If you're looking at properties on a fairly regular basis, I'll guarantee you've heard the following line in the past 6 months:

"We have an appraisal from [insert date here] for $[insert amount here]."

Stop. Write it down. What was the date they told you? If it's anything other than the last 3 months, it's obsolete.

According to Shobhana Chandra of Bloomberg.com,

"Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell in April and the supply of unsold properties reached a record, signaling no let-up in the 27-month housing slump.

Purchases declined 1 percent to an annual rate of 4.89 million, higher than forecast, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median price fell 8 percent from April last year, the second-biggest drop."

The average American home lost somewhere around 4% in the last 6 months. At the median home price of $202,300, your seller just lost more than $8,000 in equity. In the last year, they lost more than $16,000. Their appraisal is invalid and a new appraisal will be needed.

For all of you investors out there looking for great deals, don't listen to the hype. Do your homework.

As an real estate investor, you probably spending a lot of time looking at a lot of property. But, what about you out of state investors? And you international investors? How many times do you have the freedom to rush in and check out something you're buying?

The major problem here is that no one has the time to fly all over the place like this. If you have the money to show up every time you get a pending deal all the way across the nation or overseas, you're probably wasting your time.

We've talked a lot about building a good team in our Tuesday's Tips so far, but I want to talk about a member of the team who often goes unidentified. I like to call him the "uninterested party".

Seeing that you're ballsy enough to be investing a long way away, in a different area of the country or world, you need to have someone on your side. I can't tell you how many real estate agents and birddogs I see who are pushing the line a little too far. I watch this go down all of the time.

They want, and need, to close deals so badly, that they're muddying the waters and distorting the facts to just get a sale or two. They're in desperation mode and as long as they're doing that, they're not looking out for your best interests.

You need an uninterested party on your team who can give you an honest critique of the property you're about to purchase. They can't have anything that will sway his/her opinion. You might call this an inspector. You might call this your "Uncle Bob" who lives in Indianapolis who steps in to look things over for you. You might even call this your property manager, who has to deal with the headaches after you purchase the property. Whatever you call 'em, you need 'em.

So, find an uninterested party to evaluate your deals. If you pay them $200 to walk you through the property over the phone and find out it's going to take a lot more money than the amount your real estate agent told you, you will have saved more than $200 and learned a lot about the agent who's "representing" you.

Tuesday's Tip: Find yourself an uninterested party. You need better representation than a salesman who only benefits when you buy. Think about it. 

We've created a lens on Squidoo for Cash Flow Real Estate. I'm really impressed with what Seth Godin has put together to bring people and information together and thought this would be a great place to reach more people.

We've linked some of our favorite blogs and sites there for you to get more information and education for maximizing your cash flow.

Check out our Lens and leave us a message. We want to be as helpful as possible, so give us some feedback.

Values tumbled in the first quarter of 2008. The median price for a single family home dropped 7.7%. That's the largest drop in 29 years, according to Kathleen M. Howley of Bloomberg.com. If you have a $150k house, there's a good chance you just lost about $11k of equity in your home.

While this freaks a lot of home-owners out, it should excite investors. Real estate investors know that prices are dropping. This means that opportunities for cash flow are abounding. While people are losing their jobs, being raped at the pump, and struggling to keep up with their bills, wise investors are building income through solid cash flowing rental properties.

What about you? With the dollar on the decline, what are you doing to secure your retirement? I've spoken with so many investors over the last several weeks and months who have lost money in their 401k. Do you have your money in something that will even yield a return? If you lose value in your property and in your retirement, what will you do?

Start thinking about how you're going to take the next step. Don't wait for money to start growing on trees, because with the economic outlook these days, you may not have the money to water that tree anyways. (just kidding)

Seriously, think about ways to invest in good property now, while prices are down. Don't let your retirement savings slip away while you aren't paying attention.

(If you're interested in looking at how the numbers should look when you're buying a property, check out this post. It breaks down the numbers on a property here in Indianapolis and compares it with one in California.)

Tuesday's Tip: Money doesn't grow on trees. Invest wisely while the market is down.

It's easy to get into a rush as you're running numbers, because every deal is the "deal of a lifetime". This rush is part of what makes it so enticing for investors to get into the investment real estate world. Sadly, it's also the very thing that takes many of them back out so quickly.

See, what happens in a rush is that you stop thinking and start allowing your emotions to dictate your responses. Bad idea. If you aren't educated and level-headed, multiple unexpected costs will kill you every time. Most properties will have numerous simple repairs when you purchase them. Some simple time calculating extra costs will go a long way to save your cash reserves and help you maintain strong cash flow.

Take the time to factor in costs for things like appliances, turning utilities on and off, dewinterizing, changing locks, blinds, lawncare, and so on. Budgeting ahead of time for these simple things will ease the pressure later.

(Unsure of what else to calculate into your numbers? Ask your property manager. If they're worth anything, you'll have some good information.)

Tuesday's Tip: Stop emoting. Start figuring in the little things.

We're in a very difficult economy right now. Investors have to take seriously how quickly things could change. You could lose a tenant and have a vacancy for six months before any tenant is ever interested in your place. How will you survive that many months of mortgage payments? What about the unexpected leak in the roof? How will you repair it?

It's simple. Cash reserves.

The important thing to understand is healthy reserves not only protect you from serious problems, but they also allow you incredible peace. They are absolutely necessary. As BawldGuy states, "A generous reserve account is not merely an option. In no way is it a luxury. How long can you go without sleep?"

Get serious. You need to face the reality of our economy and protect yourself and your investments.

Tuesday's Tip: Protect your cash flow. Get reserves. They're in.

We've talked about this quite a bit before, but your property manager will make or break your real estate investing. Find the wrong one and their likely to be terrorizing tenants, like the Macy's.

Get serious about having a property manager who will take care of your tenants. It's never too late to get someone to do the job right.

If you're in the Indianapolis area and working with rental and cash flow properties, I have a phenomenal property management company I've been using. They're honest, hard working, and keep your cash flow going. Shoot me an email at derek @ landchasers . com and I'll send you their contact info. It's the best property manager I've found in Indy.

I've watched numerous deals close and numerous deals fall apart. They come, and they go. It's reality.

The hard part of the reality is when people make stupid decisions. It's difficult to watch it happen. It's even more tough to see a deal crumble as decision makers listen to people with absolutely no credibility. Whether you're the buyer, the seller, the real estate agent, or the appraiser, watching foolishness in action is infuriating.

I watched a deal fall apart months ago because of an insurance agent. He was determined the property being purchased needed to have screens and storm windows for them to insure it. The buyer wouldn't purchase it despite the fact there was already a similar insurance policy on the house with another major insurer. The buyer needed to use his own insurance company, who was destroying the deal over screens. It was a completely occupied property that would cash flow nicely, and we were arguing about screens. The seller, in an effort to help fix a ridiculous problem, offered to pay for the first year of insurance if the buyer would use his insurer. That wasn't good enough.

Let me explain why this didn't make sense: The property sits in an older area of Indianapolis. It's a low income section 8 area, if that helps you at all. (Not trying to stereotype here, just speaking in general terms.) Because of this, tenants don't respect the properties like they would in better areas. So, you limit some of the things you put into the properties for sake of the lack of return. They don't respect the property, so you don't allow them to destroy things that are insignificant.

Screens and storm windows are a great example. You don't put them into this particular type of property, because the tenants won't take care of them. The likelihood of you wasting your money is very high.

Take this same thing and apply it to types of flooring, paint, fixtures, lawncare, etc. If the cost outweighs the benefits, of what value is it to spend the money?

You have to decide whether screens will kill a deal that brings the cash flow you desire or not. If they really make a difference, perhaps you should be looking at a different type of property.

Tuesday's Tip: Don't let screens make or break a deal. Think about a way to "screen" deals, and ensure your criteria makes sense.

(That has to be the corniest line I've ever written)

Foreclosure filings have jumped 57% from a year ago. The bubble has burst, and if you think this only affects us here in the US, you're wrong. It's has spread overseas.

You can call me a pessimist, but the reality is staring us in the face. We're in a recession. And, if these articles and everything else that's happening are indicators of our situation, it's going to get worse before it's going to get better.

There is no better time to buy.

The hype is done. The boom is over. We've dropped and the opportunity is now. So, how do we buy when things are tight and the market is tough? We buy smart. If you're buying rental and cash flow properties, the prices are right and your methods are important. Our dollar has continued to slump in value and, while it drops, it would be wise to put what you have left of it into something that will not only bring you a regular monthly return, but eventually return to you on the appreciation end.

Take your cash and put it into something that makes sense. You have a great opportunity in front of you. The market is ripe for the picking. What are you going to do about it?

Tuesday's Tip: Use your cash before it fades away.

Over the past year, I’ve talked quite a bit about the importance of putting together a solid team of advisors and workers in your investing. The right team will make or break your efforts to invest wisely. Given the nature of the current market, I encourage you to really get serious about this piece of your strategy.

One of my recent posts about the bus tours provided some insight into this very thing and really forces an investor to look at the truth and be real about it. Who is really there to help you and who is there to make a buck?

On my team, I like to have people who are specifically geared towards each and every specialty within the market. I have people whom I trust for a better understanding of the sale of residential properties. I have other people who are great with pre-foreclosures and people who understand seller-financing. As well, I have people who get the property management on a different level and who do it well.

Whether you’re building the Mile High Tower or purchasing some rentals for extra cash flow, take time to build a resource of irreplaceable people. Make sure they fit into your team and your strategy of investing. Don’t think that one person with a wealth of knowledge will know how to handle any and every detail of your problems. That’s foolish.

Tuesday’s Tip: No one person has all of the answers. If you think they do, it’s probably a good idea you rethink that thought.

BTW, we’re going to start a series soon with one of my advisors on short sales and the negotiation of them. I’ve asked Kevin, of Save or Sell Your Home, to help piece this together and educate all of us. I know he’ll offer us some great stuff.