Location is more than just an address when it comes to making a smart real estate investment.
To make money in real estate, buy homes that are in up-and-coming neighborhoods, in the "sweet spot" between the hot spot and the neighbor.
But it's important to pick a location not just by triangulating on a map. You need to visit the neighborhood you are considering in the morning, the middle of the day and at night.
To really learn about a market, to really learn about an area, you drive around the area. You walk the area. And I am not talking just once. I am talking in the morning, when the sun is rising, when the sun is setting, in the evening. I think it's important to go during the day."
Grab a little lunch and sit in your car and hang out in the area,
You want to be near good schools, shopping centers and close to main transportation sites. Also, you want to be sure the neighborhood infrastructure is sound. For example, you want to know that streets drain well when it rains hard and that the city picks up the trash, has good security system in place
A big mistake is not to spend the time there. Just to go there during the day, when you are at work — I think that's the wrong thing to do. It's really not good if you do that because you end up buying something and end up finding out that at night it's a totally different environment in the neighborhood.
You have got to evaluate the entire area. You have to look at all of it.
