At one point or another, someone somewhere is thinking about buying real estate. This could be a house to live in, an investment property or even a commercial building for an office or business. Before you purchase real estate there are a few things you should know, this way you are starting out on the right foot. First, there are actually four types of real estate. There is residential property, this includes houses for a single family or a multi-family house, rentals for vacation and year-round living and property like apartments and condos. Next there is commercial property. This is where the businesspeople have their business. You will also find industrial real estate where there are manufacturing plans and storage places. The last category is known as mixed use real estate. This can include two or more uses.

One thing you will want to know is some of the real estate talk. You want to research terms like a buyer’s agent or a seller’s agent, appraisal and terms like these. When it comes to the terms and talk, the more you know the smoother the process will be for you. Many first-time buyers get lost in the jargon and as a result they need to stop and think about what is being said. Just remember that the real estate professional wants to help you, feel free to ask as many questions as you need to. You may have to use a buyer’s agent or a seller’s agent depending on if you are the buyer or the seller. Depending on what you want to do with the real estate, you have many options. You could buy the property and hold it for your use or someone else’s or you could fix it up and resell the property, a process called flipping. You could also buy and hold it to rent out to someone.