Presently, the answer to the question “How to be a real estate investor?” will boil down to “With the help of the best real estate investment tools”. Manual real estate market analysis, rental comps data gathering, and investment property calculations will no longer have a place in the life of property investors. With the spread of AI, predictive analytics, big data, and machine learning algorithms, finding the best property investments will be easy, efficient, and straightforward.
In this article, we will focus on the 5 top real estate tools for searching for and analyzing profitable investment properties for sale, while tools for real estate investors related to owning and managing rental properties will not be discussed. Wondering why? You will figure out why if you stay with us to the end.
1. Educational Real Estate Investment Tools
Knowledge is power – both in the real estate investing business and beyond. Knowledge-based decisions will be what will put some real estate investors ahead of others. While you don’t require a formal degree to invest in rental properties, you still need to have the proper knowledge and education.
Where do you find the best educational real estate tools today?
ONLINE, of course. There are plenty of real estate investors websites which offer a plethora of knowledge, tips, and tricks based on the expertise of real estate professionals and the experience of veteran investors. Actually, you can find just about anything you’d like to know about residential real estate investing online: from how to identify the best places to invest in real estate, through how to find real estate deals, to how to analyze investment properties. Remember to check out different real estate blogs, real estate e-books, real estate podcasts, and real estate videos.
If you are an absolute beginner real estate investor, make sure to sign up for free updates from Mashvisor’s investor blogs. You will not only learn how to conduct comparative market analysis and how to buy investment properties, but you will also get instant access to the top locations for rental properties in 2023 and beyond.
2. Real Estate Heatmap
While you are probably familiar with the concept of heatmap – a visual representation of big data with the help of different color codes – you might be uncertain of how this applies to real estate investing. Well, the heatmap analysis tool has emerged as one of the must-have real estate investment tools in 2019, and this trend is expected to continue for years to come. The first step in the process of how to buy an investment property is conducting real estate market analysis to identify the most profitable locations, and the neighborhood analysis is an indispensable part of this. Normally, neighborhood analysis in real estate can take days and weeks as you collect all the real estate comps and other data that you need and then move onto the necessary calculations using spreadsheets.
Finding income properties with a heatmap has revolutionized this process, allowing investors to figure out the best neighborhoods in any US housing market within a couple of minutes. Real estate investors can set up different filters to find the top areas for buying rental property such as:
- Property listing price
- Traditional and Airbnb rental income
- Traditional and Airbnb cash on cash return
- Airbnb occupancy rate
As you can see in the image of the Los Angeles real estate market below, the lower values are marked in red, while the higher ones are colored in green.
Mashvisor’s Heatmap Analysis: Neighborhoods in the Los Angeles Real Estate Market by Listing Price
The best real estate investment tools are all about optimizing the property search process.
3. Online Property Finders
Finding real estate properties for sale the old-fashioned way – in local newspapers, looking for “For Sale” signs, and through real estate agents – will no longer work in the digital age. Why? Because if you decide to continue relying on this approach, other, more tech-savvy investors will snatch all the good real estate deals before you get to them.
AI and big data provide real estate investors with a competitive edge which you cannot afford to miss in the 21st century. One way to get access to this technology is through Mashvisor’s Property Finder. This real estate investment software tool helps beginner investors find rental properties for sale which meet all their criteria and expectations for return on investment. All you have to do is to choose:
- Up to 5 real estate markets where you’d like to invest
- Your budget
- Optimal rental strategy (traditional rentals or Airbnb rentals)
- Preferred property type (single family home, multi family home, condo, or other)
- Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
While some of these filters are obligatory, others are optional to help you narrow down your property search as much as possible to obtain the best results. You can see an image of the Los Angeles real estate market 2019 below.
Mashvisor’s Property Finder: Single Family Traditional Rental Properties in the Los Angeles Real Estate Market
Using machine-learning algorithms and predictive analytics, the Property Finder will be able to find the best investment properties for your particular needs, based on your filter selections as well as on patterns observed among hundreds of thousands of other US investors. Within a few seconds, you will have access to MLS listings, foreclosures, and off market properties with the highest cash on cash return and cap rate, which match all your criteria and expectations.
4. Investment Property Calculator
Being provided with a bunch of investment properties for sale which respond to your requirements is not a guarantee that you will end up with a positive cash flow investment with high return. You need another one of the best real estate investment tools to estimate quickly, efficiently, and accurately how much money you will be able to make in real estate with any of these real estate listings.
The most straightforward way to do that is to use the Airbnb calculator available on Mashvisor’s real estate investing app.
You can get an idea of how the analysis of an investment property in the Los Angeles housing market looks like from the image below.
Mashvisor’s Investment Property Calculator Analysis: A Los Angeles Rental Property Return on Investment
This real estate tool will employ rental comps data from the local housing market to perform investment property analysis to show you the profitability potential of any real estate property in the US – whether an MLS listing, foreclosure, short sale, bank owned home, or off market property available on Mashvisor’s platform or any other property for which you input the required information. The readily available analysis which you get includes:
- One-time startup costs and recurring monthly expenses
- Traditional and Airbnb rental income
- Traditional and Airbnb occupancy rate
- Cash flow
- Traditional and Airbnb cash on cash return
- Traditional and Airbnb cap rate
- Optimal rental strategy
5. Property Marketplace
As if all the real estate investment tools listed above are not enough to facilitate the decisions of any beginner real estate investor in the US housing market, but there is one more real estate tool of which investors can take advantage of today. This is the recently launched Mashvisor Property Marketplace. As the name suggests, this is a one-stop-shop for all your needs related to buying a profitable investment property as well as selling your house.
With this real estate investment tool, an investor can:
- Find off market properties below market value
- Connect with property owners to buy off market properties
- Analyze investment properties for sale
- List properties of sale
All you need to do is to sign up for Mashvisor and get instant access to your own Property Marketplace.
Are you still wondering why we didn’t talk about the best real estate investment tools for managing the rental properties that you already own? The reason is simple: If you are a part-time real estate investor or an out of state one, it is best to leave rental property management to a professional property manager. Learn about the Benefits of Appointing a Property Manager. The most important advantages are two: 1) You will have more time for finding income properties to expand your real estate investment portfolio and 2) You will be able to enjoy your passive real estate investing income.
The above-discussed real estate investment tools will help you make the best investing decisions and buy the most profitable rental properties in the US right now. The best thing about them is that you don’t have to be tech-savvy to use them as they all provide a user-friendly experience for any beginner real estate investor.
Do you need help finding suitable properties and managing the relevant real estate data? Mashvisor can help. Sign up for a 7-day free trial now followed by a 15% discount for life.