The FOCUS on NoVA Real Estate® team discusses the starting points to consider when getting into the real estate investment business.

We are talking about investment properties today and want to touch on a few very basic topics.

1. Be prepared to bring at least a 25% down payment to the table in addition to your closing costs.
2. Make sure that you have cash in the bank to deal with the income variations. When tenants move out there can be times of vacancy between re-renting of the property and/or rehab or renovations that must take place in order to prepare the property for the next tenant.
3. Lastly you need to make the decision on whether or not you are going to be a local landlord who is handy and can you handle those last minute, midnight calls when something breaks. This is in contrast to whether it makes more sense to have a third party property manager involved. The property manager acts as your proxy, collects rent, runs the background check to make sure that the prospective tenant is screening for good credit history, and making sure that they are a good fit your unit.

There is a lot more that should go into your evaluation of whether you should go with an investment real estate, but this is a start. For more information contact us today.