This is part of a book I wrote and  a taste of one real estate investing guide DVDs done by me. I will be republishing the majority of my book on my active rain blog. If you are interest in DVD or Seminar I have done on Real Estate Investing you can go to http://stores.ebay.com/Real-Estate-Investing-Guide

One of the single best assets you can have when working with property is a good relationship with a seasoned, established real estate agent in the area you are buying in. Many investors feel some sort of resentment against real estate agents in general, when in reality, if they would follow some simple rules, they would find that a good agent will make them considerably more money than they could make on their own.

A few points about Realtors:

1. They work with real estate values and markets every day. The average investor works with property in his spare time.

2. They only get paid if they successfully perform a service for you.

3.  If you find a full-time agent that has been selling real estate for more than 3 years, he or she probably knows more about marketing your property than you ever will, unless you take up investing full time.

Again, look for a quality agent, one who is full-time in real estate sales, not part-time.

If you don't know the value of a particular piece of real estate, you can use an agent to help you locate comparable properties. An agent can also give you pointers on what helps a property sell, such as the latest color schemes and how to “stage” a house for sale.