Education of a Real Estate Investor, Day 2

I logged on to a free webinar by Trump University this evening. Investing in foreclosures was the subject of the one-hour session. We received a free, thirty-day trial of Trump University's foreclosure research tool, which is an enhanced version of Foreclosure.com. My initial impression is that it is worth the cost ($34.95/month) for a professional real estate investor, as it streamlines the research process considerably. You can do the same thing for free, but you'll spend time toggling between different websites for each property you want to research.

I attended a webinar last week, also by Trump U., on tax lien investing. That got me a follow-up phone call from one of their sales staff. I will be speaking with one of their Admissions Directors tomorrow morning about putting together a program that suits my present circumstances and future goals.

Frankly, I'll probably do at least one deal before I think too much about shelling out thousands for a mentoring program. The deals are still thick on the ground, but the window is closing. I've identified a number of interesting properties. I'll winnow those down to my top ten and contact the realtors (or banks, for any that haven't gone to realtors yet) by Friday. Keep it simple, do the due diligence, get the inspections, make the offer. I'm feeling less inclined to flip property right now, and more inclined to hold on for present income and future appreciation.