When your real estate investing business is in its infancy, dollars spent on marketing must be spent carefully. It's easy to listen to the advice of the gurus telling you to get a Yellow Pages ad, or to send out mass mailings, and on and on. It can get confusing. The key to good marketing is not how much money you throw at advertising, but how well you manage your marketing.

Newbie real estate investors spend a lot of time running. It's the nature of the beast. There's an air of excitement and exuberance. You get a lead and you want to see that property now. The potential seller says to you,"Just drive by and let me know what you can do for me." If you do that, you are definitely still a newbie. Such forays are a waste of time and time is money.

Wholesaling properties is a lucrative business, but there are a number of pitfalls and dangers to be aware of. The highway to real estate fortunes is littered with well-intentioned people who did not heed good advice. Here are seven of the most common newbie mistakes to avoid. Let these be seven headaches you will eliminate at the outset. Consider yourself forewarned!

Sacrilege. Punishable by alienation. That's how many real estate investors feel when posing the question,

When wholesaling properties, you may be in business for yourself, but you cannot become successful by becoming the "Lone Ranger." It's a good thing at the outset to begin to build your team wisely. Surrounding yourself with reputable people skilled in their respective fields will help ensure your success. It will take time and effort. But it is something you need to give special attention to.

Taking a property "subject to the existing loan," is one of the ways in which real estate investors make a great deal of money. In fact, it's one of the easiest and simplest ways to get started in real estate. While the process is quite simple, it seems to be a clouded issue for some people. The solution you might ask - consider placing the property in a land trust.

The thought of negotiating a purchase or sale is frightening to most newbie real estate investors. "I don't know anything about sales or negotiating," you might be saying. "They didn't mention that in the 2AM infomercial I watched." For many new investors, this is pretty scary stuff.

Beginners in the real estate investing business are surprised to learn that it is possible to build a buyers list before you ever have a property under contract. In fact, it is best that you have the list built ahead of time.

You've heard about real estate investing, and you're considering getting into the business, but you're still somewhat confused. What does it actually mean to wholesale properties and how can a person get started in this business. You've heard it might be illegal. You've heard that you can't deal in real estate without a license. What is the truth?

Just as a bird dog sniffs out game for the hunter, so a real estate bird dog sniffs out deals for the real estate investor. If you've been looking at real estate investing and have wanted to learn more, but you don't have the capital or the know-how, becoming a bird dog could be the best place to begin.