Another Tool For Real Estate Investing

If you have not heard of realtor.com it's a great tool for determing value in a new market. I use it by narrowing the search to the type of homes I'm looking for and calling the agent who has the listing. From the agent I ask several questions such as, how many days has it been on the market, what's your market's sale price average versus list price, what's the average days on the market for this type of property. I also ask what has the trend been in your market the last year. Quite often the listing agent is full of good information and willing to give it for free. They might tell of job growth or other factors that make their area a good one to consider investing in. Some investors will find a home on realtor.com and by it without even going there to see the property. This can work if you have a management company in that area give their opinion of it's viability as a rental and then have it professionally inspected.I've never done this but many investors do it all the time successfully. Realtor.com can be used for searching multiunit properties and land but it's strongest use is in single family homes. In the bigger markets there are lots of homes listed which makes it easier to determine value.
Next time I will share a resource for searching commercial properties on the internet