These days, much of the attention on real estate is focused on properties specifically for residence. This is no wonder since the economic and credit crisis precipitated a great many foreclosures in the United States. As a result, many houses were put on sale by banks, or by people who would rather sell their residences than have them foreclosed. On the other side of the business, there were many people out to take advantage of the new pricing situation, or simply on the lookout for more affordable housing.
It is no wonder, then, that information concerning property investment often gets lost in the shuffle. However, real estate sold for investment is still quite a good option for a real estate agent to look into. Here are some tips that might be useful to you, especially if you are a new agent or one who is accustomed to working mainly with real estate as living space. It must be stated that the advertising for getting people to invest in a particular property or piece of land is different from that usually used to generate interest in actually living on a certain property. In the latter, you are trying to convince buyers that the property is not only affordable but suitable to their needs, lifestyles, and even personalities. In the former, however, the considerations are more straightforwardly financial, since the person will not actually be living on the property. You should probably then focus on more “objective” characteristics and statistics, instead of subjective things like ambiance.
Then again, subjective elements do now and then come to the fore when trying to find investors for a property. For instance, you might be trying to facilitate a sale of land that is to be used to create environmentally-friendly businesses or a school for disadvantaged youth. Cause-oriented advertising might help. You might want to use NGO’s as sources of networking. For instance, people who regularly participate in NGO’s related to the “cause” of the property’s development might be interested in investing.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous and can get contacts to help you with the legal aspects, you might even want to get into offshore real estate investments. These might be a bit tricky, given the various overlapping and even conflicting regulations you will have to follow. Below are some things you will need to look out for.
Firstly, some countries (such as the Philippines) often stipulate that commercial property in the country must have a certain percentage owned locally. Make sure you are not involved in unwittingly violating such provisos. Also, do not get entangled with projects that violate labor or environmental regulations in the country where the property is located. Usually, it is the regulations of the country of the property (not the country of the investor) that are followed.
Secondly, it helps to have trusted local contacts who can inspect the property for you, if you are unable to visit it yourself. This way, you will know that you are not being lied to so that you can, in turn, dupe prospective buyers.
Good luck!
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