Читать книгу Foreclosure Investing For Dummies - Ralph R. Roberts - Страница 22

An essential component of successful real estate investing is developing an exit strategy or endgame. Before you agree to pay a certain price for a property, you must have a fairly accurate estimate of what you can sell it for. Otherwise, you risk overpaying and losing money on your investment.

Estimating the market value of a house is easiest with the assistance of a real estate agent who’s knowledgeable about property values in the area. A qualified agent can pull up Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sheets on comparable homes that have recently sold in the same neighborhood and quickly provide you a good idea of how much you can sell the property for, assuming that it’s in marketable condition and the market remains relatively stable.

Don’t let your agent or the word on the street pump up your expectations or estimates. Tell your agent that you want an estimated sales price based on reality, not hope. Provide your agent as many details as possible about the property to ensure that the estimate is based on truly comparable properties.

Never enter into a real estate deal unless you have at least two exit strategies: Plan A, typically for selling the property at a profit, and Plan B, just in case Plan A doesn’t pan out. Your Plan B may be to lease the property, live in it, or sell it for slightly less than you planned to sell it for, but you should always have a Plan B, because real estate transactions and markets aren’t always predictable.