Ok let me define the "tool box" for you and explain the three parts that make it up.

1) Grey matter tools: This is the in your head part of the tool box. It is the manner in which you think about investing, the guidelines you use to select investments as well as ALL the information you call on every time the prospect of an investment even shows its self. It is the investment filter you have developed for yourself.

It is about gathering all the info you can in order to be able to think about investing and where it can lead you.

IMPORTANT ELEMENT. While we all know that a zillion books have been written about investing. It is important to understand that you MUST have some knowledge from that book...WHY? Because if you understand what other investors are reading'it actually makes it easier to work with them since you understand where they are getting their basic tactics and understanding from, that helps steer them to the investments THEY are making.

The E-tool box: Your online tool box. What websites are you useing online over and over. Most real estate investors only use a few sites. I have found this can lead to a sort of tunnel vision or what I call "INFO INPUT SHUT DOWN".

Ok so how do you avoid Info input shut down? You have to open your tool box up to get some fresh tools.

Just go to the free email server of your choice...create a new email address that you will use to collect email updates/newsletters from various websites. then go thru them at your leasure.

Once you join an email list..no matter what stay with it for at least 6 months. (Not all great investment tidbits are sent out at first.) Email lists to get on are for: investment clubs, investment blogs, investment reference sites, etc, etc.

I ,myself, avoid most ad based emailing lists. however, that doesnt mean that all of them are a waste of time. review a few and decide for yourself if they are worth keeping.

My favorite online tools/sites are the ones that cost me very little to use/buy or better yet are free to me. I love to find good resource sites. ( I admit freely I normally link them to my own) A good web tool is a great thing to find. Im not refering to another mortgage calculator...I mena that online tool your just dying to try out. When you find them...bookmark them.

3) Actual physical tools: these are the tools you can actually touch and use when you're making offers, inspecting property, or doing any one of the other hundreds of things that a good investor does before making an investment commitment. Most of these tools fit in a small briefcase or shoulder bag. These tools can be anything from flashlights, small inspection tools, to calculators etc. So in a nut shell that is all there is to a tool box.

Thats about it. so go build your toolbox. pdate it often. Use it daily...and happy investing.