Most successful real estate professionals will want to ensure you have a pre-approved mortgage in place before they take you out looking for a home. This is to ensure that they are showing you property within your affordable price range.

In summary, a pre-approved mortgage is one of the first steps a home buyer should take before beginning the buying process.

However, there are a few things that your form may not have, which you should add if yours is missing them.

First, where did the seller come from? If they came from mailing a postcard, you want to know which postcard. If they came from a real estate agent, put down the agent’s name. If a bird dog or wholesaler sent it, put their name down. You need to keep track of where all your seller inquiries come from and so you need a space on your Property Information Form to track that.

Second, be sure to get the property owner’s complete contact information AND jot down their motivation for selling. While many forms will have a place for owner’s contact information, few have a place for why the seller is selling. Often times, structuring a win-win deal requires you to have great knowledge of your seller and why they are motivated to sell. Without this information, you’re only closing a fraction of the deals that you should.

And finally, you need to record the financing currently on the property. As many investors move toward creative financing, knowing about the existing financing on the property becomes much more important. Some Property Information Forms may have a spot asking how much is owed, but few will go into the details of how much, at what rate, under what terms and so on. In the past, many investors have been tempted to skip asking how much is owed, but it is becoming more and more important as credit markets have tightened and some house prices have dropped, leaving many houses with more debt than they’re worth.

So, if you have not been using a Property Information Form, commit to start using one and if your form does not have the additional fields I recommend, please consider adding them to improve your own real estate investing business.

For those decided to sell their Carlsbad real estate, you have to think of ways on how to advertise your property effectively. First thing you can do is to contact your family and friends. You can tell them that your house and lot is for sale. If ever they have friends or co workers that have plans to buy a home of their own, they can refer your place. At least they do not need to go far and try to negotiate the area since they are doing themselves as well as you a favor. You need to dispose or sell this piece of land and they will purchase it from you.

You can put up flyers in your neighborhood and nearby areas that your land is for sale. You might want to leave a contact number like a mobile phone so that prospective buyers can easily contact you. However, just make sure that they will be able to talk to you no matter what time it is. Because if ever you are unable to answer their call, they might think that you are not serious in selling your land. Of course, people want answers in the shortest time possible so do not keep them waiting. If you encounter difficult people, you can do anything about it but just be patient with them.

When you advertise your home, you have to include a photo or two so that people will see what the house and lot looks like. It can be quite hard for prospective buyers to buy a home without seeing it first. At least when they see your flyer, they know already how your home looks like. It makes decision making easier and faster because they have an idea on what you are selling.

There are at least three primary advantages of rental properties sought by portfolio investors. The main one is passive cash flow; once acquired, rental properties generate income without the landlord actively working. In addition the owner typically enjoys gains from appreciation as well, as property values tend to rise over time.

And finally, the tax advantages of owning rental properties can be substantial, the primary one being claimed depreciation. Although most properties go up in value year by year, the IRS allows property owners to deduct depreciation losses from their reported income as if the property were actually declining in value. Consult your CPA or tax professional for specifics on this subject.

Buying wholesale means buying at a price where the property will cash flow today, not after improvements are made or rent is increased. The second pitfall is buying a property that is unrentable or located in a neighborhood with a soft rental market. The ideal solution is to buy properties that are already tenant occupied, but if you do buy a vacant property make sure there is plenty of rental demand in the neighborhood or better yet locate several potential tenants before you buy.

The third roadblock comes from using conventional financing and reaching your lender’s loan limit. After you have a certain number of rental properties your lender will cut you off and not loan you money to buy more. The best solution for this is to avoid using conventional financing and acquire properties by alternative financing methods, such as subject to, seller financing, or private financing whenever possible.