I know it’s way too early to be talking about New Year’s resolutions. But I hear it way too often: “I want to learn how to find investment properties and invest in real estate this year…I’ve always thought of becoming a real estate investor. This year, I’m finally going to do it.” Most of the time, this thought passes like the majority of resolutions made.
If you’re serious about seizing an opportunity in real estate investing, then why not learn how to find investment properties right now? Do that for yourself, and you can be making money.
How can you find investment property for sale to invest in? You can always use a real estate agent or you can carry out your property search online. In 2018, it’s really one of the best ways to find an investment property. And, with the right online investment tools, you’ll be able to analyze the property to find the most profitable one.
How to Find Investment Properties: Start with the Location
This can be the hardest part of finding a property for beginner real estate investors. That’s natural considering all the choices one has in the US housing market. The best way to go about this is online market research. There are plenty of helpful resources that can point you in the right direction of some of the best places to buy real estate.
I can start you off with one right now: Mashvisor’s blog. This resource has almost 3,000 posts, many of which are state and city guides with information on where to invest in real estate and why. Here are two great guides to get you started and cut the time of the first step of how to find investment properties significantly:
8 Best Cities for Real Estate Investment 2018: Part 1
5 Best Places for Vacation Rentals in the US Real Estate Market 2018
If you still prefer to do your own research, here is the basic criteria you are looking for in a great investment location:
- Economic stability and growth
- Low unemployment rate and job growth
- Cost of living
- Supply and demand (demand for type of property- single family rentals or multi family rentals)
- Median property price
- Average ROI (return on investment)
- Walk score
- Crime rate
- Landlord-tenant laws
- Airbnb regulations
For more help with market research, read: Real Estate Market Insights: What You Need and Where to Find It
The First Step of How to Find Investment Properties Doesn’t End There
You still need to perform a neighborhood analysis to find the exact location to buy an investment property. Real estate investors sometimes make the mistake of investing in a bad neighborhood in a market that actually has a lot of potential. Avoid this mistake with property market analysis on the neighborhood level.
This is most easily done- you guessed it- online. However, this time you’ll need something other than a simple search engine and a few hours of free time. You need a digital tool and while there are a few options out there, you can try using Mashvisor’s heatmap tool. There are three simple steps to using this tool and you’ll end up with a list of the best neighborhoods:
Step 1: Select a city
Going on your initial research, type in a city and hit “Start Analyzing.”
You’ll be taken to the search results page, which will show you all the neighborhoods in the real estate market with available investment property for sale:
Click “Explore Data” to make it to our heatmap tool which looks like this:
We all want a good ROI and to be making money right? Well, this mainly relies on 3 things:
- Listing price
- Cash on cash return
- Airbnb occupancy rate (for short term rentals)
Your focus when trying to find an investment property for sale may be on one of these. For example, you might be on a tight budget, so you need a listing price that falls within that budget. Select the “Listing Price” option (as shown above). What you’ll get is a color-coded map based on real estate prices. The neighborhoods in red have the cheapest property for sale while those in green have the most expensive.
Keeping in mind a few of the neighborhoods within your budget, you can then move on to cash on cash return. Change the option above and compare the neighborhoods you selected before to see which has the most profitable investments.
Step 3: Select the best neighborhood to invest in real estate
The last step is to choose a neighborhood (or 2) and begin the next step of finding a property- the best investment property.
Give it a try now! Click here to get started and find a property today.
Already Know Where You Want to Start Looking for Investment Property?
If you took a look at some of our blogs on markets or came across a neighborhood in a market from another online resource, you may already know where to invest in real estate. If so, your path on how to find investment properties may not have to include the heatmap. That is, of course, if you’re sure of the investment potential of the location of interest.
Instead, you can use a property finder. This is another digital real estate tool that can be found online from various sources. To simplify, let’s look at Mashvisor’s property finder tool. Again, follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Select a city (or up to 5 cities)
With this tool, you can enter in one city you’re interested in or up to 5. Choose the radius for your search as well which only works when one city is selected.
The next step is to decide what you want: a multi family home? Single family home? Condo? Select the type of rental property. Do you want to try your hand at an Airbnb rental strategy or long term rentals? What’s your budget? All of this can be selected to narrow down the investment properties shown with the tool. You can even select how many bed/bathrooms you want. Take a look.
Property Type
Once you set all of your criteria, this tool will find investment property for sale that not only matches your preferences but also has the highest ROI in the location. That means that you’ll have in front of you a list of the best real estate investments to choose from! Now, choose one.
Do you have a free Mashvisor account? Click here to use our Property Finder and find properties in a matter of minutes!
Don’t Just Learn How to Find Investment Properties, Learn How to Find the Best One
If you have used the heatmap or even the property finder tool, the last step will be real estate investment analysis. And it is the most important step when trying to find investment property for sale. That’s because even though the previous tools can lead you to top performing properties, you won’t be able to confirm their profitability until you dive deep into the numbers. These key numbers include:
- Financing numbers: Type of mortgage, interest rates, down payment, closing costs, monthly payments
- Rental expenses (home inspection, property taxes, insurance, property management, etc.)
- Repair costs
- Expected rental income
- Cash flow
- ROI: cash on cash return and cap rate
- Breakeven point
- Expected occupancy rates
- Rental comps
And you need to know all of this for your chosen rental strategy. What online tool can provide all of this data? An investment property calculator. Mashvisor’s investment property calculator is just one example of this kind of powerful tool. It can provide all of the data listed above for every rental property listing on the platform. You can adjust any values you wish based on your research using the estimates given by the tool as well. Essentially, it gives you all you need for a thorough investment property analysis- one that can be done quickly and efficiently.
On top of that, this specific investment property calculator will also help you conduct comparative market analysis. This way, you’ll make sure the price is right for everything from the listing price to how much you charge for rent. Using rental comps, you can also be sure that you find an investment property for sale that is giving you the max returns that a market allows.
Will You Be Making Money in Real Estate?
Owning a rental property by the beginning of the year that is actually bringing in a positive cash flow is possible if you start your investment property search online now. It’s the fastest and most effective way for how to find investment properties.
And Mashvisor just happens to be the best place to get started. Use all of the tools mentioned above starting today with a 7-day free trial. Click here if you want to be making money.
Related: How to Make Money in Real Estate: Follow Our Guide