Online tools allow you to evaluate potential purchases from the comfort of your home

Two words that stop even the most motivated real estate buyer or investor in their tracks: property research.

before the Internet, doing research on a property meant actual legwork — almost always involving a visit to the local tax office — and actual monetary expense that was needed to evaluate a targeted property’s market value and all the debt that came with the property. Today, thanks to the Internet, property research means just a few clicks of the mouse on the RealtyTrac website which will get you that same information for properties nationwide:

• Comparable Sales: This real estate research tool provides up to 15 properties that have been recently sold in the area or neighborhood so you can learn what the the property’s true market value actually is.
• Lien & Loan History: This real estate research tool provides a complete list of all liens and loans (mortgages and trust deeds) against the property so that you can accurately calculate the debt encumbering the property.

These real estate research tools and reports are available for hundreds of thousands of real estate properties found on RealtyTrac, the country’s most complete and convenient online marketplace for home buyers, real estate investors and realty professionals. RealtyTrac provides more than 550,000 properties every day. You can also order individual property reports for any real estate property around the country.

Thorough real estate property research has always been crucial to determining a real estate property’s investment potential. But the real estate research tools and property resources needed to do that research are much easier to access than ever before.

“When buying a property, the right examination and due diligence on the part of buyers can significantly improve their ability to make a strong investment,” explains James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer at RealtyTrac, which maintains the country’s largest real estate database of pre-foreclosure, auction and bank-owned properties.

RealtyTrac can help real estate investors and home buyers tap into the previously hidden real estate foreclosure and bank-owned property market by providing total access to real estate property data formerly available only to professional real estate brokers and real estate investors. Today, any home buyer can use these same research and investment services to identify and research potential home purchases and real estate investments, as well as to find the real estate research tools and professional resources they need to help them buy the right property.

It makes sense to give any real estate property under consideration — foreclosure or otherwise —an in-depth examination. First, check the Lien & Loan History for all debts secured by the target property. Subtract the total amount owed from the estimated market value, based on the Comparable Sales, to determine the potential bargain. Contact the property owner or a real estate agent to arrange a complete walk-through of the target property to evaluate its present condition. Do remember to factor in the estimated property repair costs into your real estate purchase offer. Do remember to hire a professional home inspector to thoroughly inspect the target property and also use a reputable title company to run a property title check.

If you purchase a particular property at a public real estate foreclosure auction, you won’t get a chance to inspect a property before buying. This makes buying a real estate investment property in this manner a lot more risky.Hopefully, you’ve researched the title and determined the amount owed is far less than the market value, so you’ll have some margin of error to cover unexpected repair costs that will surely come into play sooner or later. Before you go to the auction, set a maximum amount that you’re willing to invest based on your research and stick to that amount during the real estate property foreclosure auction.

If a particular property is bank-owned, the bank will allow you to inspect the property before-hand, however, the bank will typically know very little about the property’s condition and will the sell the property “as is.” The bank will disclose all the needed repairs it knows about, but they usually will not know enough about the property’s actual condition since they have never actually lived in the property before. As a result, the bank, even though they own the property, is not held responsible after the sale for any repairs it did not know about. Also, factor in the known repairs into your purchase offer and have a professional property or home inspection before closing on the property. Even though most banks will make sure the title is clear before closing, you should also have a title company run a final title check, just in case.

No matter what type of real estate property you’re planning to purchase or invest in, good real estate property research will help you evaluate which real estate properties represent good investments and which do not. And that research is now much more convenient thanks to the extensive property research tools available online through RealtyTrac. Remember, a little preparation before the sale can help you create better real estate investments.

Edited by Real Estate Pro Tips