Real Estate Investors You Need To Know Your Neighborhoods

It Is True What They Say: Location, Location, Location! It is such a trite old statement; But there is a reason why sayings get old and trite. They are true!

As a new real estate investor beginning your investment career you will have dozens of decisions to make and we will be there to help you make the right ones and, while it might cost money, it might cost time; you can correct most of your missteps.

There is nothing in real estate as permanent as location.

So one of your first steps in your new career as a Real Estate Investor is to learn everything you can about the area or areas where you hope to invest.

If your initial goal is to "buy an investment property in Cleveland" you have already bitten off more than you can chew. Right now there are 16,853 homes for sale in Cleveland with prices ranging from $1,500 to over $3 million.

Every Real Estate Investor must narrow his/her focus.

How much do you really know about Cleveland? Whatever it is, it isn't enough. You might have lived on the shores of Lake Erie your entire life, but how familiar are you with the 99.9 percent of the city where you don't live?

You need a plan. Here's a small sample of what this might entail.

1. Narrow your search to a few
2. Keep your eyes and ears open for any and all news about your target location(s)
3. Take a Grand Tour
4. Record Your Findings

Narrow Your Search to a Few Pick three areas that strike you as possibilities even if you don't have a real reason. Perhaps one is a neighborhood that you find attractive; another where a friend lives happily. Maybe the name sounds romantic or stately or it is convenient to your own home or office. This is not a final decision; a neighborhood you used to love in childhood may have deteriorated badly in the last few years or become so posh you can't possibly afford it. Now you either have two neighborhoods left to research or room to add another to your list.

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open
This can be fun. Talk to everyone you know about your neighborhood choices. Strike up conversations at work, at PTA meetings, Home Depot, cocktail parties. Everyone loves to give advice so ask for some: "I'm thinking about buying a house in Cherrydale Village. Do you know anything about that area?"

Take a Grand Tour
Even before you narrow your focus to a few neighborhoods get in your car and meander through every area in your town that seems even vaguely interesting. Once your two or three target neighborhoods are identified, make it a point to drive through each at different times of the day and night.

Record Your Findings
This needn't be anything fancy; it can be a few notes on a yellow legal pad or an Excel spreadsheet, but unless you memorialize what you have learned it will soon turn to mush in your head. A data base will help to inform your property decisions not only for your first house but for the 51st if you keep it current.

This is your reference so put into it whatever information will be most helpful to you. However, here is a condensed outline to get you started.

• Neighborhood name
• Approximate boundaries or list of street names;
• Age of most buildings
• Number of houses for sale and the price range
• School info
• Amenities
• Access to shopping, schools, churches, parks.
• Public transportation,
• Noise levels
• Traffic levels
• Negative info (i.e. pending negative development, crime.)
• Positive info (neighborhood ambience, increasing investor interest.)

To keep it simple, rank those items that can not be explained with a yes or a no on a five or a ten point scale.