3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Playing in the Real Estat

So you?ve seen your umpteenth infomercial with the guy in his neatly pressed button-upped white T-Shirt grinning ear to ear waving his rock-solid no-money-down rags-to-riches real estate investment course for 3 easy payments of a gazillion dollars (but only if you call now) and now you are thinking, "wow this looks like a great deal, I better get it fast before the special offer expires." You notice how there?s always a special offer? Anyway, I am not saying this guy isn?t telling the truth, however regardless of which course or school of thought you buy into there are several key areas that one must avoid when engaging in any real estate related transaction.

Pitfall Number 1: Don?t Overpay!

The whole point in investing is to find properties that are undervalued. How does one find out what is undervalued versus overvalued? Without getting into technical details, the bottom line is you need experience. Yes much like shopping for anything else, real estate is essentially one of the highest ticket items in the shopping center of life. It?s advisable to stick with one market, perhaps the one closest to you in proximity as a starting off point. Through your experience and asking the right questions, you will eventually have a feel for the pulse of the market you are looking after, and of course identify what is considered a good buy.

Pitfall Number 2: Know the Market

Yes, you are actually going to have to do more work! This part is really common sense though, but executing it where the beauty and the payoff comes in. How do you make money in real estate? The most basic way is to buy low and sell high. So from the first step, you have identified general trends in the value of homes, and are pretty good at spotting undervalued homes. Assuming you acquire that home, you may want to profit from it by selling it off to someone else for a higher price. How can you do this? Well there are many ways. For one, most markets appreciate in value over time so if you want a longer term approach that will work. Making upgrades to the property will automatically raise the price of the home as well. Think in terms of what the market wants, not what you personally want. You aren?t the one buying it; you are trying to sell it to someone else for a higher price than you bought it.

Pitfall Number 3: Know Your Budget

It may be a fine philosophy to go through life on a whim, but real estate is serious business, and thus diligent financial planning and budgeting is critical to your success. Don?t worry you don?t need to be a finance geek, however you need to be disciplined and know your budget from the onset, or you may be finding you are learning that you need to make certain renovations or upgrades, and didn?t anticipate it going over to a certain cost. Think ahead as to what is needed before actually going forth with investing in real estate.

Posted by Cheryl McAdam on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Cheryl McAdam
Cheryl McAdam is affliated with Century 21 Signature Properties, LLC, which is located in New Orleans, LA. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for New Orleans, LA

Latitude: 29.972754 -- Longitude: -90.059011

ZIP Codes for New Orleans, Louisiana	70112 70113 70114 70115 70116 70117 70118 70119 70121 70122 70123 70124 70125 70126 70127 70128 70129 70130 70131 70139 70140 70141 70142 70143 70145 70146 70148 70149 70150 70151 70152 70153 70154 70156 70157 70158 70159 70160 70161 70162 70163 70164 70165 70166 70167 70170 70172 70174 70175 70176 70177 70178 70179 70181 70182 70183 70184 70185 70186 70187 70189 70190 70195
Area Code for New Orleans, Louisiana	504
Time zone for New Orleans, Louisiana	CST

Other Area Cities: Chalmette, LA New Orleans, LA Gretna, LA Harahan, LA Harvey, LA Kenner, LA Metairie, LA Belle Chasse, LA Meraux, LA Terrytown, LA Westwego, LA River Ridge, LA

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The Central Business District of New Orleans is located immediately north and west of the Mississippi River, and was historically called the "American Quarter." Most streets in this area fan out from a central point in the city. Major streets of the area include Canal Street and Poydras Street. In the local parlance "downtown" means downriver from Canal Street, while "uptown" means upriver from Canal Street. Downtown neighborhoods include the French Quarter, Treme, the 7th Ward, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater (the Upper Ninth Ward), and the Lower 9th Ward. Uptown neighborhoods include the Garden District, the Irish Channel, the University District, Carrollton, Gert Town, Fontainebleau, and Broadmoor. Other major districts within the city include Bayou St. John, Mid City, Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakefront, New Orleans East, and Algiers. Parishes located adjacent to the city of New Orleans include St. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Louisiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	New Orleans	Louisiana	United States
Population	484,674	4,468,976	281,421,906
Median age	33.1	34	35.3
Median age for Male	31.5	32.6	34
Median age for Female	34.6	35.3	36.5
Households	188,251	1,656,053	105,480,101
Household population	467,033	4,333,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.48	2.62	2.59
Families	112,977	1,156,438	71,787,347
Average family size	3.23	3.16	3.14
Housing units	215,091	1,847,181	115,904,641
Occupied units	188,251	1,656,053	105,480,101
Vacant units	26,840	191,128	10,424,540

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3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Playing in the Real Estat

Local Information for New Orleans, LA

Latitude: 29.972754 -- Longitude: -90.059011

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