tenant information or even tax information. You can also isolate your findings to only show pre-foreclosure listings or REO/bank owned properties, which are great finds for property investors because they can be bought at substantial discounts.

Another valuable feature is the local info section. This gives local real estate market trends for a great number of cities throughout the country.

The catch is, to view many of the features, you must become a member, but membership is free. You just have to provide an email address and create a password to become a member. If you become a paid member youll have access to an even greater amount of information than unpaid members have access to. More

2. Auction.com

As the name suggests, Auction.com is a website that focuses on housing auctions. They auction all types of real estate including foreclosures. REOs. short sales. notes, commercial real estate, luxury real estate, new construction and land. These auctions take place online, locally on-site or in court houses as well as in live mega-auctions in meeting halls.

You can easily browse the auctions by area or by type of property you are interested in. When you have entered your search criteria, Auction.com will bring you a list of results, as well as the opening bids on each property and the type of auction the property is involved in.

The site also has an auction calendar which lists all upcoming auctions along with the number of assets to be sold, the type of asset (i.e. bank owned, foreclosure, land) and the type of auction (i.e. online, ballroom). There are also handy how to guides which teach you the proper steps to take to begin bidding on these types of auctions. The first step in the process is creating a free account with Auction.com. More

3. Craigslist.com

Craigslist is a relatively simplistic way to find properties. You go to the area of the country you are interested in finding property. then to the real estate for sale section to see if there is anything of interest to you. You can type in search words such as foreclosure or short sale to try and narrow your search and you can also type in a minimum and maximum price to search for. You can find some great for sale by owner deals this way or distressed properties that have been listed with Realtors. More

4. REALTOR.com

Realtor.com is the official site of the National Association of Realtors. You can search through millions of listings, compiled from over 800 MLS databases throughout the country. You are also given the option to search exclusively for foreclosures.

Another nice feature of Realtor.com is the home value tool. It allows you to type in a street address or zip code and it will return an assessed value of homes in the area. The catch is, you do have to supply an email address and phone number to receive the report.

You can also sign up for something called SearchAssist by Realtor.com. This service provides up to date listings based on your search criteria delivered to your inbox as they hit the market. Realtor.com also offers finance tools, real estate news and statistics, and real estate tips and guides. More

5. Trulia.com

Trulia.com is a very user friendly website. To find property, you type in your search criteria. You can do as simple or as in-depth a search as you wish. You can simply enter a location of the country for a basic search or you can type in factors such as type of property. price and foreclosure status to do a more specific search.

Trulia also has some interesting features. You can see the school statistics, crime statistics, comparable properties and median home values for a specific area. Trulia also offers real estate advice and market trends. More

6. Realtytrac.com

The main focus of this site is foreclosures. You can search the latest foreclosure listings across the country as well as learn the basics of foreclosures. This site has ample information on everything from how to buy foreclosures to the latest news and statistics on foreclosures. More

7. Propertyshark.com

Propertyshark.com focuses on providing property records. Property records are a very useful source when evaluating investment property because they contain important information such as the owners name and address, the assessed taxes, square footage and the purchase price.

Propertyshark also provides you with detailed information on the neighborhood including recent sales data, demographics and even the height of the surrounding buildings. You will, however, need to sign up for a free account in order to access the information.

In addition, Propertyshark has extensive foreclosure listings, including vital property information such as the amount of the lien on the property and when and where the property is being auctioned. The site also allows you to search for residential and commercial property for sale and to look up comparable properties. More