Nothing has to be fancy or complicated, and so does our approach to property investment. Long-term and passive cash-flowing properties were all we searched for. We didn’t use any wholesalers or special apps and tools that little people know about to bring us deals. When I speak with many people who are interested in property investing, they ask me where they can find the “amazing” deals. They think being successful at property investment is all about purchasing great deals. In my head, I start to think, “What is considered an amazing deal?” The approach of starters shouldn’t be where to find the deals, but rather, how. It should be how to find a simple property to start the investment journey.
Aside from the requirements we all know we need, like cash and the right mindset, we also need to know that succeeding in property investment doesn’t require you to be a real estate professional. Many folks jump on being a real estate agent thinking that’s the way to get access to insider deals. That may be true, andI won’t know because I’m not a real estate agent. However, we built our $5M investment portfolio just using what we have access to as ordinary working people of the public. This means, anyone who has access to the internet can do the same. These are the tools available through technology these days that helped us get started and continues to help build our portfolio.
Redfin
This is a real estate app which syncs directly with the MLS. In the old days, only real estate agents have access to the MLS, so anytime you are interested in purchasing or selling your property, you’d need to reach out to a real estate professional. With Redfin, all homes that are currently on the market listed on MLS are at your hands. How convenient! Stats for each home is also available, so things like how long it’s been on the market or how much in asking price a home has dropped is easily accessible. Once we have found a market that makes sense, we use Redfin to search for properties that have been on the market for a while in slower markets. If the price makes the numbers doable, we move on to the area analysis, which brings us to Google Maps in the next tool.
Google Maps
The very first time I used Google maps and learned about the street view feature, I thought this was the most amazing tool ever because you can tour the world. Although it would be a virtual tour, it can still give us an idea of what life is like in a particular area of the world. But of course, Google doesn’t not have access to every place on Earth and so, only certain places can let us view the environment virtually. And this is okay because you most likely do not want to invest in areas where Google Maps can’t reach anyway. By just using the feature or street view, we can see the neighborhood and assess its tidiness and cleanliness. If it is well-kept, it is a good sign. If the homes are run-down and no one seem to care about the neighborhood, we stay away from it.
The satellite view is another feature that can give us a high level view into each neighbor’s private backyard. Who has pools or other amenities that give us some insight into their lifestyles. If we are investing in a single family home, we want to be in neighborhoods that are more family-oriented and friendly.
Lastly, Google Maps can tell us what the growth is like for a neighborhood. If there are large shops like malls or supermarkets around the area, it’s a sign of growth. These are areas that people are more attracted to. Many companies have done their research and market analysis before opening up their chains in certain locations. If you follow large companies to see where they are investing, the less risk there is for your property investment being there as well.
Facetime
Although technology is a powerful tool available to use these days, your real estate agent is as important. We have many of our investment properties outside our state and while we have done our research on Redfin and Google Maps for our properties, nothing surpasses in-person tours. We rely heavily on our real estate agents who are local to the market and they help us see whatever that we can’t see through Redfin or Google Maps, like the interior of the home. While they do their walkthroughs, they will either do Facetime for us to virtually tour together or they would take videos of the place for us to review.
It’s as simple as that. Three tools that technology has available to us these days for us to continue using to build our portfolio. The properties don’t have to be amazing. We just need them to be in a good areas and cash-flow. Many of our properties started out with cash-flowing less than $200 per month but with time, the values of the homes and rents in good areas will continue to grow.
Now, you can do the same and find a property with these three technologies to get started on your real estate investment journey.
