For years, the continually rising real estate market in the state of California was the envy of the rest of the United States, if not the entire world. While a dose of reality was introduced in the mid-2000s and brought the market back down to earth, it still left plenty of opportunity for the practical investor using hard money.

Whether you're looking for real estate for sale by owner or bank-owned properties, off market deals are frequently the best ones. Here are some strategies that can help you find them:

There's more to effectively doing real estate deals than just having hard money lenders in your pocket. To get the most out of your real estate activities, there are three key tools that can help you to make better investments and better decisions.

For the inexperienced, entering the world of residential or commercial real estate investment is definitely a process fraught with risk. Not only are there bad deals but also unscrupulous dealers. For this reason, the novice real estate investor should build a strong team around them to advise on a deal and help evaluate it. Here are some tips on finding the most important team members:

While every successful investor understands the tenet to “buy low and sell high,” the world of real estate investing offers a few more salient reasons to negotiate the very best (i.e. lowest) price. Here are four of the most important.

If you're doing the kind of real estate investments that traditional lenders don't touch, you eventually have to decide between hard money vs. cash. Investing with cash is simple and inexpensive, but it limits your returns and your scope while also increasing your risk. If any of these situations apply to you, you should consider taking the hard money side of the hard money vs. cash debate.

Investing in real estate has long been a best kept secret of many of America's wealthiest families. As more people discover the benefits of owning property beyond a personal residence, they tap into the growth, tax shelter, and stability that real estate offers. Here are six things that investing in real estate can add to your portfolio.

One of the best ways to find a great real estate investment opportunity is through your business and social networks. Unfortunately, they are not really focused on looking for deals in any meaningful way. For that, an investor must develop a dedicated network – one that can help him find the exact type of deals that meet his financial requirements and risk tolerance. Here are four that help get you started: