Never offer more than you can afford to pay.

Don't get caught up in idea that you are going to make it work no matter what. Let's face it, some deals just won't work and you have to let them go.

Ultimately, person who gets best deal is person who is least motivated. You have lots of potential homes to purchase... Seller only has one home to sell. Work up numbers.

First, you need to know what current market value of property is.

Do this by going to your title company (you can pick any one you want, just look them up in yellow pages). Title companies have access to comparable sales of homes in neighborhood.

Look for homes that are very similar to one you are preparing to purchase.

This step in process is inexpensive and easy do. All it takes is a simple classified ad. I suggest that you run it in your Sunday real estate section under "investment property." The ad will cost 15-25 dollars.

I'm not going to give you ads here, you'll have to get my book to get exact ads I've used, tested and proven effective over past 15 years. The ads alone will save you thousands of dollars in wasted money.

With three different types of ads that I give you in book, you will get calls from three different types of real estate investment Buyers.

1. An investor who has money for a down payment and has good credit, but wants to get a good deal.