Morning Guys, today I have three new articles I am tossing up here on Agentsonline. I also have a full archive on my website at http://www.realpro.info/how-to/how-to-invest-in-real-estate.shtml
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Five Ways to Build a Top Rate Investor List

In the business of flipping foreclosure or other types of distressed properties, you can never have too many investors. Getting together a detailed list of what each specific investor will and will not invest in will save you countless time 'shopping the deal' so you can spend more time closing them.

1) Research: The biggest way to waste your time - not to mention tick off your investors - is to only bring part of the information to the table. Nobody wants to hear your guesses on the cost to acquire and rehab. Do your research and bring them cold hard numbers and facts!

2) Targeting: If the investor is only interested in 3 and 4 unit multi-family properties, why are you bringing him a single-family home? Now this may sound like common sense, but we all are guilty of doing it, including - gulp - myself. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

3) Know Your Investor: Investors come in all shapes and sizes; some of the investors I have worked for have lived two houses down from the property being flipped while others have been on the other side of the country. The trick is knowing your investor and how much level of involvement they want. Do not guess that just because of the distance involved, the closer of the two would be more involved in the day-to-day operations. My example above was actually the other way around. With the investor across the country, every penny spent on a deal must be preapproved by him and the one that lived two doors down... I think I saw her twice at the property and once she was just walking her dog.

4) Results: Once you have completed a handful of deals and made the investors money, the word will spread. Now keep in mind that the opposite is true, if you do a lousy job and the investor loses his/her money the entire investing community will know all about it.

5) Honesty: Across-the-board honesty is the always best policy. While in many cases it is bad to provide ‘too much’ information you still should be honest and not deceptive. This goes both ways, being honest with the investor and the investor being honest with you. I have made investors millions of dollars over the years and almost all have been straight up in their dealings with me. However, one in particular chose to 'take the easy way' and stole my share of the profits from a property. Yes, it hurt loosing the cash on my side, but in the end he was the one that lost. The next deal that came along, I took to a different investor, which had double the profit. Who was the real loser in this case?

The bottom line is that honesty will always make you more money and keep you in good standing for the long haul and you never have to worry about looking over your shoulder anywhere you go. There is an old proverb that says when you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what it is that you ever told anyone.

Thanks for the list Steven

anytime, each week I have new articles I will post them here as I have time. You can always go to my site for the latest how to invest in real estate articles.

Thanks for the great tips. We have found much of what you are describing to be very true indeed here in Minnesota.

You have to bring the investor what he or she may be looking for. And it is crucial to present all information you have on various properties. We do this at each of our monthly investing seminars. Clients get to know what we offer as a team, and how we can help them learn how to or continue on investing in real estate.

You have to look at how you are going to add value to what they are looking to do.

Once we started working with more and more investors, we added testimonials to our team websites and the word started to spread.

Lastly, honesty is absolutely the best policy. We have been doing the same seminar for almost five years now, even when it was not always the "most exciting" or seemingly the fastest way to build wealth through real estate. Both Rob Bonahoom, our team's mortgage partner, and I have learned from our personal real world investment property experiences. This carries over to our seminars. Clients and prospects know exactly what to expect when buying a rental property here in Minnesota.

I would like to add to your list. Have a list of comparables of sold homes in the area, and also have a list of repair estimates.

Having these things will help speed the process up, and you should bring all comparables not just the ones that make your deal look like a winner.

Glade you found the information useful, I have been so busy over the past month I have not had any time to write additional articles. But look for new ones to be coming soon.

I have found the honesty from your list is key. I deal with many out of state investors who rely on me for the opinion.

If you know your investor goals, and they want a house that does not fit within their goals, they need to be informed. I've told many investor, "sure its a nice house on the surface, but based on your goals, I do not recommend it, and here is why ........."

Im here to look out for my client. If it means we loose this deal, thats cool, we will find a better deal. I'll write ANY contract, but my opinion will be included. If the investor goes against me, that fine.