The sky is falling, the sky is falling! That’s what most people would have you believe, at least when it comes to real estate. The truth is, there couldn’t be a better time to buy real estate as an investment. Low home prices coupled with the low interest rates makes this time ideal to purchase real estate. Before you go out buying a bunch of rental properties, you should have a few people as a support team for you.

Real Estate Agent

“I don’t need an agent, I’ll just use Craigslist and the Sunday paper to find my houses.” While that theory may work a time or two, you will eventually get bitten. Using a real estate agent when looking for real estate as an investment can save you thousands of dollars. Although real estate agents may not be a carpenter or plumber, they know hundreds of details to look at when buying real estate. A real estate agent can also find out information about whose name is on the property, and if there are any liens against the property, saving you hundreds of dollars and hours of headache.

Experienced Real Estate Investor

An experienced real estate investor can help out in a couple of different ways. First, they can provide you with real-world experience in the pros and cons of buying real estate as an investment. They may have experience in something that you would have never thought about. Secondly, you may provide more of the capital in exchange for their knowledge, should you seek them out as a partner. It is smart to have a partner when purchasing investment real estate for the first time, to share the risks with you.

An Attorney

An attorney, or even a real estate attorney, if you have one local, is an excellent source of information. If you are buying real estate as an investment, there are different owner’s rights and responsibilities than just buying real estate as your primary residence. These rights and responsibilities vary from city to city. An attorney is well versed on these different laws and codes. The consultation fee is very minor compared to the fines that could be placed on you or your property, should you not know about them.

An Accountant

An accountant is a great person to have on your team. When purchasing real estate as an investment, there are another set of tax laws and tax codes that now apply to you or your business. By not having an accountant, you may not be breaking any laws or codes, but you could be possibly missing out on hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of tax exemptions. It’s also a good idea to have an accountant when you purchase the investment real estate, and not just wait until April to hire one. A good accountant will be able to fill you in on where and where not to put your money into your real estate investment..

Property Management Firm

“I don’t want to get into real estate as an investment because I don’t want tenants calling me at 3 a.m. to complain about a leaky toilet.” I’m pretty sure this is the most common excuse of everyone that has thought about buying real estate as an investment. Thankfully, there’s a solution to that. A reputable property management firm handles all of those calls at 3 a.m., and any other time of the day. Normally, if the bill for the repair is going to be less than the agreed price, you won’t hear from them at all. A property management firm is experienced on what problems is the tenants’ responsibility, and what problems is the owner’s responsibility. If you are inexperienced in investment real estate, you may be losing money, sleep, and time taking care of a problem that is not even your responsibility.

We have just discussed five people team members that anyone buying real estate as an investment should not be without. Of course, you still want to do your research, and check out some information online about real estate as an investment. You may even want to join real estate clubs in your area. With the proper research, and these people mentioned above, you should be able to maximize your profit.