NOTE: this is a guest post from long time reader and subscriber, Ray. He has been investing in real estate as his career for over 20 years and has agreed to share a few of his experiences. Thanks Ray!

The process of buying an investment property is probably the most challenging and stressful step in real estate investing, especially for beginners. Over the course of several decades, I’ve refined the process into the following seven easy-to-understand steps. But be forewarned, just because they’re easy doesn’t meant there will not be any difficulties along the way! But generally, you should be able to follow the steps below to make your investment property purchase go as smoothly and profitably as possible.

Hopefully, you’ve already decided which of the six property types you’ll invest ^[2] in. If not, check out Six Property Types to Consider for Real Estate Investing ^[3].

1. Make an Offer

The asking price is the price at which the seller has listed the property. Whether you should make an offer for a price lower than the asking price depends on a couple factors: