Of course, we must analyzy both sides of the national investing equation, as well.

Pros: 1. Buying Power – By being an individual investor within a large group, then you have the buying power of Walmart behind you even though you may only plan on buying 1 property. 2. Time – The national groups do all the work for you at no cost. They are paid fees by the developers and because of volume, it allows them to perform considerable efforts to find quality properties. You simply evaluate all the information that they have gathered. 3. Considerable Analysis – Quality national groups will go to great lengths to understand and convey the local market information to you. They understand that you may not visit the area so they want you to be as informed as possible. 4. Little Competition – Even though there is a HUGE number of investors in these groups, most everybody finds that there is plenty of opportunity to go around. Reason being is that most people want to only buy 1 property and quite frankly, most people do not act quickly enough. 5. Diversification – You can buy properties in different areas of the country so if there is a down turn in one area, it may not impact your other properties.

Cons 1. Personal Knowledge Of Market – You will not originally understand the market; however, the analysis delivered to your email will bring you up to speed quickly. 2. Access To Property – Because time scales are typically short, if you want to visit a property, you need flexibility to juggle schedules (airline tickets are cheap). 3. Rental Issues – You typically don't want to manage a property from long distance, because of this, national groups will identify appropriate property managers in the area. 4. Typically Requires Good Credit – The national groups can obtain good financing options for you, but most are going to want Beacon scores of 650 or higher. 5. Trust – Requires a lot of confidence in the national group. Do your due diligence on the group.

In my experience there is no right or wrong answer to the question: is local investing better than national or vice versa? In fact, I still invest both ways to this day. Hopefully the discussion above has given you some insight into what might become effective for you as you continue to build your real estate portfolio.

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