I'm new to real estate and I'm looking through a list of properties from the mls that match my criteria and I can't tell at first glance which are possible deals and which are no good. It's very time consuming to have to look so closely at every deal. What should I look for and what do I need to know about my market to properly analyze a deal in a reasonable amount of time?
Specialist · Milford, ME · Member since 2016 · 630 posts · 378 votes
10y
You state that they match your criteria, how specific is that? If your criteria is specific and the property matches it, make the offer with an out clause like subject to inspection. This will give time to do due diligence. I would guess that your criteria is not specific enough. You may want specific neighborhood, specific Cashflow for rental, specific margin for flip, maybe age of home, for rental maybe 4 units and above, cost per unit maximum. These are things I use and it drastically narrows search. I can tell in my area if the cost per unit for example is above a certain number, it won't work. So I move on.
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
10y
There is a whole lot that you should be thinking about and considering before you start analyzing your first deal -- financing, market analysis, local buyer analysis, what types of houses you'll be looking for, how you'll find your deals, what the competition looks like, etc.
Check out the BiggerPockets flipping book -- it lays out a step by step plan for doing your first flip. Analyzing deals is actually Step #8...