Real estate is an extremely fruitful business to be in. But how do you get started? How do you make money? These are questions some of the richest property developers started asking when they first came into the game. You can get rich too, but be aware, it requires concentration, research, care and above all, constant hard work and dedication. Real estate is one of the better forms of investment out there. But it is a form of investment that if you know enough, you simply can’t lose. With stocks there is a significant risk or losing money, as with many other investments. But it real estate you can always make money if you do the right amount of preparation work. There are certain clear cut criteria to check first. And you just get better at it the more you do it. The first one is the most risky, but if managed well it can start you off down your new career path. For your money you get something physical, something real, with stocks and indices it just tends to disappear into the ether. These tips can help you get started. Everyone has their own way of going about real estate, but these can help you think about it in the right way.

In the first instance you need to put effort into finding the right opportunity. If you can find the right opportunity you can then go ahead. To find the right investment a great deal of research is needed. There are resources at your disposal, such as 1031Gateway but only you can make the decision. Once you have found the home look around it. What are the neighbours like? Are they the kind of people you want to live next to? Are there local amenities? These will help you know how attractive the property will be. You also need to look at it in its current state. Does it need a whole lot of work? Where do the opportunities lay. If it ticks some but not all of the boxes consider moving on first. In some cases you need to act fast to close a deal, but for the most part you are better off doing your homework and looking around again to find a better home to use.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be a house. You could use apartments or flats for your project. Perhaps it's not even a current home. You could even consider building from scratch, this way you get exactly what you want. You just need to purchase some land and get the relevant planning permissions. You need to decide on what is best for you and go with it.

Once you have found your place remember to try and get the best deal possible. They might not know why you are buying it, keep it that way. If they know what you are doing they’ll expect you to make a profit and as such ask for a higher amount. Keep your business to yourself. Always try to knock them down on price for the best chances of maximising profit. As far as they are concerned, you are buying the property as a home.

Now you have your home you can start making the improvements that will make you a profit. For starters, assess what kind of things you want to do. Are they going to be all encompassing and huge changes such as large extensions, thus making the home bigger and more valuable? Or are you going to do cosmetic changes across the board. An improved kitchen ups the value in a great way, as does an improved bathroom. You may want to improve the energy rating too, this means cavity wall insulation and loft insulation, you could even consider solar panels on the roof. Good quality flooring could be a good bet, especially when done throughout the home. Increasing the value of the home is the main aim of the game. You can go into the garden too if you want, but there are limited things to do here. You will need to do things like changing the flooring and ground work. A garage is also a good bet, as it provides safe car storage.

When you are making these changes you will need the help from good tradesmen. You need to get a great relationship with these because whatever you pay them is essentially coming out of your profit. You can come to arrangements or even partnerships with tradesmen to ensure you keep hold of a strong return. You may have some skills yourself, meaning you can add to the process and reduce costings. Just be sure to manage your time. You don’t want to be sat on the property for too long or the area could lose its value or the whole things could become stagnant to you. You want to change it up fast before moving on for the best chances of success.

Once you have done everything you may need to get the property valued. You can then go down the selling route. You may want to rent it out instead of selling it, giving you a passive income over the coming months, but you could also sell it, giving you a bigger immediate profit. It depends on what kind of property empire you want to create. Remember, you are marketing the area as well as the home itself. You need to sell the property like you would sell a business item. If you are targeting a family then aim for a family. If you want students to rent then target students. You can even hire someone to write the home’s description. An estate agent could do this for you, but remember they either take commision on percentage or from a one off payment. You could sell it private, just ensure you get the right documents drawn up first and such. By doing this you can mitigate any legal issues down the line that may arise from ill thought out contracts.