How to Invest in Property

Investing in property today can differ considerably from how previous generations used to invest. While you can still buy and sell properties like your parents did, today’s property investment platform technology lets you invest in property without even leaving your home.

Property investment platforms help you streamline the selection and purchase process. Some platforms even provide property portfolio management services, while others let you assess and purchase various properties online, which can save you a lot of time and effort.

If you are still doing your own real estate investing the old-fashioned way, you’ll probably find there’s no better way to evaluate an investment property than to visit the location in person. This will give you a sense of how the property feels to a prospective buyer, a realistic perspective on its current condition and a chance to assess the quality of its location and surrounding neighborhood.

Step by Step: How to Invest in Property

Here are key steps you can take to choose good properties to invest in given your unique situation.

Step 1: Assess Your Financial Position and Arrange for Financing

First, take stock of your available liquid assets, since you will need money to invest in property. Also, determine the amount of money you want to allocate to property investing out of your entire portfolio. If you plan to manage your own property investments, speak to a bank or financial company to find out how much you can borrow secured on property and get a preapproval letter that states the lender loan you a certain amount.

Step 2: Select a Suitable Property Investment Strategy

Many different property investment strategies exist — you’ll want to select one that best aligns with your current financial position and availability to manage a property once purchased.

Some viable do-it-yourself real estate investment strategies could include: buy to hold vacant, buy to rent, buy to fix up and sell, live in then flip or rent and flipping cheap foreclosed on or tax sale properties.

Using a property investment platform or buying shares in real estate investment trusts (REITs) or real estate stocks will probably be the easiest way for most people to invest in property. These options allow you to take a fully hands-off approach and enjoy the benefits of expert management and diversification by investing to gain exposure to fluctuations in the value of a portfolio of well-vetted properties. Benzinga provides a detailed guide on how to invest in REITs.

Step 3: Choose a Property Market to Target

Each property market has unique characteristics. If you do your own investing, the best place to look for deals is probably close to home because you know the market well and can more easily manage the property. You can also look for nearby neighborhoods that are gentrifying for a longer-term investment but remember that location remains a key determinant of value in the property market.

Step 4: Invest in the Best

If you don't want to let others do the investing for you, one way to find great opportunities is to become a real estate property agent. You can act as a buyer's agent to learn about what purchasers want to see in a property, a leasing agent to find out what tenants want, a property manager to get a sense for what landlords have to deal with, and/or a seller's agent to see new deals as they come on the market or when home prices reduce. If you have enough cash on hand, you can also look for great deals from property tax auctions and bank foreclosures.

Best Property Investing Platforms

A truly modern way to invest in real estate involves the use of property investing platforms. We’ve reviewed 4 of the top platforms.

Investing in Property is Easier than Ever

Real estate investing has come a long way from traditional methods that typically involved an individual investor selecting and buying a property, fixing it up and then offering it for sale. These days, you learn how to invest in property and easily tap into an online property investment platform, such as those offered by Diversyfund, CrowdStreet, Roofstock or Fundrise. 

This new technology makes selecting your property investments and diversifying your real estate portfolio's risk so much faster and easier. In some cases, you can participate in real estate market movements even if you only have a relatively modest amount to invest in the property market by buying a share in REITs.