Real Estate Investing: Buying Out of State Property

Website design By BotEap.comBuying a property outside of your local area where you live is not something that is recommended for the new investor. That’s why we made buying our first out-of-state real estate investment our top priority! Why? Because a set of circumstances came up that made sense for us to go ahead and buy vacant land several states away. We paid cash for this property at a significantly lower price than the market demands in the area. Also, it matched our investment criteria and was a small enough deal for us that it made sense to buy it. Why have we italicized the term “we” until now? Since this is a topic that we feel does not belong on this site, however, we learned a lot from the experience and want to share some simple lessons learned in this particular article as well as future articles. Simply put, we don’t recommend that people new to real estate investing run out and buy a property several hundred miles away.

Website design By BotEap.comInformation is vital for a good and solid investment in real estate. No, good information is vital for a good real estate investment. No, actually, you, the buyer, collecting a ton of information about a property you plan to buy is absolutely necessary to increase your odds of real estate investing success! Phew! Ok, so we’re clear. So how do you get information and how do you get quality information? Do you call some real estate agents and ask them about the area? That’s like asking a barber if you need a haircut. What about calling the local chamber of commerce? A local chamber of commerce is a good starting point, but it depends who you talk to. For example, you can talk to a person who is trying to market the area to bring business or improvements to the area. You may or may not obtain accurate information or correct data given your investment objectives.

Website design By BotEap.comTalk to multiple sources. Make several phone calls to different companies. A trusted developer in the area can be an excellent resource for connecting you with other phone numbers to contact and possibly even some of your personal contacts.

Website design By BotEap.comCheck everything! Check every statement a seller makes. If you can get someone to take pictures of the property he’s buying, that’s very important. If you’re buying vacant land, you’ll want to know if the lot is buildable, in a flood zone, zoning, utilities, sewer, and the surrounding neighborhood and subdivision.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen contacting municipalities, be sure to call back several times if you don’t find a cooperative person on the phone. For some reason, people from the south are nicer. They tend to spend more time on the phone with you and put up with you as you struggle to put two and two together. Don’t be afraid to let the information soak into your head while you’re on the phone, and ask the person on the line to wait while you write things down.

Website design By BotEap.comIt pays to prepare for phone calls. Write questions. It pays to have a quiz available. If you use ours, feel free to make it yours. If you don’t understand a terminology, you can contact us or look it up online at any real estate investment website. Record all your phone contacts and note the names and extensions of helpful people.

Website design By BotEap.comAnother good source of information will be the local newspaper for that area. There you will find classified ads and legal notices that can give you an idea of how the business is growing and where and when the foreclosure auctions will be held. As you collect more places to follow up just by reading the paper, be sure to follow up! Many newspapers have websites, but you won’t get the same information as with the real newspaper.

Website design By BotEap.comIn addition, you can also search for local real estate investor clubs and organizations. Here you will find possible online access to localized forums where you can chat and post questions, possibly network and get more information. Local real estate investing clubs will help you get your foot in the door with other investors. This is important as you can learn what to do…and what not to do.

Website design By BotEap.comIt cannot be stressed enough that it is very important to record everything you do. Be sure to write it down somewhere so you can refer to your notes on paper, instead of in your head. Hopefully, what you write, who you talk to, and what you read will enable you to make sound decisions when considering your out-of-town real estate investment strategies.

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