Usually, when someone is beginning the process of purchasing a home, they first choose their real estate agent, they finally find a house, and then that agent refers them to a home inspector. However, it may actually be more beneficial for home buyers to reverse this, choosing your home inspector first and then asking their opinion on a real estate agent.Do not get home inspectors wrong here. We know that a vast majority of real estate agents really do care about the home buyer. However some can be influenced and motivated to act in ways that are less in the best interest of the buyers. We have known real estate agents to never use a home inspection company for anyone except for themselves or family.Real estate agents are paid on commission, and that commission doesn’t come unless a home buyer makes a purchase. The agent needs you to buy the home, and there are a few unethical real estate agents who aren’t above lying to a client or downplaying a home’s issues to make sure a sale goes through. The commission can be enough to alter the level of being above board an agent will be.An established, well reviewed home inspection company most likely knows which agents you can put your trust in. A well established home inspection company also knows which agents have asked them to leave details out of the report. The inspection company may not tell you negative things specifically regarding an agent, however they could easily suggest an agent to you. You can trust the home inspection company because the company needs you to have a great experience with them, as reviews and word of mouth are very important to them. How will their company look if you discover your new home has structural problems shortly after moving in when it becomes an issue? In addition, the home inspection company gets paid whether or not you purchase the home; this means they don’t have possible motivation to lie to push a sale that the real estate agents have. A home inspectors best interest is to be accurate and honest.Of course, there are amazing real estate agents out there who care very much about their clients. You just have to take your time and take care in who you choose. Your home inspector is a great person to ask when you are beginning your search for agents and a home.

Have you made up your mind to start investing in real estate, but you’re torn in deciding where to invest?Are you thinking about making a local investment, but wondering if an out-of-state investment might be better?This is one of the first of many choices you’ll have to make when you decide to invest in real estate: the simple question of where you should invest your hard-earned dollars. While there are definite benefits to investing in your area, there are also some potentially profit-limiting downsides.That’s not to say investing in outside areas doesn’t have its own pros and cons. Let’s take a look at both and see why out-of-state real estate investing might be a profitable option you have not yet explored.Investing LocallyThis is the most obvious choice for many real estate investors, but is it really right for you?If you choose to buy a property local to you, you’ll rest easier about your investment since you know the market. First, you know your competition. You might know the names of professionals you can trust and you’ll have an intimate understanding of what the cost of living is for that area and how to make things more affordable.Second, if you like to be hands-on, it will be much easier for you since you’re right there. If you want to see the property, it’s just a short drive away. If you want to talk to the property manager face-to-face, you just put it on your calendar for the end of the day.Drawbacks to Local InvestmentsOn the other hand, investing solely local can narrow your options. Not every market has the inventory of good investment opportunities that you can avail yourself of if you invest out-of-state. The local inventory of available properties may or may not be big enough or well-suited for investment opportunities.You also run into the problem of whether your local market is the one you want. The recession made a huge impact on housing markets throughout the country and some areas have recovered at different paces than others. You might find yourself out-priced in your current market, but even if you aren’t, you might not be able to see a favorable future where you’re at.Investing Out-of-StateIf you decide to invest out-of-state, you can greatly increase your options. You can literally choose any location, any market and invest in properties there. Whether you want to invest in Florida vacation homes and coastal villas or homes in the suburbs of Detroit, the sky’s the limit. You can make your investment fit your price point and interests.By investing out-of-state, you can put your money to work in markets with high ROI. You pick and choose which markets you’re interested in, and which ones are rising stars in the real estate investment scene, ignoring your own market’s changes.Investing out-of-state also allows you to scale based on your needs. For many would-be investors, their local market is priced too extravagantly to make real estate investment prudent. The cost of living in a different state, just a few borders east or west, might be considerably lower. That means you can snatch up excellent properties at a much lower cost than you might in your own market.Even better, you can snag those investment deals on excellent properties that would go for three to four times as much, if not more, in your own local market. Your purchasing power becomes much stronger in other markets, because everything’s relative.Challenges of Out-of-State InvestmentsThere are still some challenges to these remote investments. First of all, you have to learn who you can trust and maintain the peace of mind that comes from having easy local access to your investment. You also have to be able to trust that the property you’re investing in is what it’s advertised as.The property is also more difficult to visit if you like to be hands on. You might have to fly out to visit the property, which some people enjoy but others are seriously bothered by. If you are the type of investor who prefers the more passive turn-key approach, this is an excellent opportunity.Finally, the market won’t be what you’re used to. Nothing will be quite the same as being there and immersing yourself in the market, but you can learn and study. You just have to rely on someone else to have knowledge of the nuances of the market.Doing Out-of-State RightThere is a solution to all of the challenges of real estate investing outside your state. When you find a reputable, proven company to handle your turn-key real estate transaction, you have someone you can count on to know the market you’re investing in. Here are the main reasons you should find a partner to work with you on your out-of-state investments.

They can keep a more educated eye on the market, since they know all of the nuances of that area.

They’ll serve as your presence near your investment, keeping everything on track, so you don’t have to make numerous trips to the property.

If the turn-key real estate investment firm is reputable, they want you to succeed. This means they’ll do anything they can to make sure you do succeed.
The question becomes, whom can you trust? You want to make sure you engage in a partnership with a firm who is reputable, knowledgeable and engaged in your market. Referrals from other investors are key, so be on the lookout for like-minded people who have been there and done that.You should also investigate what the turn-key operation offers you, and what their fee or cut of your profit is. Ideally, you’ll want a partner who can help you throughout your investment lifecycle, from acquiring the property to managing it.Getting StartedWe’ve gone over the benefits and drawbacks of out-of-state investing, so now the decision is yours to make. Do you still want to invest locally or have you realized that the time is ripe to diversify your portfolio and invest in out-of-state properties? The benefits of out-of-state real estate investment are huge and the drawbacks can easily be mitigated by partnering with someone in the area in which you’re investing.

Wouldn’t it be great to have great Investing Success without any risk, I certainly think so, although the simple reality with investing is that there is a risk. However with a plan, knowledge and in time experience this risk can be minimised and the overall outcome is a very effective means of achieving your financial goals. The type of plan to adopt is really dependent on what suits you best, you may like to have an aggressive strategy with possible greater returns and more risk, or maybe a less aggressive strategy with lesser returns and lower risk, or even anywhere in between. Also you may like to have investments that mostly look after themselves and only require attention every now and again, or you may prefer to be more involved in your investments and know exactly what your money is doing all the time. There is no real perfect plan or any real secret to investing however these simple tips may assist in your investing success.Tip 1: Set Motivating GoalsGoal setting is a very effective when investing, it provides the means to set a target for yourself, gives you direction and is helpful in motivating you to do the things to achieve your desired result. Setting motivating goals is completely dependent on personal preference, you may be motivated by the goal of returning enough money from your investments to buy a luxury yacht or you may be motivated by the goal of having 20 investment properties in your portfolio. There is no right or wrong goal as long as it gives you direction, gives you something to aim for and motivates you, then you’re on the right track.Tip 2: Do your HomeworkWith the potential risk involved with any type of investment, doing your homework is an essential process. You wouldn’t go to a car yard with no particular car in mind and purchase the first one you see, you would do your homework first wouldn’t you. For example you would have some criteria set out and you may be looking for a car that is reliable, performs well, appeals to you, basically a car that just ticks all the right boxes. The same goes with investing, you would most likely not get the best result by investing in the first shares you come across or the first property that you inspect. For the stock market, doing your homework may involve searching news articles or press releases for a particular company you have an interest in and checking the history of the stock price. While for a property you may do a check on the surrounding suburb, find out the previous sale price, get building and pests inspections done on it. There are countless things you can do to ensure that you are making a wise investment decision, make sure you do your homework and you’ll do better than most.Tip 3: Invest Regularly Investing is not a get rich quick scheme to be truly successful at investing you need to do it regularly. The best chance to acquire measurable wealth lies in developing the habit of adding to your investments regularly and putting the money where it can do the most for you. You can put $10,000 into a share account returning an average of 20% per year, and if you take all of that return out every year in ten years time you may have earned $2,000 every year but you’ll still have only $10,000 in that account minus account keeping fees and the loss in inflation, tax etc., giving a total net worth of $30,000. However if you reinvested that $2,000 every year, in ten years time you’ll have a total net worth of about $62,000. That’s $62,000 in your share account now with the potential to earn you $12,400/year at 20%, as opposed to the $2,000 you would still be earning with the other scenario. Now this may not included potential losses in either case, but the idea is to highlight to you the benefit of regularly fuelling your investments?Tip 4: Keep an Investment DiaryKeeping a record of your investments can be a great learning tool to determine the strategies which work best for you and can be an insight into why an investment worked so well or why it didn’t work so well. Having the right information which you can always look back on will lead to wiser investments in the future, therefore minimising risks, increasing the potential returns and thus greater investing success. Information that may be helpful to keep a record of includes:

The research done to find the investment
The investments you turned away and why you turned them away
Why you chose the particular investment
The plan you had in place prior to making the investment
In the case of an investment property you may take note of the agents used, renovations done and renovation contractors used.
In the case of a share market investment you may take note of the stop loss margin, profit margin and stop profit loss margin used and whether they can be adjusted to reduce risk and increase potential profit.
Tip 5: Diversify Diversity is in old old wooden ship, joking (Anchorman reference for those that haven’t seen it), diversifying your investments in an effective means of managing your risk and increasing returns. The type of diversification strategy should be dependent upon your age, income and investment goals. For example, if you were young and just beginning you investments you have the opportunity to have more increased risk and may benefit from putting your assets into stocks that have long-term potential, and stocks with greater risk and potential returns. While if you were approaching retirement you may benefit more from shifting your assets into income producing investments such as bonds or utility stocks. Your diversification strategy could involve setting up a portfolio consisting of equal parts of different investment vehicles such as, bonds, local stocks, foreign stocks, and real estate. Once a year, you could then adjust each vehicle to maintain the same asset distribution by taking the gains in your winning investments and spreading them amongst your losing investments.Tip 6: Have a Plan and Stick to itThe journey to investing success can have many distractions and obstacles that can lead you off course, the way in which to overcome these and maintain the right path is to have a plan and stick to it. Whether it starts off being extremely basic with just basic goals, milestones, strategies etc. the idea is to know where you’re going and work out what is required to get there, once you get more involved you will be adjust and fine tune your plan to be more effective. For example your goal may be to own 5 investment properties in 5 years time, you may work out that in order to achieve your goal you need to work an extra 5 hrs of overtime a week, cut back on some expenses and get training or obtain the knowledge to learn how to go about it effectively, this would be your plan. Your milestones may be to ensure you have at least one investment property every year. Now if it so happens that you miss one of your milestones it’s not the end. You just simply need to go through your records work out why you didn’t achieve your milestone and re-adjust your plan accordingly. If you do achieve your milestone this doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement, although you should reward yourself, let yourself know that you’re doing well and rewards are a great motivator as well.Tip 7: Manage your RiskYou can effectively manage your risk by following the above mentioned tips such as doing your homework, having a plan and sticking to it, and diversifying. Additionally risk can be managed by first identifying what your risk are, the most common risk with investing is obviously losing your money. What is it however that causes you to loose your money? Just for example with stock market investing there is a risk of a stock doing the opposite of what you indeed it to do or you selling to early and losing potential profit, with property investing the risk are that the value of the property won’t increase as intended or you may not be able to rent it out. Once you’ve identified what are the potential factors that can cause you to lose money in a given investment you can begin to work out a plan to manage the identified risk. Strategies to manage your risk could be to avoid the risk altogether and look for something else, try and reduce the risk or simply accept the risk. Whatever your plan may be just ensure that the risk is monitored and constantly look for ways in which to minimise the risk.ConclusionIn summary investing success may be obtained by using a combination of the above mentioned tips, however don’t limit yourself to these, it is a constant learning process, no investor out there knows everything there is to know about investing. Find what best works for you then just get out their have a go and achieve your investing success.