Hacking for Real Estate Investors: Learn What You're Not Being Told

Hacking has a bad reputation - although "cracking" is the proper word for using your computer skills to break into systems to get information you shouldn't have - we are stuck with the word. In one sense of the word, hacking means "using a computer to snoop for information". I've recently been hacking for real estate information, peeking at neighborhoods, finding the current owners of houses, and making sure that the improvements they are bragging about were done legally. Here's how you can legally find out information that a property seller might be concealing or might not know.

Start with Google maps for a birds-eye view of the neighborhood you are interested in. Zoom in and out, looking for how close the property is to large buildings, major streets, and significant local landmarks. Any feature may be good or bad, depending on your needs, but you need to have good information to make a good real estate investment decision.

With a bit of experience on Google maps you can tell a declining area from a stable or developing area. Look at neighborhoods you are familiar with to get the experience. Declining areas have many vacant lots, partly demolished buildings and empty slabs, cars parked in the back yards, and dead landscaping. Stable areas have the cars parked on driveways, the landscaping looks maintained, and there are few vacant lots. Developing areas have evidence of construction, with partly finished houses and some finished houses among the vacant lots. In a housing boom, large areas of farm land can turn into a dusty, noisy construction site in a few days.

The rest of the sources may not always be available online, but it's worth the time to look.