8 Tips for a First-Time Real Estate Investor

Thinking about investing in real estate? Congrats! Investing in anything is a big commitment. It can be a stressful process, but you can lessen the stress you go through by arming yourself with the proper knowledge.

At HOWE Real Estate, we strive to provide the highest level of service available to our clients who are interested in investing in both commercial and residential properties. Our deep real estate experience and market knowledge helps give our clients a critical competitive advantage in the greater Louisville market. Simply put, we do the hard work.

Tips to Use When Buying Your First Rental Property

We want to share some of this knowledge with you now by listing some tips you can use when buying your first rental property.

1. Do the research – Read some investment books or attend a course on investing. Learn a little bit about the investment process before making any big decisions. You want to be educated on selecting spaces, costs, locations, values of properties, and more.

2. Educate Yourself – Educate yourself on what is currently doing well. Look around to see if there’s a lot of vacancies or if there is a demand for commercial or residential rental space. Learn what people are willing to pay. These findings may help your decision on what type of real estate investment to make.

3. Costs – Figure out all your costs (mortgage, maintenance, down payment, interest rates, repairs, etc.). Underestimate your income and overestimate your expenses.

4. Does it make sense? – Is being a landlord for you? Do you have the time to be a landlord? Are you handy? If you don’t think you have the time or skills to be a landlord, you may want to hire a property management company.

5. Pay down debt – Before buying, you should have little to no debt as possible.

6. Avoid a fixer-upper – If this is your first investment, avoid a fixer-upper. You will have to put a lot of money into the space to flip it. Look for a commercial/residential space that is below market value and has minimal repairs.

7. Start small – The cheaper the space the lower your ongoing expenses will be.

8. Location – Find a location with low property taxes, a growing job market, and low crime rates.

Looking for Commercial Property for Sale in Louisville?

Overall, real estate is good investment. You may not see the fruits of your labor overnight, but they will come.

Take your time looking at properties until you find one that makes sense for you. Let our team of professionals at HOWE Real Estate help you get started on looking for commercial or residential rental space in Louisville. We’re experienced in the Louisville real estate market and we will help find you the space that matches perfectly with your needs and budget.

HOWE’s real estate services work with extreme professionalism, transparency, and attention to detail. We aim to ensure any investor’s capital goes to work for them. We work diligently for our clients, so they can reap the rewards efficiently and effectively. We work with buyers, sellers, lessors and lessees across all property types in and around Louisville. To contact us, send us an email or call 502-890-4475.