Any real estate agent or developer can offer you a 'good deal'. And it may very well be. But it may not. Who do you trust?

You don't have to take a seller's word for it. If you have gone through a process of due diligence, then you will be able to judge a deal very quickly because you will know your market. So you'll be able to make quick decisions, and be confident you've made the right decision - without having to trust anyone else. Trust yourself is best!

This process is what I go through when looking for investment properties for myself, or friends, or clients. (and friends are the toughest critics!)

I used this process to find a house for one friend at a good price, that has doubled in value in 2.5 years, from $125,000 to $250,000. She was able to refinance that loan and has bought 2 more properties using the equity generated, much sooner than she thought.

I went through the same process to find myself an investment that has quadrupled in value in just over 2 years, from $45,000 to $180,000.!!!!

When I DON'T go through this process, and let my emotions, or time deadlines make the decision, I have invariably made a not so good choice. And it's easy to do that! Ordinary deals are a dime a dozen. I'm only interested in outstanding deals.

Now I always make the best possible choice. I follow this process, and reap the rewards.

In a nutshell, these are the basic steps :

1. Determine Your Criteria
What do you need from this investment? What are your goals? Capital growth? Income?

2. General Area Research
Find out about an area's infrastructure, employment, etc. Why do people want to live there? Tell-tale signs of imminent capital growth.

3. Which Type of Property?
Determine the best type of property for your chosen area to maximise returns.

4. Specific Property Research
Making sure that a specific property has nothing wrong with it.

This lens can only outline the steps, so the details of each step, and more, can be found at the link below.