If you want to succeed in real estate investing or as an agent, you can leverage technology to help your career. Check out some of the fantastic tech tools that can take your investing career to the next level. And when you are ready to relinquish day-to-day management of your portfolio, considering hiring a successful property management company.
Free Education Online
One of the most essential things in real estate investing is to educate yourself. Fortunately, there are free real estate investing podcasts that have transformed the business for small investors.
You rarely need to pay a ‘real estate investing guru’ $20,000 to pick his or her brain. Most of the education you need is available on the Internet for free in podcasts and articles.
This ‘tech tool’ might seem too basic, but it’s important to realize just how much information you can glean from free real estate investing podcasts.
Some of the best podcasts out there you can stream on your phone anytime include The Bigger Pockets Podcast, Real Estate Guys Podcast, and Masters of Scale Podcast.
Easily Available Rental Estimates
There’s so much data available online now to find out what you should charge for rent in the neighborhood where you own property. Zillow and Rent-O-Meter are good sites to look for information about rents for single-family homes in big cities.
Also, consider finding local property managers online to check rents for a home you’re considering purchasing. When you combine the rental information from the above sites with a live property manager in that area, you should have a solid idea of the rent you should charge. And you don’t even need to leave your house!
Simple, Affordable Marketing To Sellers
A few years ago, the best way to find real estate deals was the classic ‘driving for dollars.’ Can you imagine how inefficient it is to get in your car and drive around town looking for a rundown home to buy?
Next, you need to knock on the door to see if you can talk to the owner and score a deal to buy their house. There’s nothing wrong with this practice in theory, but it’s challenging to grow your portfolio quickly using this excruciatingly slow method.
Marketing to sellers can be almost entirely automated by purchasing a database of possible sellers and using online ads. For instance, you can query a property owner database and send an email message to 1,000 homeowners in a city or county. Imagine how long it would take to knock on all those doors!
Tools To Evaluate Deals
Many experienced investors use Google Spreadsheets to run the numbers on possible investment property deals. You can use a customized form for every deal you’re considering. Then, you can share the model with real estate agents, so they know how you’re evaluating the deals.
Next, the real estate agent inputs variables into that model to quickly determine your offering price. You also can have your agents upload the videos and pictures of the investment deal to Google Drive.
Easy Access To On-Market Properties
Some investors roll their eyes at purchasing homes listed on the MLS. But if you know what you’re doing, you can find deals there.
The way to buy great deals on the MLS is to be high in persistence and organization. Have updated filters for your key markets to be notified when a house hits the market in your parameters. Then, attempt to get an offer to the owner as soon as you can. If the offer is rejected, just add it to your database to check back in a few months.
Technology has made investing in real estate more straightforward and more profitable than ever. Use these above ideas to get the best deals!
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