Why is it that investors can find and profit from good deals? Are we just lucky? Or do our profits come from a service that we provide, that no one else is offering? In most situations, we get paid because we solve problems.
Investors solve many types of problems.
We can help families or individuals liquidate their properties immediately in situations like divorce, death, financial crisis, or job relocation.
One of the most obvious problems that investors solve is rehabilitating trashed properties.
This morning, I was looking over some local properties available in my market and I encountered a very interesting deal: A multi-unit property that has been on the market for almost six months and has dropped in price $73,000 during that time.
Why has it languished for so long at an increasingly appealing asking price? Because it has problems.
That's what makes this deal particularly well suited for an investor.
This particular property needs some repairs and some pretty massive clean-up.
Its condition is so intimidating, that most people, even some investors, aren't interested in dealing with its problems.
The investor knows though, that this is what he gets paid for.
He takes an ugly house, a neighborhood blight, and fixes it.
He makes it pretty and livable again.
He does the seller a service by rescuing his property and relieving him of the burden of restoring it, paying for it, worrying about it, etc.
He also does the community a service by removing an eyesore and making the property inhabitable.
Remember, if you are an investor, you are looking for problems to solve.
And none are so obvious than the dilapidated property no one else is willing to take on.