A diamond in the rough?
Find investment properties easily.

Can you find investment properties just by appearance alone? Looks can be deceiving. If you are just starting to buy your first cash flow real estate you might wonder, "Gee, there are lots of properties out there. But how do I know which one is a good investment?".

An excellent tip to answer your question is to find properties that are worse in shape or condition but located in good areas and neighborhoods. It's like finding a diamond in the rough.

Why look at it this way?

You see, when people want to rent they look for good areas with great neighborhoods, security, convenience, and peace of mind. They certainly don't like streets that are filled with trash or someone in the back alley doing drugs.

They want to feel safe and secure when renting in an area that they're going to live for a long time.But your tenant certainly doesn't want to live in a run down house even though it is located in a good area. That's where you come in as an investor.

Your job is to find such properties, improve it, and then rent it out. It's that simple.

1.Identify bad properties

So how do you find investment properties that are not in good shape? Look for these signs when you are searching:

a)Tall grass

b)Dirty painting

c)Damaged fencing

d)Unoccupied for a long time

If you are not sure you can always ask the neighbor next door to find out about the vacant property.

2. Improve the existing property

You can do lots of things to improve and restore the existing property to good condition. You can

a) Re-paint the property

b) Trim the grass or improve the garden

c) Fix the fencing

d) Adding a garage if it doesn't have one. This article lists out tips in improving and adding value to properties.

3. Rent it out

After you have done the improvements, it's time to rent it out. You can do some research on how much rent that other landlords are charging in your area.

You could also ask your property agent about the current average rental that you can charge to your tenant.



So there you have it. The key to finding great real estate investments is to look for ugly houses in great neighborhoods. This is where most average investors shy away from, thinking that ugly properties are a waste of time.

A true real estate investor knows how to find value in every property whether it is in good or bad shape.

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