When it comes to how to find an investment property for sale, the first option for many beginner investors would be to check the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The MLS is a database established by cooperating real estate agents and brokers that provides data about properties for sale in the US housing market. As a real estate investor, getting access to the MLS data allows you to browse listing all over the country. But, the primary issue with the MLS is that it isn’t free for investors. In order to get access and view MLS listings, you need to either get a real estate license or pay a flat MLS listing service fee. However, there is another alternative that allows you to find and analyze MLS online listings – Mashvisor.
Mashvisor is a real estate investment software that provides investors with predictive analytics, big property data, and a number of investment tools. We pull property data from several well-known sources, including the MLS, Redfin, Airbnb, and others. Then, we organize this big data to make it easier to crunch the numbers on multiple properties simultaneously. As a result, you can Mashvisor to browse MLS listings and analyze their expected performance and profitability as real estate investments! This enables you to make wise investment decisions with the confidence you need to succeed in the industry.
Here’s how to use Mashvisor’s real estate investment tools to analyze active MLS listings in a matter of minutes.
Related: Why Real Estate Investors Don’t Need MLS Access
Step 1: Analyze the Neighborhood
When analyzing any property listing to determine if it’ll make for a profitable investment, the first and most important step is to analyze the location. You want to try to make a purchase in the best places to invest in real estate. And to make things more challenging, you can’t just choose a city – you must find a great neighborhood too. Mashvisor makes this step much easier with the help of the Real Estate Heatmap tool. Say you’re interested in analyzing MLS listing in Chicago. This tool presents a color-coded analysis of the market that shows how well rental properties are performing in different areas. Green means high-performance potential, while red means low-performance potential. You can analyze how MLS listings are performing in a particular search criteria, including:
- Listing Price
- Airbnb Cash on Cash Return
- Traditional Cash on Cash Return
- Airbnb Rental Income
- Traditional Rental Income
- Airbnb Occupancy Rate
With this tool, you can narrow your rental property search down to one neighborhood and, as a result, answer the question of where to invest in real estate in minutes. Try Mashvisor’s Heatmap Analysis Tool Now.
Step 2: Find Ideal Investment Opportunities
After narrowing down where to start your search, now you want to actually find homes for sale. In order to find the best MLS home listings to buy for investment, you need Mashvisor’s Property Finder. By employing the latest AI technology and machine learning algorithms, this tool will find the top-performing investment properties in a matter of minutes. Real estate investors can even search for the best rental properties in different cities at the same time! All you have to do is use a set of filters to personalize your criteria. You can limit the scope of your rental property search down to specific features such as:
- City: you can find houses for sale in up to 5 cities simultaneously
- Miles: the distance that you’d like the property to be from the city
- Budget
- Rental Strategy (traditional or Airbnb)
- Type of Property (single-family, multi-family, condo/coop, or other)
- Number of Bedrooms
- Number of Bathrooms
Mashvisor utilizes machine-learning algorithms and predictive analytics in the Property Finder. As a result, the tool will instantly show you a list of high cash on cash return MLS listings. So, instead of wasting time browsing through the list to find the best real estate deals that match your criteria, Mashvisor will present them to you at the top! To get access to the Property Finder, all you have to do is sign up for a FREE Mashvisor account.
Related: How to Find Real Estate Deals: The Ultimate Guide
Step 3: Perform Investment Property Analysis
After finding income properties for sale that interest you for real estate investing, you have to run all the numbers to make sure that it’s actually profitable. And Mashvisor is one of the best real estate investor websites because it does this for you using property data and analytics! So, if you don’t know how to run a rental property analysis on MLS listings, make use of our Investment Property Calculator. Simply click on the property listing to access this tool and get a complete investment property analysis readily available. The analysis will include all real estate data you need to make an educated decision, including:
- Property price
- One-time startup costs
- Recurring monthly expenses
- Traditional and Airbnb rental income
- Traditional and Airbnb occupancy rate
- Traditional and Airbnb Cash flow
- Traditional and Airbnb cash on cash return
- Traditional and Airbnb cap rate
Instead of creating spreadsheets, use the Investment Property Calculator to fine-tune your costs and view the property’s return on investment. An Airbnb calculator will be useful as well for vacation rental properties. Not only can you enter your own numbers as you see fit, but expenses like interest rate, property tax, maintenance, and others are pre-calculated for you. What’s more, if you know of an MLS real estate listing that’s not available on Mashvisor, you can enter the property’s address and use Mashvisor’s real estate API to get an investment property analysis. As you can tell, analyzing MLS listings doesn’t get any easier than this!
Step 4: Run a Comparative Market Analysis
The last step in how to analyze real estate deals is the one that connects the dots and helps you come up with the final verdict. A comparative market analysis (CMA) is a process where investors compare their property of choice to others in the neighborhood. However, comps must be similar to your property in terms of age, square footage, lot size, and condition, amongst other features. These are known as comparable properties or rental comps. It can be hard to find rental comps for the MLS listings you’re analyzing if you don’t have access to the MLS. Some investors hire agents to help them in this step. But, you can easily find them right here on Mashvisor.
Simply click on “Rental Comps & Insights” and you’ll get all the real estate data you need to run a CMA. This section of the Investment Property Calculator provides comparable rental listings and a list of recent sales of similar investment properties. Furthermore, every comparable also comes with data readily available including sales price, sales date, square feet, monthly rental rate, and more. Plus, we provide not only traditional comps, but also Airbnb comps in the neighborhood. Hence, you’ll be able to compare MLS listings and rental strategies.
Related: Real Estate Rental Comps: A Guide for Beginner Property Investors
Start Analyzing MLS Listings!
To sum up, analyzing MLS listings is easy with the help of Mashvisor! Our real estate data and tools are all you need in 2020 to start finding and analyzing deals in any real estate market across the nation. If you’re a beginner investor looking to buy your first rental property, Mashvisor helps you get started with the confidence you need in this competitive industry. So, what are you waiting for? Start out your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor now to start analyzing MLS rental listings like a pro!