One of the first questions new real estate investors ask is where they can find great deals. It's only natural, since they've often been eagerly watching the various infomercials that crowd late-night television and they're eager to cash in on what seems to be the easy money available in real estate.

The bad news: it's not as easy as they make it sound of television. The good news: you can make some great money as a real estate investor if you know where to look and do your homework well. Here are a few ideas for finding deals.

The first is obvious. Check your local area, especially if you live in a smaller town. Your competition will be much less, and you may find sellers more willing to be flexible, since their options are also limited by the smaller population base. You can also advertise yourself as a real estate investor who is interested in buying property in your area. You'll probably get calls, which is often not the case when your ad has to compete against dozens of others in a big city newspaper.

If you see estate sales listed in your local paper, visit them and ask if the real estate will be for sale, as well. The same is true about garage sales. Though only some 20 percent of people holding garage sales are planning to move, you may be the only person who asks about their home during their garage sale. The key is to stand out from your competition.

As you drive around your target area, always be on the lookout for vacant houses, especially those that are somewhat rundown and have lawns that haven't been mowed in awhile. When you find one, stop and talk to the neighbors. Do they know what's happening with the house? They can be a wealth of information, and you'll often find them happy to talk to you, because an unsightly, abandoned home in a neighborhood hurts all the other houses in the area. Leave your card on the front door. You just might get a call from a motivated seller.

Tell local lenders that you're interested in buying homes they're in the process of repossessing. If you get yourself preapproved for a loan, you may be the first person the bank will call when one of their properties is soon to become available. They might even walk you through the process of a short sale, which can save you a considerable amount of money. Many of these homes will also carry special financing or allowances for repairs, so they're worth looking into.

Put up flyers to let people know you buy homes. Offer a finder's fee for leads that turn into sales. It's worth paying someone a few hundred dollars to make thousands. Talk to folks who deal with people who are moving and offer them a finder's fee. Whether it's a property manager, your mailman, or your paper boy, you never know where your next lead will come from. Tell everyone you meet that you're in the market for investment homes.

Although it may not be as easy as the late-night gurus make it sound, make no mistake: the deals are out there, and when you find them, you really can make lots of money as a real estate investor.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

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