3. Business.com reveals news, research and contacts for 10,000 public and 44,000 private companies.

4. You can research public opinion of a company and its competitors by using Google's Usenet Service, . Silicon Investor's Stock Talk, and Raging Bull

CEO's Expresss, a business research service is a wonderful site for gleaning information on a company.

Source: Flanagan, Debbie "Researching Companies on Internet-A Tutorial" 6/11/01

As will all periodic costs, rents increase with inflation and local demand. If you assume that individual that will eventually purchase your property is expecting a return on investment that is similar to your own expectations, then cap rate must be held constant. You expect a ten percent return on investment (10% cap rate) so it would be prudent to expect that next buyer will also expect a ten percent return on investment. If cap rate is held constant, but rents and subsequent net income are increased, then selling price of property must also increase. By assuming a growth rate in rents for a given holding period, you can determine resale value of your investment, and magnitude of capital gains that you will realize from sale.

Cap Rates are used widely in real estate because they provide a simple method to determine a percent return on investment. From that, information, investors and realtors can determine proper pricing for an investment given an expected return. They can determine resale value of an investment and any associated capital gains. Finally, cap rates can be used to forecast to total expected returns on investment and confirm proper purchase price for an investment property.