100 Ways to Profit From Real Estate
By Steve Gillman
There are more ways to profit from real estate than most people
realize- more than this list covers for that matter--but 100
ways is a good start. Some of these ways do not involve any investment
at all, some require only a few hundred dollars, and others work
only if you have large amounts of capital to invest. In 2012
buying short sales was the "hot" way to profit, but
methods come and go from favor, so we include any that have worked
at some point. There are even six or more ways to profit from
real estate by writing about it.
With a list like this there is not going to be any deep explanation;
a sentence or two is all you get. But when there is a decent
resource that I know of to explain the concept further, I link
the title to it. Let's get started...
1. Buy
property in the path of growth - When you see the direction
of growth, and see that growth accelerating, you can buy properties
that might double in value quickly.
2. Buy options in the path of growth - A less capital-intensive
way to speculate on which way a town is moving. Instead of buying
the property outright you pay for an option to buy it at a set
price within a year or two. Then you can resell before you even
own the property.
3. Buy investment property
sight unseen - Making numerous low offers without actually
seeing the properties and then buying only those accepted offers
that check out has worked for some investors in the past. Just
be sure you have a way out of the contract if need be.
4. Trade or sell to governments - Some "in holdings"
in national forests and other public lands can be bought and
then resold for a profit or traded for more valuable land. Typically
you can trade land in key areas for public land which is not
directly adjacent to the rest of a forest or public parcel.
5. Flip houses
- There a few basic ways to do this, ranging from speculating
and doing fixer upper to just flipping the contracts.
6. Subdivide land for housing - This basic land development
idea is one of the topics covered in the free real estate investing
course linked to at the bottom of this page. Like all ways, it
comes and goes with market conditions.
7. Real
estate options - Buy an option on land that is prime for
development and then sell that option. That is just one way to
make money with a smaller investment through options.
8. Option
hill tops - This worked for one man, who found those who
needed radio towers (it would be cell towers now) to lease the
land to in order to get financing to close the deals.
9. Mobile home parks - The cash flow is usually very
good, and since renters risk losing their home if they don't
pay, you get paid. A chapter in 69 Ways to Make Money in Real
Estate covers this (link at bottom of this page).
10. Note brokering - Also covered in the "69 Ways"
e-book, this involves finding notes that owners want to sell
and taking a cut for arranging the sale. You never have to invest
a cent if you do it right.
11. Build to suit projects
- Common in commercial properties, you find a buyer, build what
they need and lease it to them.
12. Foreclosure homes
- Buying and selling foreclosures was a decent way to make money
even before there were so many of them.
13. PRE-foreclosure - In these deals you look for a
way to help a family that is facing the loss of their home or
high credit score, while also making a profit for yourself (but
do try to help if you want a good reputation).
14. Change the use - Buying property and changing its
use to make it more valuable is one of the topics covered in
my free real estate investing course (link at bottom of this
page). You might make a old duplex into a larger one-family home,
for example, or vice-versa, depending on what's in demand.
15. Buy FSBO properties - Buying
from owners who sell on their own (FSBO = for sale by owner)
can mean getting a deal, which means more profit when selling.
16. Buy low and sell high
- The most basic strategy of all, but there are some tricks to
how to do it, of course.
17. Flip apartment buildings - The key, as explained
in 69 Ways to Make Money in Real Estate (link further
down), is to buy cheap and increase the income within a year
or two. Income properties sell based on income, so raise that
and you raise the value.
18. 1031 tax exchange - A way to avoid capital gains
taxes when selling an income property (talk to a good tax attorney
to do this right). You can buy and sell throughout your life
without paying on your gains.
19. Condo conversions - Covered in the free course
linked to below, the idea here is to convert apartment buildings
into condo units to sell for a big profit. This is not a popular
way to make money at the moment, but it could make a comeback.
20. Slumlording
- Focus on low-income housing for high cash flow while providing
a much needed service. Don't let the name scare you--people need
cheap housing.
The list continues here: Methods
21 - 40
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