Read a newspaper or watch the news, the economy looks pretty bleak doesn't it? The Dow is bouncing around like an old basketball. The credit market is drying up. Make no mistake though, every time someone loses money someone else is making it. Since prices are down right now this might be the perfect time to invest in real estate.

So what exactly is real estate wholesaling? Real estate wholesaling is the process of buying and selling real estate very quickly. As a wholesaler, you're not trying to buy property to fix and resell instead you're trying to buy property that can be sold "as is" for a quick profit. The typical wholesale transaction lasts less than a month and requires under $100 from the investor.

As a wholesaler it's your job to find properties that don't need a lot of work, properties that can be quickly marketed to the right buyers. Your job than is not a contractor, not even a real estate agent, your job is simply aligning buyers with properties that you control. The ones that learn to do this in the quickest, most efficient manner are the ones who make the most money.

What are the steps for success? First, investing in real estate is a business and it needs to be treated as such. It doesn't matter if you do it full time, or just a few hours per month. Treating it as a real business means continually learning the latest techniques; it also means using systems wherever possible to accelerate your success. Further, you always need to be searching for ways to automate existing processes. This constant refining of systems is what leads to productivity gains in even established businesses.

You will also want to take an accurate inventory of your strengths and weaknesses. You need to do what you are best at and what will bring you the money and outsource the rest. You can't do it all, if you try you will not only fail, you'll probably drop from exhaustion as well. Remember, Bill Gates long ago stopped writing computer code. In fact, if you pressed him, he would probably be unable to tell you how half of his software products work. Yet this lack of control certainly didn't hinder his success

Once you control a property you need to get it out to as many prospective buyers as possible. One of the most efficient ways of doing this is to take advantage of the internet to find qualified leads. There are dozens of ways to market your property to the masses for little (and in many cases) no money. Leveraging the internet just makes good business sense and is much easier then most people think. Once again, this is an area that can be outsourced to an assistant.

In conclusion wholesaling real estate can be an extremely lucrative business. The trick is to run your business intelligently and to take advantage of the latest training and technology. Remember, fortunes are made in any economy. You just have to learn how.