Making the Most of Lodging Property Listings

Proceed carefully when researching hotels and motels for sale

If your favorite game has always been Monopoly, you may have dreamed of someday snatching up a hotel for sale. With the tools available on the Internet, it's easier than ever to find hotels and motels for sale.

The Internet has opened up plenty of real estate opportunities for real estate experts and regular investors. Finding lodging property listings for locations around the world is as easy as a mouse-click. But before you start collecting hotels like game pieces, you'll still need to do some old-fashioned legwork first.

Here are some tips to help you when searching for lodging properties for sale:

1. Know what you can afford to spend up front, and share that information with a broker, which will help narrow the field of choices.

2. Decide how much renovation you're prepared to complete on the hotel, motel or inn. Some properties may seem like a steal on paper, but when you get inside you find out why no one would steal anything from that place.

3. Get sound advice from a real estate lawyer before you commit to buying a hotel or motel for sale.

Establish guidelines before researching lodging property listings

Before you dive in to a real property search on the Internet, set some guidelines for yourself. Limit yourself to markets that you understand well in terms of hotel supply and demand, local economy and attractions and, of course, price. If there are no markets you truly understand well, do more homework first to learn the ins and outs.

Work with brokers to find suitable hotels and motels for sale

Allow commercial real estate brokers to do the heavy lifting for you when searching through lodging property lists. If your Internet research comes up short, they can clue you in to newly listed or confidential lodging properties for sale that might suit your needs.

Get background information on hotels for sale

Once you've zeroed in on a hotel for sale that might suit your needs, do some research down at the county courthouse. If you can, find out why it's for sale, who owns it and the original purchase price, which will help you figure out the best price to offer.

• Don't jump into a decision to purchase a hotel for sale. Remember that fools rush in, and you could wind up with a property that's more of a headache than a dream. By proceeding with caution, you will be making the most of lodging property listings.

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