Articles provided by RE-Sterling.com

The current real estate market has caused some to question the investing principles that one should be following. In 2005, a bestselling book called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor was written by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. The question is, because of the recent market changes of a buyers market from a sellers market do the principles laid out in the book still apply?

First, lets understand how the book was originally written. It was based on extensive research and interviews with over 120 millionaire real estate investors. Gary Keller's "how to" guide revealed the models, strategies and fundamental truths millionaires use to become wealthy through real estate investing. The basic model laid out were Criteria, Terms and Network.

Criteria: What you buy. Criteria is the guidelines that you establish to follow to determine the type of property that you are going to buy. This applies to a buyers market because there appears to be all type of opportunities available, but you still need to establish what you are looking for & how you are going to take advantage of the market conditions. Some investors will only work with condos, others only townhouses, others rehabs.These apply no matter what the market. Will you be able to resale it or rent it? The buyers market does enter in and present some new criteria. Are you going to focus on pre foreclosures, foreclosures or short sales? With these situations presenting themselves more & moremaking them part of your criteria could provide great opportunities.

Terms: With interest rates remaining fairly low, and with the wave of the sub prime backlash, terms are even more important in the buyers market then they have ever been. Add to that the true evaluation of proper offer prices when overall prices are stagnant or declining. Simply taking the time to establish your own parameters to determine when a deal is a good deal & when a deal should be walked away from is critical in an emotion filled buyers market.

Lets look at the principle of Network: Who helps you. This truly applies. Having a network of select relationships that know your criteria & that are able to feed you opportunities is essential, even today. Imagine a well placed attorney that knows of pre-foreclosure proceedings or a Northern Virginia Real Estate Team that is intimately aware of a particular area or that is working in conjunction with a bank to dispose of Bank Owned / Foreclosure Northern Virginia Homes.

You see, the principle that the book laid out: "you make your money going into the deal, not going out" still applies. That is part of the why it is called a "Buyers Market". "You buy right and let the market do the work for you as opposed to buying less than right & hoping the market will save you".Bottom Line, the principles of the book still apply

"Mastering these areas will give you the greatest chance for long term success & place you solidly on the path to becoming a Millionaire Real Estate Investor". This was sound advise when the book was written and remains sound advice today.