Criteria, Terms, Network - The Foundation of Real Estate Investing

In 2005, a bestselling book called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor was written by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. The question is, because of the recent market changes of a buyers market from a sellers market do the principles laid out in the book still apply?

First, lets understand how the book was originally written. It was based on extensive research and interviews with over 120 millionaire real estate investors. The basic model laid out were Criteria, Terms and Network.

Criteria: What you buy. Criteria is the name used for the checklist you use to identify the type of property that you are going to buy. This applies to a buyers market because there appears to be all type of opportunities available, but you still need to establish what you are looking for & how you are going to take advantage of the market conditions. Are you going to stick to one particular type of property? Only condos or single families? These apply no matter what the market. Will you be able to resale it or rent it? The buyers market presents some new opportunities to consider.Are you going to focus on pre foreclosures, foreclosures or short sales? With these situations presenting themselves more & more, including them in your criteria checklist would be worth considering to see if they provide the greatest opportunity and the least risk.

Terms: With interest rates remaining fairly low, and with the wave of the sub prime backlash, terms are even more important in the buyers market then they have ever been. Add to that the true evaluation of proper offer prices when overall prices are stagnant or declining. Simply taking the time to establish your own parameters to determine when a deal is a good deal & when a deal should be walked away from is critical in an emotion filled buyers market.

Lets look at the principle of Network: Who helps you. to todays marketplace. Having a network of select relationships that know your criteria & that are able to feed you opportunities is essential. Imagine a well placed attorney that knows of pre-foreclosure proceedings or a Northern Virginia Real Estate Team is intimately aware of a particular area or that is working in conjunction with a bank to dispose of Bank Owned / Foreclosure Northern Virginia Homes.

All of these areas still applies & answers a lot of the questions of what you'll buy, how you'll buy it & who will help you.

"Mastering these areas will give you the greatest chance for long term success & place you solidly on the path to becoming a Millionaire Real Estate Investor". This was sound advise when the book was written and remains sound advice today.