Property hunting toolkit

If you're going into the wild to hunt wabbits ... er, rabbits, then you could be like Elmer Fudd and bring a trusty rifle and hunting cap.

If you're hunting for your next investment property, likewise you need a toolkit. Here are some things I bring along when I look at properties:

1. Flashlight

Many REOs don't have electricity turned on, and if you're descending into a basement to look at the furnace, water heater, and whether or not the house has circuit breakers, you'll most likely need a flashlight. Get a trusty one that you don't have to bang on your leg in order to make work.

2. Clipboard, pad of paper, and pen

Especially if you're looking at several properties in one day, you want to take copious amounts of notes on what you saw. Once you start seeing a few properties, the details of each can get all jumbled in your head. I like to bring along a checklist of the various areas and fill that in, or at the very least, be methodical about my notes -- exterior, roof, and go room by room. In the basement, if you're not sure about the age of the furnace, for example, write down the model number and Google it when you get to a computer (or look it up with your smartphone onsite).

3. Camera

The camera goes without saying. Again, once you've seen several properties in a row, they start all looking alike. Don't trust your memory and take several pictures of each property. Especially note the concerns. If you don't have a digital camera, your smartphone can be used as well -- the pictures they generate are getting better and better all the time.

4. Level

Sometimes when you're in a house, you can definitely feel if things are off-kilter. If that's the case, then it's typically really off-level. Use a torpedo level to see if the walls are plumb and the floors are level.

5. Tape measure

I don't always use a tape measure, but when I do ... it comes in handy. Sometimes property listings just estimate the square footage of the rooms and you might want to get a more accurate assessment. Also, if there is damage, you may want to measure how large the damage is in order to determine a repair cost.

Happy hunting!