More and more people today are trying their hand at real estate investing which means that more and more people are also seeking real estate investing advice. There are many places from books to courses to seasoned gurus where you can find real estate investing advice, and depending on the type of investing you plan to do all or some of these sources are good places for you to find the real estate investing advice you need to be successful. No matter what type of real estate investing you plan on doing there is some blanket advice that can help you to make the biggest return on your investment.

One of the best pieces of real estate investing advice for any novice investor is to know the difference between speculating and investing. Buying a house or piece of land without much research and hoping or expecting it to rise in value over time is speculating. Most properties will build you equity and increase in value over time if you do noting more than let it sit, but this is not always the case and is why you should always remember this important real estate investing advice, don’t speculate, invest. Buying a property with the intention of making a profit from rent, reselling, or another source is investing. Before you invest, however, there is some more real estate investing advice that you should consider.

No matter how motivated you are, if you are just starting out in the world of real estate investing the best real estate investing advice for you to consider is to start small and close to home. Residential properties are the easiest properties to buy and although they do require you to have knowledge of taxes, fees, and the buying process, the process of buying residential is much easier than getting into commercial real estate, condos, or apartment buildings. You should also try to start your investing career close to your home so that it is easy for you to monitor your investment and learn the ins and outs of the real estate investing business.

There is no shortage of real estate investing advice out there, and if you are just starting out you must be able to discriminate between quality advice and truthful estimates and advice and estimates that are not in your best interest. It is not a good idea to believe everything you hear, especially if you are trying to determine how lucrative a property deal will be. Don’t go off of what a homeowner or realtor says the current and predicted market value of a home is, do your own research about the area to determine this.

If you are looking into buying a rental property not all landlords will be honest with their earning and may promise you more than they actually make. Ask for proof such as tax forms to determine how much income a property generates in a year. Not everyone is out to pull one over on you but enough people are that you should always do your own research and thinking.

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To become a successful real estate investor, it’s critical that you become a good negotiator. This is a lifelong learning curve, of course, but you can never go wrong by studying the negotiating process and improving your techniques.

The bottom line for successful negotiation is: get what you want by giving sellers what they want. There are some basic rules you’ll want to learn–and then follow religiously–when you enter into a negotiating situation.

The first one is that you can only negotiate with someone who is actually willing to negotiate. If a seller has no real motivation to sell a piece of property, there is little that you can do to increase your position in the process. If there is nothing they particularly need, there isn’t anything you can offer that will fill that need. If you run into sellers who are in this position, it may be best to simply walk away and move on to the next property.

Non-motivated sellers have dominated the real estate scene in 2005, and many homes have actually sold for above the listed prices, since there has been a glut of buyers who have bid prices up. In such a seller’s market, the chances of negotiating a genuine bargain decrease. However, 2006 looks as if the market will begin to shift, especially with rising interest rates, which will lessen the number of qualified buyers and may send housing price downward.

When you’re looking to fill the sellers’ needs, there are several questions you’ll want answers to, either from the sellers themselves or from other sources, such as real estate agents, escrow companies, or public records. For instance, you’ll want to know why the sellers are selling their home at that time? There are as many reasons as there are sellers, but until you know their individual circumstances, you won’t know how you can offer to help them toward their next move.

Although it will often be difficult to obtain from the sellers themselves, you can often find out what the original purchase price of the home was, which will give you a good feel for their equity position. This will give you leverage in your offering price, knowing how much the sellers will walk away with at closing.

Knowing the sellers’ time deadlines can also be critical to successfully negotiating a purchase of their home. The shorter the timeline, the more leverage you’ll have in putting together a successful purchase.

It’s also important to determine if the sellers have gotten a profession inspection done on the home. This can be vital in getting a feel for how much repair the home will need before you’ll be able to sell it at a profit. Don’t guess; it can be deadly to your bottom line! However, using these negotiating techniques can put you well on your way to becoming a successful real estate investor.

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