Marnie Bennett’s 7 Tips Real Estate Investors Should Follow for Successful Investments

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Real estate investments are one of the best long term commitments the business world has to offer. When they are managed correctly, they can be incredibly lucrative, providing invaluable opportunities for long term wealth. But they have to be managed correctly, or else everything can go sour in a hurry. Here are 10 tips for making sure a real estate investment doesn’t have you hurting later on:

1. Don’t work too long on any one deal.

If an investment just isn’t going to happen, it’s not going to happen. Some deals can be drawn out for months, or even years. But they so rarely bear any fruit the longer they drag on. Usually it means something’s wrong, and it’s best to just pull out now, and move on to something else.

2. Marketing a property is an investment, not an expense

When you’re coming up of your list of expenses and trying to cut costs in selling property, remember that marketing is essential to getting a property sold, so it should be seen as a part of the investment with the property.

3. Set up real estate investment entities as early as possible to benefit from tax savings.

There are a ton of tax breaks that come with real estate investments, so start your LLC holding company immediately, and then worry about investing.

4. If you own real estate, have a lawyer.

Unfortunately, in our litigious society, it’s not a matter of if you’ll have a legal problem owning real estate, but rather when you’re going to have a problem. That’s just a fact, and one that you have to be prepared for.

5. Be wary of contractors that require an advance for a job.

More often than not, when a contractor needs an advance for materials they are doing so to help pay for another job. Don’t pay for someone’s real estate project, unless you’re paying for your own benefit.

6. Formulate exit strategies for when investments don’t work out.

Before you buy or invest in a property, make sure you have a solid exit strategy in case the investment doesn’t pan out. That’s one of the best possible decisions you can make for long term profitability.

7. Real estate isn’t about how much money you make, but how much money you hold onto.

In the real estate game, the profit comes from holding on to as much money as possible, not from making a lot of money. Anybody can make a lot of money, but avoiding investments that are overly expensive, sinking too much money into projects, and overspending in various ways are easy pitfalls for investors. Avoiding all of them will amount to more profitability, than worrying about how much money is rolling in.