Investors - Look For The Real Estate Sweet Spots

 A politician once proclaimed, "All politics is local!"

The same is true for real estate. If you live in Southern California home values are climbing towards the sky. The real estate market is hot!

At the very same time there are many areas in the Midwest where there has been no job growth, no increase in sales activity and no increase in home prices for over 5-years. If you are in one of those markets you find real estate investing is an entirely different ballgame.

Here's a good example of picking your sweet spot… something you, as an investor, should consider when planning your investing tactics.

Technical Olympic USA is home builder. The company very carefully selects the areas where they build homes. Right now they are in ten hot markets:

Florida
Texas
Tennessee
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Arizona
Virginia
Colorado
Nevada
Delaware

This builder avoids the crazy areas like San Diego, Loa Angeles and Boston.

They look for areas where employment has grown steadily for the last 5 or 6 years and where second-time home buyers are moving to homes in the $200,000 to $400,000 range.

They've learned that these buyers are in there 30s and 40s, have kids and want 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2,800 to 3,000 sq ft of living space and a two-car garage.

Yes, it would be nice if we could all do some research and move to an area where investors are having the most success. Don't fret. Time and again the truly determined have proven that you can make money in any real estate market… sweet or not.

If you are an investor living in the Midwest you cannot just buy any rental home and count on its appreciating value to provide a profit. Home prices are not going up.

Yet, you can still make money in Midwest real estate. The key is to always buy or option at a price at least 30% below market value. You have less room for error than those investing where home values are increasing by 1% to 3% per month.

In Southern California there are at least 5 real estate investing seminars being presented every week. Investors of all skill levels are swarming like locust over every square foot of ground. Competition is fierce. It's not quite like that in the Midwest.

Another key is to only invest in homes that people want to buy. A good target is what Technical Olympic has found to be its sweet spot... those homes near 3,000 sq ft. They will be easier to rent to the best class of tenants... and they will sell more quickly for the best profit. In your area the most desirable homes might have other characteristics, but you get the idea

The bottom line is that there are geographical sweet spots... and there are local sweet spots... even neighborhood sweet spots.

Stay in front of demand, buy carefully, use creative techniques like leases, options and "subject to", and you will find investing opportunity no matter where you live.

About the Author

Mark Walters is a real estate investor. You can learn about his successful tactics at: http://www.lease-option-sub2.com

 Mark Walters

More Articles 

The Saga Of An Ideal Real Estate Agent - Nicky Pilkington
Behind the success of a man is a woman, and behind the success of a real estate business is an ideal agent. Indeed, it's the human resource that is considered to be the most important factor for real estate business to succeed. Indeed, real...

Carpinteria Real Estate in 2005, What the Heck Happened????? - Gary Woods
Looking at Homes and Estates and Planned Unit Developments for 2005 in Carpinteria versus 2004 it was a combination of the best of times and the not so good times. The real questions are, was 2004 a particularly good year and 2005 a not so great...

Buy Properties in Bulgaria: Investing in Bulgarian Real Estate - surrinder Ahitan
Two seminal events make the decision to buy properties in Bulgaria a financially beneficial endeavor in the 21st century. One of these events already occurred -- the opening up of the Bulgarian real estate market following the collapse of the...

Property Casting - Podcasting for the Real Estate Industry - Ryan M Hoback http www WhatIWantPodcasting com
Propertycasting is the commercial application of podcasting for the real estate industry. Propertycasting involves the distribution and publishing of audio and video feeds, that offer real estate information delivered over the Internet, for...

Reinventing real estate, Part 2 - Charles Warnock
Reinventing real estate (Part 2: How online and empowered consumers are taking charge and paying less. Demanding consumers “Internet buyers tend to be better informed on market conditions and better prepared to act on the home they want when...

Still Hot Real Estate Markets Heating Up, Real Estate Add Reports - Mike Colpitts
There are still hot real estate markets in America, according to the latest survey of real estate markets in Real Estate Add.com. The website offers real estate market information on all 50 States. Despite increasing interest rates and a...

Take Away Power For Real Estate Investing - Derek Pierce
As a real estate entrepreneur, you must decide to learn the secret power associated with the takeaway. Maybe, you've already used it before. You may have used it and didn't even know it. Regardless, this method is a powerful trigger that will...

Cash is King as Real Estate Crashes! - Bill Young
True real estate investors have not had an easy time in the past few years as the field has been inundated with speculators chasing artificially bloated prices. Hoping to be able to sell at a higher price is not investing, it is speculating....

An Introduction to Real Estate Investing - Adem Hamidovic
There are a great many books and web sites devoted to real estate investing out there, but most of them concentrate on one specific area of investing. It's often hard to find a general description of real estate investing, one that lists the various...

Real estate software for Pocket PC - Oliver Webber
What do real estate professionals need to make a successful deal? 1.PC 2.Cell Phone 3.Fax 4.Internet 5.Quick responsiveness All that and much more can be carried in one's pocket. First you need to buy Pocket PC. If you buy a communicator, you won't...

Massive Potential to Profit from Real Estate Investment in Romania - Rhiannon Williamson
According to a recent report released in the UK about which European property markets have the greatest potential for growth and profit over the coming decade, Romania topped the lot. Romania, located in southeastern Europe, is a nation...

The Rich are Making Big Money in Real Estate - Mike Colpitts
The over-whelming majority of America's wealthiest families have made their fortunes in real estate, according to a new study. The survey, conducted over a two-month period before the end of 2005, indicates those surveyed made their fortunes...