Although there may be 100's if not 1000's of real estate bloggers writing about real estate, most are either not relevant, rarely updated, have a horrible user interface, or are just plain boring.  That is why we have once and for all decided to help you weed through this mud to find the cream of the crop.

Not all of the blogs in our list meet every criteria listed, but they all have something that makes them stand out above the rest.  Some of the criteria our team has used to determine which blogs really make the cut are:

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The Brakes on, but the car is still moving! 

Ya, me and Scott had decided it was time to get things rolling again with the site.  I guess hiatus would be an understatement. 

Things started off pretty bad at the first of the month (April) when I lost out on 2 home contracts I had been working on for a few weeks.  Were talking about 60k in equity a piece and at least $300.00 a month in cash flow.  Ya..  Thats with rent loss, maintenance, repairs, management fees and a few incidentals thrown in for measure.

Both homes were owned by a local firm that was holding deliquent notes.  We had worked out a deal with the owner and was going to short the firm, but we never were able to get back to the negotiations after our inspection.  Odd how when you have a legitimate claim they think your trying to rob them.  Oh well. 

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Was listening to a guy today talk about a house he was about to buy and needed some advice on whether it would be a good deal.  The home had a pool and was going to be on the market for a suspected 30-45 days. 

A fellow investor told this guy to not buy the home.  Told him that it being a liability due to the cost to maintain a pool could essentially make it a detriment to purchase.  Also, the buyer thought that by having a pool he could get another 100 dollars a month rent.

The jest of this story was this:

By having a pool, the owner was looking at about a extra 75-100 dollars maintenance, plus the costs of the home sitting on the market for a extra 30-45 days.

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As far as I am concerned, most people have no idea when to start preparing for the coming influx of buyers and sellers that will most surely affect us, the investor.  It's easy to sit and wait for the market turn to pass you up and then finally get onboard when the train has hit full steam.  But why not be ready to get on before it even leaves the station?

Of all the indicators out there that could show as a tell-tell sign of the economic recovery, the employment report would be your canary in the cave so to speak in letting you know where the market is headed.  Currently, the U.S. is losing thousands of jobs each month and the unemployment rate is still at 9.7%.  Until we see a real turn in this trend, we are not yet in recovery or growth.

Try visiting http://stats.bls.gov and see for yourself the latest news on the unemployment situation in the U.S.  This list is updated on the first Friday of every month.  You will be able to get the employment statistics for the previous months job decrease or increase.

Without work, there is less money that is stimulating the economy and if the companies are not hiring, you can rest assured that there is not enough demand to out-way the current production - hence, no need to hire more workers.  In fact, once you see a company shed jobs and there is an increase in revenue, this company will usually be streamlining production and become leaner and meaner well before it will start to grow.  It may be months or years before confidence levels will prompt a company to start hiring again, especially if profits are substantial with its current workforce.

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Don't Buy Until You Try! 

Have you ever bought something that you had no idea how to use, fix, or maintain?  Happens all the time.  People buy things without taking a moments thought at what it takes to keep that purchase in good condition and working like it should. 

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