Real Estate Investing isn’t an easy job, and it’s even harder when you realize the amount of risk in each property.

There’s a lot of questions and planning when it comes to each deal.

Our friends at Straight North Marketing shared an infographic created by Precision Global Corp. explaining the in’s and out’s of investing in Commercial Real Estate. They lay out a good list of important steps to investing:

Know Your Location

Locations are everything. Most people spend a lot of time thinking about what they want the building to be they forget about the location of the building. Location is one thing incredibly overlooked even though it’s one of the most important factors in selling or leasing a property.

Start With A Plan

Just like anything, if you put money in it, you should probably have a plan as to what you plan for it to do. That “it” could be a car, a home or a business. Investing in real estate is a business. Every good business has a business model they follow, and this is no different. If someone is thinking about investing in real estate, it’s probably a good idea to have a plan which with they follow.

Understand The Tax Repercussions

Taxes are pretty confusing for anyone with a small business, but they are even more so for Real Estate Investors. They can write-off a handful of things when it comes to the property they are investing in, so it’s important to check with an advisor when it becomes tax season. Hiring an accountant to handle everything may also be a great investment.

Follow the 1% Rule

An easy rule-of-thumb on the success of a property is if it makes 1% per month of income from what you spent on it. So, for example, if a building was $200,000, it should make roughly $2,000 a month in income.

Check Your Credit Score Before You Buy

Credit is an amazing thing, but if you don’t take care of your credit, that can be devastating for almost any business transaction. Always make sure your credit is at least 700 or you might run the risk of lenders being scared to lend to you.

Talk to Other Investors

No one is out to steal your job. Most investors are more than willing to help you succeed. Reach out and grab a coffee or a drink with them. Learn from these people that have been in the business longer and gain friendships instead of competition.

Do Plenty of Research

There’s a saying, “You never stop learning.” That is especially true in Real Estate Investing. Grab a book, read it cover-to-cover, and grab another and do the same thing. Learn everything you can about the ends and outs of the trade. Outside of the basic knowledge for investing you also need to study the property of which you will invest. Learn about its history, previous tenants, any work done to it. All of these things play in major factors of the value of the property. So don’t hurt yourself because you didn’t do proper research.

Understand a 1031 Exchange

The Cauble Group just posted an entire blog about 1031 Exchanges a few weeks ago, we recommend you check it out and learn about 1031 Exchanges. They are crucial in Real Estate Investing and can save you a lot. Take the time to sit and discuss these with other investors and experts in exchanges.