Lots of investors are looking to get started, and as active real estate experts in St Clair County IL, we get asked to share our secrets quite a bit.
Fortunately, we love to share 🙂
One of the biggest questions we get from local investors is ” How to find a good investment property in St Clair County IL?”
With the flood of foreclosure deals all but dried up (compared to where they were a few years back)… people are having to get more creative in finding the best deals on great local St Clair County investment properties.
We source our properties from a variety of marketing routes… online, offline, etc… so there is no one way that is the best way to find good investment properties in St Clair County.
But the info below walks you through some ways you can put into action to find great properties to add to your investment portfolio.
Most investors are afraid of competition – they think that if they share their secrets, someone will steal their ideas from them.
That’s not how we work. We work with other investors to accomplish things together that we can’t do alone.
We share our learning and our philosophies here because we want to improve the quality of investment in St Clair County to build stronger communities. Ultimately, we’re all investing in the same places, so it makes sense to do it right.
How to Find Good Investment Property in St Clair County
There are a few core principles that are important to understanding if you want to get the best investment property deals.
First, think long term.
Real estate doesn’t move like the stock market. It’s where people live, work and play – not just numbers on a screen. It’s almost impossible to make a huge amount of cash in a short-term real estate deal, those come few and far between.
So don’t expect to get away with fancy tricks, or that you’re smarter than the people who have been doing this stuff for years. Thinking long-term means learning from the past to better anticipate the future.
It also means that if you don’t find the local investment properties you’re looking for right away… just know that this isn’t a sprint… it’s a marathon.
That’s why it’s a great idea to find several sources of properties that fit your criteria (like our St Clair County Investment Property Buyers List >> ) so you have a heavier flow of great deals to look at.
Second, focus on relationships.
The investment community in St Clair County is much smaller than most people think.
There are only a handful of brokers and investors who conduct most of the business in the market.
They’re used to working with the same people on a regular basis. It’s worth the time and effort to find them and learn from them. If you can, work with them. They’re your best source of good deals, now and in the future.
How do you get to know them? Go to your local REIA and find the people who are active and talk to them. Ask them which real estate agents they use, what wholesalers in the area are active (and get their info) and let everyone you can find know that you are looking for investment properties that fit your criteria. Learning how to find a good investment property in St Clair County isn’t a hard thing… but relationships can be a key element in getting some of the best deals on properties that no one else has access to in the St Clair County IL market.
Who should you get to know?
- A few of the top investment friendly real estate brokers in St Clair County
- A couple real estate appraisers who deal w/ the types of properties you deal with
- The top handful of property wholesalers in the area
- The top handful of property rehabbers/flippers in the area
- Title agents that deal with investment properties a lot
Third, identify your target investments.
Investment is like many other aspects of life – the people who are the most focused often succeed the most. You have to find your niche. Some people make millions just in parking garages or storage units.
Others specialize in residential apartments, while others deal strictly with retail. If you take the time to do your homework, you can analyze the different segments of the market to see which opportunities are truly the best for you – and not just the best marketed. Once you find exactly what you want to own, you can create a plan to find out who owns it and make sure that they know to call you when they want to sell that property.
This takes a lot of work, but it’s a tried-and-true method for creating long-term wealth.
Finally – use technology.
Sign up for our list of exclusive properties, and we’ll notify you instantly when we find a great investment.
We frequently source properties for deep discounts, secure them and then sell them for a discounted rate to the people on our list who are ready, willing and able to invest. There are other ways to get notified about properties on the open market – you should get familiar with searching the multiple listing services with the rest of the herd because every once in a blue moon a great deal shows up.
We don’t deal with average deals – we only pass along great deals to our partner investors. We’re not real estate brokers, and our business is a niche within St Clair County.
If you’re looking to seriously invest in St Clair County, we’d love to chat with you to learn your wants, wishes, and objectives.
So hopefully you now know how to find great investment properties in St Clair County. If you have questions give us a call or join our buyer’s list below!