How to find a property - Knowing your market area

To fully understand the market you'll need to narrow your focus to a few selected areas as your target point for purchasing investment property. Because of the number of properties on the market available in any city you simply cannot know the entire city market. In fact, in the larger cities the average investor with limited time will be doing well if they have a good grasp of only one or two percent of the market.

Based on your analysis of the demand and supply issues in each city you should be able to narrow your focus down to a few selected areas. You'll need to do thorough research in these areas before choosing a property to purchase.

You must know what prices properties in your target area sell for. You need to be able to walk into a property and know within 5% what it is worth and what it would rent for.

When it comes to understanding the property market, there is no better way than old-fashioned foot-slogging. You need to get out and visit home opens, look at rental properties, and be aware of the market so that when an opportunity arises you will be able to seize it.