I was very fortunate that my father was a real estate broker, although he is no longer around I gained some really good tricks for my real estate purchase. First off, scout the areas you want to live. A lot of times real estate isn't listed on the local RMLS site (or if it is, might be incorrect information). Second strategy get a tax plot map. Look for property owners who are out of state and send them a offer letters. Craigslist, Zillow alert and other sites have been pretty helpful for leads as well. Third, pay attention to what other properties are selling. If everyone in the neighborhood is selling, there has to be a reason. Buy where nobody wants to sell. Finally, out of pure luck I bought my property on auction.com and was the final bidder without even looking at the property (there are ways to back out of a deal, my dad told me all the tricks :). The property information just happen to be wrong, it was the wrong zoning, address, acreage, etc. This was probably because it was in the holiday season. The Realtor assigned to the property didn't know anything about it. Because I did a title search before placing my bid, I knew more about it then they did! And because I scouted the area well, I knew approximately what I was expecting. I also knew that buying property during the holiday season (thanksgiving to new years) is the best possible time as far as I can tell. Generally home values go up in the summer and down in the winter. I also played the 2008 recession, but values didn't go down as much as I expected, but it helped. And no I didn't buy a property way out in nowhere, I'm about 20 minutes away from the Redwood Forest, 45 minutes from the coast, and 30 miles away from a Home Depo/Walmart. Regretfully, the nearest Trader Joe's is over an hour and a half away. :)