Bonus 1 – 27 Top Investor Tools
Must-Have Real Estate Resources
There are many great apps, websites and resources that are available to help you conduct market research, analyze properties and manage your rentals. Here are my all-time favorites:
- BiggerPockets: This is the biggest and most active online community of real estate investors. They have a blog, podcast, a variety of free guides and best of all – investor forums, where you can find information, answers and discussions on virtually any topic related to real estate. Just understand that most people on there are lower net-worth and more active. There are also a lot of charlatans using the free marketing channel. Use it with a grain of salt knowing most people join our Tribe who are tired with the BP platform.
- Rentometer: One of the best places to look up rent comps to figure out how much you will be able to charge your tenants. Just enter the property address and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and Rentometer will show you comparable rents in the area.
- DealCheck: A simple and extremely fast way to analyze any rental property on your phone or tablet. Enter the property details, like the purchase price, rent and operating expenses and DealCheck will show you a complete cash flow analysis, including long-term holding projections. Get it free for iOS or Android.
- Cozy: A great property management tool for landlords, especially those who want to self manage their rental properties. Comes with a full suite of tools to help you find, screen, place and collect rent from your tenants. Another competitor is Avail.
- Zillow: Zillow is the leading MLS search service for both single family and multi-family properties. While it does not list turnkey properties for sale (since they are not typically listed on the MLS), you can use it to view sale comps, value and rent estimates, past sale and tax information, as well as conduct market research.
- City-Data: City-Data has a large database of market information, including demographics, median income, median prices, crime and school ratings. It’s great for researching cities and neighborhoods. Check out their forums, where you can often find first-hand accounts of what a particular area is like if you’re not going to visit it yourself. I prefer to search through the type of crime and description. I’m mostly looking for issues with violent crimes. I’ve actually been sent properties before where there were multiple violent crimes daily, and I choose to stay away from those properties.
- FloodTools: One of the things I like to do before buying any rental property is to check whether or not it’s in a known flood zone. FloodTools allows you to quickly search and view publicly-available flood information by address.
- Evernote: The best note taking and productivity app out there. You can save rich notes with media attachments, track your goals, create to-do lists and a lot more. It’s great for staying organized. Available online, as a desktop app, as well as on iOS and Android.
- Genius Scan: Real estate investing involves a lot of paperwork, from purchase contracts and inspection reports, to property management statements and expense receipts. With Genius Scan you can quickly scan any document with your phone and save it as a PDF for later. Download it free for iOS or Android.
- DocuSign: You will have to sign a lot of paperwork when buying a property, but the good news is that a lot of it can be quickly signed electronically. DocuSign is the best platform for managing and sending out digital documents for signatures. It’s available online, as well as on iOS and Android.
11. eChecks: These days you can send checks through e-mail for an affordable price. This will save you time and get your payment out quicker.
12. aFax: If you don’t have a fax machine at home, you can use your phone to fax over important documents.
15. Lane’s Recommended REI Books
16. SPC Investor Friend Finder
17. Free Tax/Legal Strategy Session offer
19. Self Direct your retirement account – QRP (Free book offer)
20. Cost Segregations for Single Family homes or Assets under $2M
21. Roofstock (Turnkey Rentals) – a great place to sell properties to unsophisticated buyers. Incubator student will be provided Turnkey providers.