Investing in rental properties is a great way to make money in real estate. Some of the benefits of buying rental property include cash flow, value appreciation, leverage, and tax deductions. However, one thing that separates the most successful real estate investors from the average and unsuccessful ones is their property search skills.
How do successful rental property investors find lucrative real estate deals?
Whether you are a seasoned investor or a beginner real estate investor, finding a good real estate deal is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face when looking for rental property. If you are a first-time real estate investor, you may not even know where to begin your investment property search. However, you should not let your lack of experience hinder you from achieving your investment goals. With the right steps and tools, anyone can make their rental property search a success, regardless of their real estate experience.
Here’s how to find the best real estate deal like a pro:
Use a Real Estate Heatmap
Expert rental property investors usually begin their investment property search by finding the best rental investment markets. This involves conducting real estate market analysis to find the best city and neighborhood for investment. You can easily find a city with good average investment performance by checking for city data on Mashvisor’s real estate blog.
To find the best performing neighborhoods in your city of choice in the US housing market, one of the best real estate investment tools to use is Mashvisor’s Real Estate Heatmap. The Heatmap Analysis Tool allows you to perform a thorough neighborhood analysis of your preferred market in a couple of minutes. This real estate investment tool uses different colors (red, yellow, and green) in different shades to distinguish various neighborhoods in a city based on investment performance. This way, you will be able to narrow down neighborhoods and find rental properties faster.
Rental property investors can filter their search using metrics such as:
- Listing price
- Rental income
- Cash on cash return
- Airbnb occupancy rate
The Heatmap tool will provide results for both the traditional and Airbnb rental strategy.
Use a Rental Property Finder
In the past, finding investment properties for sale meant you’d have to look for local newspaper adverts, “For Sale” signs and other old-fashioned methods. These approaches are time-consuming and not always accurate. Expert rental property investors have abandoned the old ways and gain a competitive advantage by using a rental property finder for their property search. Mashvisor’s Rental Property Finder can be used even by a beginner real estate investor to find profitable rental properties for sale based on search criteria and preferences.
The Property Finder Tool uses predictive analytics to provide rental property investors with lists of traditional and Airbnb investment properties with the highest return on investment. You simply select one or multiple housing markets (up to 5 cities) that you are considering for investment along with a few other filters and you will get a list of the best rental properties based on their performance in terms of listing price, rental income, Airbnb occupancy rate, cap rate, and cash on cash return.
By using the Rental Property Finder Tool, you will be able to save a lot of time that would have been spent finding income properties in individual cities. This way, you can quickly identify the city with the best income properties that match your search criteria and real estate investment goals.
The other filters you can use in your investment property search using this tool include:
- Optimal rental strategy
- Preferred property type
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Your budget
Use an Investment Property Calculator
The Heatmap Tool and the Property Finder will help rental property investors narrow down their investment options. However, to find an income property with the best potential return on investment in a particular real estate market, you need to carry out a thorough investment property analysis. The easiest and fastest way to do that is to use a rental property calculator.
Mashvisor’s Real Estate Return on Investment Calculator allows rental property investors to accurately estimate the cash flow, cap rate, and cash on cash return of rental properties for sale in the US housing market. Simply key in the basic details about the rental property (like financing method, purchase price, and cash down payment), and the tool will show you if it is viable as well as the optimal rental strategy. The Rental Property Calculator is one of the best property search tools for investors. If you need a quick way to determine the potential Airbnb rental income of a certain property, use Mashvisor’s free Airbnb calculator instead.
Use the Property Marketplace
Another real estate investment tool that rental property investors should consider using to find real estate deals is the Mashvisor Property Marketplace. This real estate investment tool allows investors to find and analyze off-market properties in the US housing market. If you’re thinking of buying rental property below market value, this tool will be of great help. The tool also allows rental property investors to easily connect with property owners. It provides all the current property owner information like emails and phone numbers. You can also connect with the property owners directly through the platform.
The Bottom Line
While buying rental properties can be a lucrative real estate investment strategy, knowing how to find profitable deals is crucial. Manual analysis of real estate markets and investment properties is a slow process and is prone to errors. It’s simply not the way the experts are doing it. Whether you are buying your first rental property or are an experienced investor looking for your next rental property, using Mashvisor’s real estate investment tools will help you make the best investment decisions.
With the above-discussed tools, you can efficiently find and analyze the best investment locations and rental properties in the US housing market. You can do all this from the convenience of your computer in a matter of minutes. With Mashvisor’s tools, there is no need for building spreadsheets. The best thing about Mashvisor’s tools is that they are very user-friendly and can be easily used by any beginner real estate investor. You don’t have to be an expert or even tech-savvy to use them.
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If you are a first-time real estate investor, be sure to also check out Mashvisor’s blog to learn more about real estate investing for beginners.