Page Topics: Intro Research Experiment Results Real Estate - Editor's Page Introduction (Top) This site was built between the editors of Topic Central and a real estate professional from the booming Las Vegas Market. The essay is basic at this point and will continue to grow. As a team the editors hope to make property purchase an easier process. This is an on-going essay intended to illustrate why real estate can be such a great investment. At the same time, there are pit falls that can be experienced. Learn from professionals who can help you have a pleasant experience. Darren Hildreth works for a brokerage called CENTURY21 MoneyWorld in Las Vegas, Nevada (see: http://www.hildrethhome.com). He has established a team (see: http://www.hildrethbarnhill.com/) who looks to get the most house for the money if you buy or the most money for your house if you are selling. That should be the goal of your agent. You should hope to see the fewest amount of inconveniences possible by using a professional, dedicated agent. Darren Hildreth (http://www.hildrethhome.com) :  While going to college I frequently had in mind that a large portion of the finances I made from my part time job and from summer jobs would be consumed by living accommodations. In fact, of the wages I brought in a whole pay check would go to paying for something that I would never own. One night some roommates and I pulled out a calculator and figured out the revenue for all of the units in the complex. We then figured what the owner was paying for costs. He owned the buildings but we assumed that he had them all on mortgage. He was making a killing! In 64 units he was packing in 320 people at between $230-250/month apiece. That's $73,600-80,000/month! The costs were certainly lower than the revenue. To the point where we figured that he was netting a considerable gain. Well, I was very uncomfortable about that fact. I now realize, people need to live somewhere, they can't or won't often get a place of their own for whatever reason, and they will pay whatever the going rate is for the roof over their head. There will always be people to rent. People also buy and sell property all the time. Real estate is definitely an environment where someone who does their due diligence can buy low and sell high (higher). Often people purchase a property, do modest repairs that sell well, and flip the property to make a nice return. Since the college days I have wanted to learn the real-life game of Monopoly and begin playing to win. Research (Top) Darren Hildreth (http://www.hildrethhome.com) :  I have learned that a person who does not do significant research before getting into the game can get burnt badly. Real estate agents, buyers, sellers, etc. are all out to get a good deal so they are not always 100% honest. My wife and I have begun our research and we have found that there are some very common basic concepts that everyone should know and that there are some more not so common concepts that people should know.  One thing for sure, is that the quick rich schemes have some good ideas but they are not going to make all (or many for that case) rich. There are standards in the market place that should be followed and often the schemes want to transverse the standards and make unreasonable deals. Real estate is an art of negotiation, a feel for a great deal, and a patient attitude.  Well, my wife and I began with several books, the internet, a couple of friends who had done really well already in real estate and we relied on some business classes we had taken. My wife began to work for an apartment complex managing 70 some apartments. We learned about loans, titles, a few negotiation tricks and we set off on our first venture. Experiment (Top) Darren Hildreth (http://www.hildrethhome.com) :  We wanted to experiment with a small venture to begin with to see how it would work. We wanted out of our apartment so we could begin gaining equity on our own. We then put together the numbers to live in a small duplex. We figured that we would end up paying less than half our mortgage if we rented out the basement of a legal duplex. We shopped around looking at about 18 legal duplexes before we found one that fit our needs.  Obviously, there are down-sides like extra maintenance, noise curfew, etc. but the benefits of living as we did for the price we did out weight the inconveniences.  We also experimented by buying a rehab home. It was in poor shape but we remodeled it and sold it for a decent gain. Later we moved to Las Vegas to take part in the booming market. Since, we have functioned as real estate professionals and we help others get going on an elite team with years of experience. Results (Top) Darren Hildreth (http://www.hildrethhome.com) : We have found that there are a ton of great markets and a lot of money to be made. Whether you only want to invest in a home for yourself or family or you want to invest in cash generating opportunities you can find the right deals. Get educated, find the right people to work with and pull the trigger.