Anytime you are thinking about investing in real estate you want to look for ways to save both on the front end and at closing. Even the smallest savings can add to your bottom line.

No matter where your interest in real estate lies, rental property, flipping or wholesale you will eventually buy and sell property. In order to make the most of your real estate deal you have to watch every expense closely. Maximizing profits is the name of the game and below are some key areas where you can lose or gain money on every transaction.

Assessment- The offer you make on a house is not the final word in cost. Closing costs can quickly decimate your profit margin, check with the owner for current assessments or surveys to save some money.
Title Commitment- Just as with the assessment it is possible the owner has a current one that you can use instead of paying for one yourself.

Title Insurance- Many times the seller pays these costs and if you are the buyer, this is good news. However if you are in the selling position there is nothing that says you cannot negotiate for the buyer to pay these fees.
Net Sale- This is most commonly seen in wholesale real estate transactions but any deal can benefit from it. When you write the offer, make it a net sale leaving the other party responsible for all the closing costs.

Termite Inspection- There are ways to get these free. Use the same company and many times, they will offer the inspection for free in order to get your business. If you are the buyer, you can pass the estimate on to the seller and ask them to pay for it, another negotiation point.

Inspection- There is no way around this expense but at the end of the day you will always be glad you did. The savings you will reap from not purchasing a home with severe problems will far outweigh the cost. If you are the seller, it will go along way with buyers when you can show them a clean bill of health, or have the opportunity to fix any problems with your own handy man before a real estate agent asks for a general contractor.

Pre-Hab- You have to look at this as an investment. For very little cost, you can often clean up or slap a fresh coat of paint on a project to open up the property to more buyers. Some estimates show a return on investment of ten to one.

Loss Mitigation- When you are looking at a short sale never forget to ask for a marketing fee or negotiation fee. They may not give it to you but it never hurts to ask and it will not cost you a dime.

Curb Appeal- The first thing a potential buyer sees is the outside front of the home. Spend some time and money in making it as appealing as possible. Flowers, landscaping, fresh paint and house numbers all make a property look better.

Staging- This is the process in which you make a home look more inviting by adding furniture and decorations. You can effectively draw attention away from small imperfections and highlight a home’s strong points. You can either hire this done or do it yourself with some inexpensive accessories from home improvement store.

Use these and other tips to maximize your profits. Anywhere you can save money is actually money earned.