5 Must Have Gifts for Real Estate Investors They Actually Need

Are you looking for a gift for that real estate investor in your life? Whether they're working on their first deal or their hundredth deal, whether you're looking for a holiday gift, a last minute gift, birthday gift, here are five gifts that the real estate investor in your life is going to appreciate.

In doing research for this video, we found that most lists for real estate investors seem to include a pen. We're going deeper than the pen, and if you need one, I guess you could borrow one from me.

You'll find links below to all the different items we discuss in this video to make it easy to shop for your favorite real estate investor.

Gift #1

First, we're going to start with the Orbit Gas Meter and Water Meter Shutoff Tool. So this crazy looking thing, this is one I carry in the back of my car and I've had to use several different times.

The most important functions on here are number one, turning on and off the gas meter. This will fit over most gas meter shutoff valves. And just as important as some other cases, is the water shutoff. This will fit on a water main and you'll be able to turn that on and off.

If there's a major leak in the house, whether it's gas or water, a tool like this is going to be indispensable. It's lightweight, solid, carry one in the trunk of your car as a real estate investor.

Gift #2

Another important thing as an investor is to make sure that you have a lockbox that holds keys. We happen to prefer the Master Lock keybox, but there are other ones that are cheaper…you can search on Amazon to find other key boxes.

You're going to want one that you can hang and then you're going to want to be able to change the combo obviously. This isn't a permanent solution for getting in and out of the house. This is a temporary solution. This would be when the house is under construction, being repaired, you want contractors to be able to get in. You're going to leave this on the house so they can have access. The other hot tip to use this for is the gas company. The gas company actually has to come into the house when you turn on that utility and they have to make sure there's no leaks and everything is lit, i.e. all your pilot lights are lit. So instead of standing around for four or six hours waiting for the gas company, leave this on, give the gas company the combo and it will save you so much time. They'll be able to go in and take care of that.

We definitely recommend carrying several of these in the trunk of your car. Another hot tip is make sure you track the combos on the different addresses. You can use the same combo for each one or you can switch them up. Track where your lock boxes are and the combos because over time you're going to end up with quite a few of these.

Gift #3

Another important thing to keep in the trunk are your different smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. In California, it's required that every house has smoke detectors, and if there's gas appliances (like a gas water heater) you need a carbon monoxide detector. We like this one because it's a plug in one. Carbon monoxide, from what we've been told, is a low lying gas, so it should be low anyway.Just plug it in. Better than having to screw it into the wall.

Your smoke detectors in the state of California are going to be required to have a built in 10 year battery, unless it's hardwired and then it can have a backup of a nine volt or AA batteries. But if it's not hardwired, you're going to need a 10 year built in battery.

You can find these at Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, etc. That's all they sell in California, but if you're ordering on Amazon, make sure it has the built in 10 year battery for the smoke detector. A carbon monoxide detector does not need a 10 year battery.

I always carry a few of these in the car. If there's going to be an inspection or an appraiser coming out, and these are missing, that will slow things down. They'll charge a fee to go back out. So that's important for investors to know. Quick rule of thumb, you're going to need one carbon monoxide detector on each level of the home, and then you're going to need one smoke detector on each level of the home, plus one in each bedroom.

Gift #4

As a real estate investor, we should always be learning. There's lots of great content out there. This is one of my favorite books. We have a few others here, but it isn't always easy to get time to sit down and read these books.

The next big gift for a real estate investor would be to order these books, but even easier would be an Audible.com account, which you can get through Amazon. You can buy a gift subscription where they'll be able to get several months of the Audible.com audio book subscription. And there's free books on there and then they'll get some credits where they'll be able to buy books like this. This is going to be key when you're out there as a real estate investor driving between the different properties. You're going to be able to listen to great content that will motivate you to do your next big deal.

Gift #5

Another great gift for the real estate investor in your life is a Foreclosure.com account. With a Foreclosure.com account you pay monthly and you have access to lots of different things including pre foreclosures, You can look up bankruptcies, tax liens, etc. You can search by a state, city or county. It has very thorough data and you can dive in and find out more about individual properties and then reach out to us and we'll help you go ahead and acquire that property.

Are there any gifts we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

So you don't miss any future updates for real estate investors, make sure you subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter. Thanks for tuning in. This has been Christian Walsh, real estate agent with WIRE Associates, and we can't wait to hear from you.

Books in our video:
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
The Color of Law
Am I Being Too Subtle

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This is not meant to be a solicitation of a property currently under contract. This is not meant to be legal or tax advice, please consult with the appropriate professional. We are licensed to sell real estate in California (if you need help elsewhere, we can help find a good broker, let us know), CalRE # 01804983.

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