Not convinced? You’ll probably change your tune when you compute the impact that cost of living has on your real estate profits. Here are some reasons why that’s a smart thing to do.

Property Taxes on Florida Real Estate

Property taxes have the power to make or break your investment profits. Even if you score a huge discount at auction or find a foreclosure that’s practically free, when your tax bills roll in that great deal can suddenly look more like a money pit. To avoid being bled dry every quarter, savvy investors bypass apartment complexes in places like New York City. They place their bets on multi-family homes and purchase real estate in Florida instead. To help narrow your property search, don’t forget how important cost of living really is. That’s a city-by-city calculator. How does yours compare?

 More Attractive Multi-Family Homes

Take off your investor’s shoes for a second and step into the shoes of your potential buyer or renter. Look at your property options through a buyer’s eyes. Families that are searching for multi-family homes to rent or own are looking at more than just the purchase price or the monthly rent of those properties. They’re looking for areas where they can thrive, not just live. No one wants tofeed their kids Ramen noodles every night just to make ends meet. People want to live in an area where utilities, groceries and gas are affordable enough to give them some wiggle room in their monthly budget.

When you buy real estate in Florida, you’ll have your pick of neighborhoods that offer a low cost of living. As a result, it’ll be easier for your investment to attract families, and that interest translates to a faster turnover for flips, low vacancy rates for rentals, and a heftier return for you.

Your Monthly Florida Realty Costs

Remember, buying real estate in Florida isn’t just about your closing costs. If you’re planning on flipping your property – and especially if your strategy is to buy and hold multi-family homes – you’ll have to know what you can expect to spend over time, because as experienced Florida realtors and investors will tell you, these costs add up. Purchasing a property in an area with a low cost of living means you’ll save big on monthly costs like these:

• Repair costs
• Skilled labor
• Maintenance and cleaning costs
• Gas and travel expenses
• Utility costs
• And more

There’s a big difference between fixing up Florida foreclosures and repairing a property on the Upper East Side, and that’s just one more reason why an area’s cost of living is so important. It’s not just about the renters – it’s about the investor, too. You can’t always predict what your property’s needs will be, but if the roof of your multi-family home needs to be replaced after 10 years, you’ll be glad that you bought central Florida real estate instead of a condo in downtown DC.

If there’s one trait that separates real estate moguls from investment failures, it’s vision. The winners in the real estate world are those who are able to look past the immediate costs and benefits of multi-family homes, those who can clearly see what’s waiting for them down the road. If you want to become a major player in the world of real estate, take a tip from the experts and develop a feel for cost of living. If you do, you’ll be that much better equipped to scoop up some of the most profitable real estate in Florida.

Discovering Diversity in Florida Real Estate

It’s true that some home owners still prefer a neighborhood with yards, homes and even people that are pretty much the same, but they’re getting harder to find – and that’s a good thing. This is the 21st century. Families these days value diversity, partly because families themselves are more diverse than ever before. Besides, homogeneity is boring. Today’s renters and buyers are looking for neighborhoods with personality. So while you’re searching for Florida real estate, search for signals of diversity like these:

• Ethnic restaurants
• Nationality clubs
• A variety of places to worship
• Ethnic performance centers

These signs of inclusion will make the property, and the area that surrounds it, more welcoming to all kinds of families. You don’t even need to live near the area to find these assets. Just do some detective work on Google Maps!

A Wholesome Multi-Family Home

Home buyers don’t just shop with their wallets – they shop with their emotions, too. While you’re comparing the prices of Florida foreclosures, would-be renters are smiling fondly at a tire swing or marveling at the cherry blossoms. These things won’t sell your property all by themselves, but they can certainly help. Be sure to ask yourself if the property you’re about to purchase lies in an area that will make buyers or renters feel warm and cozy or whether it’s likely to leave them cold.

Florida Real Estate for Our Furry Friends

If you want your multi-family homes to be pet-friendly, look at the neighborhood through a dog’s eyes. (Yes, really.) Most Florida real estate properties come with backyards, but pet owners will have other questions about a property too. They’ll be asking things like this:

• Is the yard fully enclosed by a fence?
• Do the neighborhood streets have well-maintained sidewalks?
• Are there pet-friendly parks nearby?
• What about shopping centers with stores that offer pet products?

These details might mean nothing to you, but they could make a big difference to your prospective buyers. So before you commit to a property, ask yourself this: “If I were a dog, would I want to live here?”

Underground Arts

Access to entertainment isn’t exactly a hidden asset, but too many Florida real estate buyers search exclusively for malls and movie theaters. Those are good things, but if we’re talking real estate hotspots here, good shopping is usually a given. Think outside the box when you’re looking for properties. Look for small concert venues, local coffee shops that offer poetry readings and even late-night cabarets and improvs. If you’re pondering three different Palm Beach real estate properties, the presence or absence of underground entertainment could help you determine which neighborhood is the most marketable.

Your neighborhood’s hidden assets have something in common with the “talent” portion of a beauty pageant: a contestant’s hidden talent isn’t revealed by a pretty smile or a gorgeous gown. Likewise, you don’t know a neighborhood until you get past its superficial attributes. So dig a little. Look beyond the price of Florida foreclosures in your target area. Look beyond a neighborhood’s proximity to universities. It’s the hidden assets that sometimes make all the difference. 

Create a Home Show Game Plan

Unlike Katniss and Peeta, you won’t benefit from sponsors who’ll send you life-saving help when you’re down in the fray, so you’re going to have to formulate a plan by yourself. If you think this step isn’t important, we’re guessing this is your first home show. But hey, listen – plans are important. If you don’t have one, it’s too easy to get lost in the landscaping labyrinth. (You’ll waste precious hours there.) Instead, save your sanity. Form a game plan by asking yourself these questions:

• Am I shopping for projects for my family home or for one of my house flipping projects?
• Exactly which projects do I need to shop for?
• What is my budget for each project?
• Which important questions do I need answered by an expert?

Simply asking yourself these questions (and maybe even writing down your responses) can help you safeguard your time and money. Remember, hitting a home show before you’ve prepared yourself is like going grocery shopping when you haven’t eaten all day – everything looks good. A plan will help you narrow your focus, and that’ll guarantee that you actually accomplish something.

Form Your Home Show Team

You might be the most focused and knowledgeable house flipping expert in your state, but if you enter the home show with a ragtag group of friends and in-laws, any plans you may have had can fall apart in an instant. Your kids will climb into a treehouse display and refuse to come down. Your mother-in-law will buy a 10-foot-tall dogwood and insist you carry it for three hours. Your best friend will enter you in 50 raffles just so he can score some light-up keychains.

In short, you’ll lose control. So be choosy about who you take along to the home show. A friend who’s successfully fixed up a dozen Florida foreclosures will make the perfect companion. Your weird cousin Benny who gets easily distracted by shiny things? Not so much.

Don’t Get Wooed by the Wheel

Many booths at the home show will have raffles and prize wheels. Don’t let yourself get sucked in. If you do, you’ll end up waiting in unnecessary lines, carrying bags full of pens and magnets all over the convention center and fielding calls for months as booth owners use your contact information to try to rope you into refinishing your countertops. Only give your information to businesses that sell products you’re genuinely interested in. It may be hard to walk past all those spinning wheels without giving one a go, but you managed to make it through your son’s eighth birthday without commandeering the riding pony, didn’t you? Be a grownup.

Remember That the Best Things in Life Are Free

It’s a cliché because it’s true, and it doesn’t stop being true the moment you walk through the convention center doors. The best things at the home show are free, and we’re not talking about the fudge samples. Knowledge is the grand prize here, and don’t let yourself forget it. Talk to experts. Ask questions. Write down advice and contacts. Even if you don’t purchase a single item from the show, the expert advice you receive can be invaluable. (Plus, you don’t have to carry it all over the parking garage later.)

Like a tribute entering the Hunger Games arena, everyone who walks into a home show hopes they’ll emerge a winner. But we can’t all be so lucky. Use these tips to make sure you get the most out of your experience. And if the home show you’re gearing up for happens to be in Orlando, Florida this May 25th through the 27th, stop by the Equity First Realty booth. Our experts will be happy to answer your questions about South Florida real estate and passive income, or, you know, just help you practice some deep breathing. Don’t worry – if you show up toting a 10-foot dogwood and three bags of magnets, we promise not to judge. 

1. Define your goals. Why are you considering investing in the first place? Are you looking to use your real estate profits as a retirement cushion? Do you plan to set up a college fund for your daughter? Or are you simply trying to show up Glenn from accounting, that one guy who thinks he’s some sort of a timeshare genius? Whatever your reasons, put that pen to paper and write them down. That way, you won’t lose sight of your goals later – and that’s good, since it’ll prevent you from making impulsive decisions.

2. Have a family meeting. Obviously, you don’t need to let your 8-year-old weigh in on the subject, but you should at least discuss your real estate investing plans with your spouse. Because your investment choices will effect your entire family, your family members should feel like they’re part of the dialogue.

3. Review your finances. Don’t just glance at your bank account. Meet with your financial advisor to get a clear understanding of your current financials and how they’ll be impacted by your purchases, costs and real estate profits.

4. Budget for the worst. Budgeting for the best-case scenario is a rookie mistake. Do the opposite. For example, if you’re looking into Florida foreclosures, plan for higher-than-expected repair costs. It’s far better to have too much money in your budget than not enough.

5. Select your strategy. There’s more than one way to invest in real estate. Are you interested in house flipping? Single-family rentals? Multi-family homes? Your angle has an enormous impact on which properties you’ll choose, so make sure your strategy is set before you move forward.

6. Enlist the help of an expert. We all think of ourselves as experts, but unless you’ve made real estate your career, there’s someone out there who has more knowledge and experience than you do. Don’t sell yourself short by flying solo. Seek out a reputable wholesale broker to help you turn your investing goals into real estate profits.

7. Research your market. The world of real estate investing doesn’t begin and end in your own backyard. With the help of your wholesale broker, you can purchase property on the other side of the state or even on the other side of the country. Instead of just looking for deals in your area, research markets across the U.S. Then choose the one that’s right for you.

8. Create a team. On the TV show “Survivor,” the alliance-forming contestants last the longest, and there’s a reason for it. The more solid your support, the more successful you’ll be when it comes to earning passive income. Your wholesale broker can help you create a team of property managers, skilled contractors and other trusted industry experts.

9. Know your next step. So you’ve zeroed in on a property and you’re ready to buy. What will you do next? Will you need to replace the siding, install new carpet or screen tenants? Know your next steps. Plan ahead so that your property doesn’t sit empty for months when it could be earning you passive income instead.

10. Stay realistic. When you’re finally ready, go ahead and purchase your property (you won’t make any real estate profits if you don’t!) but remain realistic. You aren’t going to wake up the next morning on a yacht full of supermodels, but you are going to wake up as the owner of a solid and secure investment. Remember to be patient.

When you were a kid, you didn’t need a plan. If you wanted a house, you built one out of tarps and sticks and whatever else you could find. Without a plan, you felt free. But as soon as it started to rain, your makeshift fort would collapse on top of you. As an adult, you can’t afford for your real estate profits to suffer the same fate. That’s why you need a strategy. So while you might feel tempted to get out there and snatch up a property as fast as you can, dial it back a notch. Make a checklist, and take it seriously. That’s how you’ll make the most of your passive income investments.

Myth #1 – Free vacations for the rest of your life.

This common timeshare myth pulls in more investors than any other. When you own a timeshare, the myth goes, your family will be able to use it freely whenever you want. Imagine all the money you’ll save on vacations! Some timeshares even allow you to vacation elsewhere within the timeshare network. Sounds like a sure-fire way to save money on family vacations, right? Wrong. No vacation is free, even if your lodging is. You’ll need to buy plane tickets, food, rental cars and everything else you’ll need. The only thing you’ll save on is the actual cost of renting a hotel or condo.

Keep in mind, too, that while your family is enjoying the sand and sun, you’re losing out on weeks of rental income. That’s thousands of dollars you aren’t making. If you’d invested in multi-family homes instead, you could be earning money while you’re vacationing instead of missing weeks of passive income – but that’s a detail you aren’t likely to hear from a timeshare salesman.

Myth #2 – You’ll earn a steady stream of passive income.

The single worst thing about timeshare properties is that they rent from week to week. This means that one month, your condo or beach house might be rented every day, while in some other months it might be occupied for only one week – or not at all.

Unlike multi-family homes (which require month-to-month leases at the very least, although yearly leases are much more common), timeshares offer no stability. You won’t know for sure exactly how much passive income you’ll earn each month until you’ve earned it. So not only do you stand to lose thousands of dollars every month, you’ll never be able to predict your income. Planning on buying a new house or sending Junior to college? The unpredictable nature of timeshare investing will make all of your financial planning more difficult. It’s just one more reason why Florida foreclosures that have been transformed into rental properties are a far better investment choice.

Myth #3 – Management will take care of everything.

If you’re living in New York and you want to buy real estate in Florida, you clearly can’t be responsible for managerial duties. Timeshare salesmen capitalize on this idea by assuring you that they’ll do everything, from finding renters to making repairs. It sounds like a great setup, but in practice it can suck your savings account dry. Consider this: the people that rent your timeshare only do so for a week or two at a time. They pay (if at all) a minimal deposit, and they aren’t emotionally invested in your property. So if they rip the wallpaper, clog the toilet, stain the carpet or constantly lose your remote controls, what’s it to them?

The result is a steady stream of added costs. Not only are you responsible for things like broken floor tiles or leaky faucets – you’re also responsible for beds and curtains and dishware and patio furniture. Even if these items are in working condition, your timeshare manager may decide they aren’t up to par with the stuff in the other units and that they therefore must be updated. That manager may then purchase, say, an entire dining room set. You won’t know it until you get the bill. And if you refuse to pay for updates? Well, he just won’t rent out your property. It’s a catch-22 that’s all-too-common in the timeshare world, but it’s not a problem when you invest in multi-family homes.

Keep in mind that these three myths are only the tip of a very large iceberg. If you want to earn passive income and create a lifetime of vacation memories for your family, skip the timeshare and go with multi-family homes instead. You won’t have to guess your income from week to week. You’ll deal with far fewer hidden costs. And, most importantly, you’ll earn a much larger profit in the long run. So make the most of your investment and earn the adoration of your family at the same time. Because while it might sound like a great idea now, forcing your family to vacation on the same strip of sand for the next 30 years is going to get old pretty fast.

5. Florida Foreclosures – South Florida foreclosures offer some of the best investment opportunities in the U.S. Why? Not only can they be bought for rock-bottom prices, but their quality is unusually high. Most of these properties require less than $5,000 in repairs, and that means that they can be transformed into dream homes quickly, easily, and at a low cost to you. When you pay far less to purchase your properties and when you don’t have to completely overhaul them before you rent or sell, the money-saving benefits are clear.

4. Properties Rent Fast – Real estate in Florida is special for another reason – it rents fast. This is mainly because Florida families were hit hard by the recession. Some of them lost their homes to foreclosure, and many would-be buyers were forced to delay their dreams of home ownership until their financial situations improved. While it’s a regrettable situation for many families, it gives investors a clear advantage. Here in the Sunshine State, single-family homes are in high demand, and quality properties don’t sit vacant for long. This means that when you purchase South Florida real estate and then give it some TLC and put it back on the market, you can expect to begin earning passive income in as little as two weeks.

3. Higher Rental Rates – That heightened demand for rental homes does more than just help your South Florida real estate property rent faster – it helps you earn more. In a high-demand area, a property can rent for twice as much as it would elsewhere, and that means you’ll be earning hundreds of additional dollars in passive income every month. When you add this advantage to the low cost of purchasing and rehabbing most South Florida foreclosures, the savings, and the profits, stack up.

2. Management On-Site – Do you live in Seattle? New York? California? Or are you an international investor hailing from as far away as China or Australia? Whatever the case may be, you can’t just hop into your hovercraft and speed over to West Palm Beach every time a pipe bursts or a tenant must be screened. Equity First works with a team of experienced property managers who can respond to property needs quickly and professionally, and that’s good news for investors who aren’t local. When you let Equity First handle your on-site management needs, you can reap the rewards of South Florida real estate no matter where you live.

1. High Resale Value – Whether you’re into house flipping or the buy and hold strategy, South Florida real estate offers a higher resale value than what you’ll find in other markets. Here, low foreclosure costs and simple rehabs make house flipping fast and profitable, and when you rent out a property for years or even decades, passive income isn’t your only reward. As the market improves, South Florida real estate will continue to appreciate in value. Whatever your strategy, real estate in South Florida offers a clear profit advantage.

Yes, the Equity First Realty team is excited to open our new West Palm Beach office, but there’s no reason for us to keep that excitement to ourselves. Hopefully these points have helped you understand exactly why we’re so happy to have a front seat for all the best deals South Florida real estate has to offer. But if you live far from the Sunshine State, don’t despair – we’ll work with you to help you purchase and profit from real estate in Florida. Call us today to learn more about all of our South Florida properties.

Investing Cash Means Investing Fast

Wouldn’t it be nice if the real estate market ran on your schedule? You could invest when you felt like it, and you’d never have to rush to snatch up deals. Sadly, the market keeps its own time, and the properties that offer the best bargains will sell the fastest – with or without you. When a house flipping dream home appears to you suddenly one day in the form of a high-quality foreclosure, the last thing you want to do is wade through a lengthy loan application and risk losing that amazing deal to a super-quick investor. That’s why people who make a career out of house flipping (and even people who prefer to earn passive income through rental properties) often turn to hard money loans. These loans get them the money they need faster, so that the best investments don’t slip through their fingers. 

Financing for House Flipping

If you have any experience with house flipping, you know that the purchase price of a property is only one of the costs you have to think about. To turn a profit, you’ve got to raise the value of the home, and the only way to do that is by remodeling and making repairs. Hard money loans are special because you can spend the money as you see fit. You can use it to help actually purchase the house, yes. But you can also use it for lots of other things, like buying a new roof or replacing the siding. You can use the money on all sorts of projects that help increase the value of a home. And even if you choose to turn your property into a rental, by completing your remodeling on time you can rent faster – and that means more passive income.

Don’t Forget the Discounts

The most common reason for investing cash? The discounts, of course. Banks, auction houses, even private sellers – they all prefer cash over drawn-out monthly payments, and to get their hands on more equity faster, these sellers are happy to offer discounts. If you make a living flipping Florida foreclosures, saving a few thousands dollars on every deal can really add up. Sure, hard money loans typically have shorter repayment periods and higher fees, but you can easily minimize the associated costs by refinancing after 120 days. In fact, many experienced investors use these loans as “bridge loans” to help get them through the purchase and remodeling process and carry them through to long-term financing options. When used correctly, hard money loans can save you thousands over the course of your career.

The benefits of hard money loans are clear. It’s a faster process, the costs are lower and you can use your money how and when you want. So while you’ll still want to go paperless for things like your monthly Netflix bill or the weekly trip to the grocery store, when it comes to house flipping or even passive income properties, you know what they say – cash is king. Rule your real estate market by putting a hard money loan to work for you today. 

Foreign Investors Know the Value of a Dollar

One man’s bad news is another man’s opportunity. That’s the case right now when it comes to the U.S.’s place in the global economy. For American-based investors, suppliers and manufacturers, the weak U.S. dollar is definitely not good news. For foreign investors, however, it’s cause for celebration. Investors from China, Australia and countries all across the globe are realizing that their investment funds earn them a far greater profit when invested on U.S. soil. For the price of an efficiency apartment in their home country, foreign investors can buy an expansive multi-family home in America. What’s more, management and repair costs are also lower in America, saving these investors even more. To get the most out of their investments, international buyers are broadening their real estate searches to far beyond their home countries and choosing properties in the U.S. instead.

Real Estate in Florida Offers the Highest Return

For foreign investors, the advantages of purchasing American properties are clear, but what makes real estate in Florida so special? There’s more than one factor that helps the Sunshine State outshine the others.

• Florida Foreclosures. Florida is awash with high-quality foreclosures. The prices for these properties are low and their quality and value are high, making passive income opportunities more profitable here than anywhere else in the country.
• Florida Renters. Due to the high foreclosure rate and the weakened Southern economy, Floridians are renting more than ever before, and quality rental properties are at a premium. As a result, the owners of these properties see fewer vacancies and higher rent checks than they would in other U.S. real estate markets.
• Florida’s Low Cost of Living. Management costs, repair supplies and construction labor – all of these things cost less in Florida than they do in other states. Thanks to Florida’s low cost of living, it’s possible to save big during every phase of the investing process.

When all of these benefits combine, they add up to some serious passive income profits. In fact, foreign investors who purchase Florida real estate and rent out their properties can expect to see at least a 10-15% return on their investments. No wonder so many international investors are choosing U.S. properties.

So What Does All of This Mean For You?

If you’re an investor who doesn’t reside in the U.S., the answer is obvious – Florida real estate provides the investment opportunity you’ve been waiting for. But what about American investors? For them, the popularity of Florida properties among international investors has both an upside and a downside. With the exception of the foreign exchange rate, all of the things that make Florida investments so profitable (foreclosure prices, the large pool of potential renters and Florida’s low cost of living) benefit any owner of Florida real estate. But as foreign investors really start to flood the Florida market, the list of available properties will shrink. Demand is growing and supplies are dwindling, and that means that Florida home prices won’t stay low forever. So if you’re an American investor thinking of purchasing your own Florida property, now’s the best time.

When it comes to trends, there’s no need to scour style magazines or take a yearly trip to Paris Fashion Week to stay ahead of the game. Sure, that kind of trend-spotting might help you look successful, but if you want the real thing, then it’s time to get serious about investment trends. Take a cue from foreign investors and set your sights on real estate in Florida. With the money you’ll save and the profits you’ll earn, who knows – you might just be able to afford Gucci’s new line of suits after all. 

1. To collect passive income, you need to become a landlord. You have a job, a family, season tickets and date nights – which means you don’t exactly have time to be shaking down tenants for rent checks or patching up busted pipes. So there’s no way someone like you could collect passive income through real estate investing, right? Wrong. With the help of a wholesale broker and management team, you play the role of the investor, not the landlord. While your role will require some oversight and decision-making, it’ll by no means become a second job.

2. You’ll get rich quick. Thanks to the recent popularity of house flipping reality shows, even first-time buyers think they have what it takes to make a fortune in a snap. Unfortunately, real estate investing takes time, even when it comes to flipping. In fact, a buy and hold strategy, one of the most profitable forms of real estate investing, requires that you hold on to your property for years or even decades in order to maximize your profits. It’s certainly possible to build a fortune with your investments, but will it happen overnight? Sadly, no.

3. You need to purchase tools to become a real estate investing expert. Have you ever watched an infomercial, browsed a website or even sat in on a lecture that promised to deliver the secrets to earning passive income? Were you told you’d need to purchase a DVD, a book or a ticket to a convention to learn these secrets? The idea that you have to buy information before you can succeed in real estate investing is more than just a myth – it’s a scheme. The “experts” that promise to share their investing secrets don’t even earn their income through investing. They earn it by hocking tapes and DVDs to naïve investors. This may be the granddaddy of all real estate investing myths. To protect yourself, follow one simple rule: don’t do business with anyone who tries to sell you information.

4. Most cheap properties are just money pits in bad areas.The recession has hit many American families hard, and that means there are more foreclosures on the real estate market than ever before. But skid row can’t lay claim to them all. You can find foreclosures in every neighborhood, and some may be in great condition. Banks and lenders are eager to get rid of these homes, which means cheap properties aren’t necessarily damaged goods. In fact, when you work with a wholesale broker, finding high-quality homes for low prices is even easier. These experts have access to networks all over the country, so if real estate in Florida offers the best value for your investment dollar, you won’t miss out – even if you live in California.

5. It’s a bad time to buy.No matter what the current economy looks like, or where you’re searching for real estate investing properties, there will always be naysayers who tell you it’s a bad time to buy. This myth has never been less true than it is today – especially when it comes to buy and hold investing. Right now, more families are renting than ever before. Demand is high, and vacancies are low. Owners are able to fill properties faster and charge more in rent every month, resulting in more passive income and a larger profit year after year. Of all things, don’t let this myth stop you from investing.

Think about it – where would you be if you structured your life around myths? Maybe you’d be tracking Bigfoot through the Cascade Mountains or building an underground shelter in preparation for December 12, 2012. Pick your fancy, but one thing’s clear: you certainly wouldn’t be making sound and logical decisions, the kind of decisions that lead to success. When it comes to the world of real estate investing, don’t let myths and misconceptions prevent you from earning impressive passive income and big profits. It’s your money and your future – think for yourself.

1. Buy from a wholesale broker. Want to know the best way to get the most out of your turn key property investment? Buy from a wholesale broker. These real estate experts know what to look for in a property, and they put that knowledge to work at the auction house or on the courthouse steps – or anywhere that properties can be bought for a song. They have a keen eye that allows them to choose the truly valuable properties instead of those that are more trouble than they’re worth. When you purchase from a wholesale broker, you’re sure to get a great deal on a high-quality property.

2. Choose a low-crime area. That cheap turn key property might seem like the key to your passive income dreams, but when you’re scrubbing graffiti off your siding, replacing broken windows and repairing damages from break-ins every month, suddenly the deal doesn’t seem so sweet. For a secure investment, choose a secure area. If you live in New York but are planning to purchase Palm Beach real estate, you might not be able to drive through your neighborhood of choice, but you can research it online or even contact the local police force. It may seem like a hassle, but it’s nowhere near as inconvenient as buying into a dangerous area. 

3. Research rates. A profitable turn key property must do two things: it must bring in enough money to overcome your costs and it must stay occupied from month to month. No one can predict the future of your property, but surveying the properties around it can provide a solid clue. Are several houses on the block boarded up or for sale? Are tenants constantly moving in and out? Are advertised rental rates barely higher than your monthly costs? Study your surroundings, and keep an eye out for bad omens like these.

4. Value the future as much as the present. Your buy and hold real estate investment will be a part of your life for many years. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye on the future when purchasing rental property. A relatively unattractive area could turn into a boom town as soon as that new highway is finished or when a large corporation builds a manufacturing plant nearby. So don’t sell yourself short – look at what’s coming down the road.

5. Know your property value. Even if you aren’t planning to sell for a long time, knowing your property value is important. Why? Because that value helps decide your property tax. You won’t be able to conduct your own official property appraisal before you buy, but you can review past appraisal values. In most areas, property tax cards are available to the public at the city hall or the local borough building. Review yours to discover the appraised value of your property and estimate your yearly taxes. Knowing what to expect will make it that much easier to tell which properties will provide the biggest passive income profits.

The more informed you are now, the more wealthy you’ll be in the future – it’s just that simple. So while you may be ready to jump into the world of turn key property investing with two feet, take a step back. Before you buy blindly, use these tips to tell a diamond in the rough from a big pile of fool’s gold. That’s how you can set the stage for a strong and steady flow of passive income every month.