The first thing you’ll need to do if you want to get into the rental property market is to create a plan. Think of your real estate investment business as a real business even if you only plan to buy one piece of property to rent out.

California Wholesale Real Estate: Consider what you want to spend for the property, what it will cost to repair it and prepare it for tenants, advertising, background checks and credit checks, what it will take to maintain it, and what you’ll charge for rent.

California Rental PropertiesHow long do you plan to own this property and what will be your next step if you opt out at some point? A business plan will act as your instruction manual of sorts. It’s just as important to have an exit strategy as it is to have a plan of action.

Will you be buying the property to keep for an indefinite amount of time to achieve positive cash flow? Maybe the first rental property needs to be really cheap and you plan to do some rehabilitation work on it yourself, adding your sweat equity to the investment. If so, perhaps you plan to rent it for a time, then sell it.

Figure out what you’ll do if the place needs a plumber. Can you do any repairs yourself or will you need to hire someone you trust to do them? New property is easier to maintain than older fixer uppers, but they are usually more initial investment to begin with. When there are tenants, plan on some repair or replacement no matter how new the building is.

You should have a solid idea of how much you are willing to spend to buy the property before you even look. This way you will spend your time wisely looking at houses that apply to your plan. Why spend time with walk through’s and viewings if you aren’t going to purchase that property anyway. Your time is a precious commodity so use it to do business you can afford.

By getting a pre-approval on a rental property loan, you’ll be able to make an offer on a property quickly once you decide the deal will be a good one for your plan. Many deals have slipped away from potential investors because they must spend time finding a lender when a good deal comes up. Other more seasoned investors will have their ducks in a row before they go and can make a fair offer immediately.

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