What should investors check before buying real estate?
Short answer: Joe says he spends a week in a town before deciding whether a parcel makes sense, so public data is only part of his check.
Joe shares the local factors he checks when evaluating real estate.
Local demand factors
Joe names the job market, economics, and supply and demand as factors on his checklist. He describes them as local influences on market value. (at 1:26)
Local constraints
Joe includes municipal policy, regulations, and utilities in his checklist. He notes that utility issues vary by area. (at 1:26)
Project costs
Joe lists material and labor costs and soft costs. He also points to rising insurance bills. (at 1:53)
Quality of life
Joe includes quality of life variables in his checklist. He compares Manhattan, Kansas with Austin, Texas when explaining why location appeal matters. (at 2:23)
"With real estate, it's a completely learnable investment. Everything you need to know about it typically can be publicly acquired if you know where to go."
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Igor Olenicoff: Learn the business from the ground up. A job at a builders hardware store taught Olenicoff about building materials and techniques. It also built an affinity for real estate.
- Larry Connor: Learn from every mistake. Larry's team owns its failures and makes no excuses. They learn, change quickly, and keep getting better.
- Michael Lee-Chin: Find the person who is responsible. When a problem comes up, he asks who the agent was. He wants a specific person to call, not a department.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
What should investors check before buying real estate?
Joe says he spends a week in a town before deciding whether a parcel makes sense, so public data is only part of his check.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.