“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” Robert H. Schuller
For hundreds of years, preparation shielded us from anything undesirable. The real estate investment world is just as ever-changing as everything else. It obliges those who venture into it to be adaptive to everything that comes their way! Whether you’re going into business in real estate or applying for a job, being prepared is essential to aid you in making the best decisions and coming up with reliable solutions for any problem that you might encounter along the way. In the real estate business, you can choose to prepare your real estate investment decisions before inception to ensure an everlasting profitability and constant growth. How can you do so? You can utilize real estate investment tools you have available or even better, make the real estate investment tools you think would be the best fit for your real estate business.
What real estate investment tools do you need?
Firstly, we must understand that real estate investment tools are encompassing enough to reach every aspect of your real estate business. That being said, when you have the thought of an investment property’s purchase, you can begin to utilize these real estate investment tools. So, what are those alleged tools?
To better grasp the importance of real estate investment tools, we’re going to assume that we’re buying an investment property. With each step of the purchase, you will learn to utilize each of the real estate investment tools.
Financial investment tools
The financial real estate investment tools can range from banks to lending institutions and mortgage brokers. Many real estate investors find it beneficial to have a mortgage broker available in their Rolodex. Accordingly, finding the right bank for you is a must! What many real estate investors are doing is establishing a relationship with a local bank. This translates into easier communication while establishing a personal relationship with a local bank employee.
For real estate investors who are in the market to buy an investment property, it always helps to get a pre-approval on a mortgage to attach to an offer. This can assure the seller of your offer’s validity.
If you’re interested, there are many available online solutions that offer personal finance organizational tools, such as Personal Capital, and Capital One 360.
Property finder tools
A highly functional and reliable property finder tool will come in handy as soon as you start searching for a future investment property. Whether you’re going for Airbnb investing or a traditional real estate investing strategy, this will help you find the most appropriate property for the intended purpose. With Mashvisor’s property finder feature, you can specify many features of the desired property and you will be presented with potential matching properties!
Along with online property finder tools, you must have a real estate agent available within your real estate investment network. A real estate agent is needed to help you in the processes that follow finding a future investment property.
Related: Property Finder Tool – Finding Real Estate Investment Properties in 2018.
Adequate property research tools
Let’s say that you’ve prepared the financials and have gotten a mortgage pre-approval. Then, you’ve used a property finder tool and located a possible property you’re interested in. What’s next? The next step, my friend, is assessing the possible property from all aspects. Here comes the role of the analytical real estate investment tools. At this point, these analytical tools can help in evaluating what to expect from a certain investment property. What Cash on Cash Return, ROI, and Cap Rate any property can produce.
All those metrics come together in the easy-to-use form of an investment property calculator. With Mashvisor’s Airbnb Calculator, expect to locate properties and assess them within minutes. It makes use of an intelligent software that turns a long procedure into minutes with just a click. Click here to make use of your 14-day free trial with Mashvisor.
In addition to that, Mashvisor’s investment property calculator includes a rental property calculator. What this can do, is help you in finding the optimal rental strategy for your property. It analyzes neighborhood and city comparables to advise you on the best rental strategy suited for your property. In any case, you’re free to choose whether to go for Airbnb rentals or traditional rentals.
Property management tools
With any real estate investing career, managing properties becomes a part of the job. For traditional rentals, the interaction between the landlord and the tenant may be minimal. On the other hand, Airbnb rentals are a different story. There needs to be daily checkups and constant back and forth communication to establish comfort for the Airbnb guest.
What’s the best way to manage multiple rental properties?
If you’re a penny pincher, you should manage your investment properties on your own to make the most out of your rental income. On the other hand, the best way remains professional property management companies. Yes, it’s a service that you’ll have to pay for at a fraction of your rental income.
A major role that professional property management firms play is taking control of your bookings, cancellations, check ins and check outs. Additionally, you needn’t worry about anything concerning any rental properties or tenants. The only thing you’ll have to do is cash in that rent check.
Related: When Should Landlords Opt for Professional Property Management?
In the meantime, any investor will need accounting services sooner or later, whether you have a real estate business or not. Any real estate investor must have an accountant to upkeep his/her books. It’s a necessity to have an accountant handy at all times within your real estate investment network.
Educational investment tools
Educational real estate investment tools often include real estate investing books, blogs, websites, magazines, online forums, and any related source of informative journalism that can help you grasp any changes in your local real estate market and in the US housing market altogether.
Related: Learn from the Best Real Estate Investing Books.
Lastly, all these real estate investment tools can be a powerful weapon in the hands of a creative investor. If you utilize them right, you can find investment properties and filter them easily, and determine the best management streams to use while constantly bettering any areas of need. If you have any more insights, please feel free to share them with us in the comments section.