Real estate investment can be a highly lucrative investment provided you know how to go about it. This is where a real estate investment software steps in. Geared towards newbies and seasoned investors, it can take care of your complete portfolio of investment, helping you expand on the go.
We will break this article into two parts –
· The benefits of using a real estate investment software
· The criteria to choose the best
The Benefits –
· It performs a range of tasks right from setting up an efficient mail system (direct mail, email templates, autoresponders etc.), creating contracts, auto-fill documentation, searching for buyer and seller leads, making calculations.
· The bottom line is it is superfast. Whether you want to calculate cash flows and profitability, or find deals or fill in forms, it can do so at the click of a single button.
· It gathers a lot of valuable property-related data that can be used to close deals successfully and create a real data analysis. It includes property bought by specific individuals, available investment properties, status of properties etc.
· It works with precision. Instead of scratching your head calculating figures, you can let it do the job for you achieving a higher level of accuracy. It can help you get a near-accurate approximation of rate of return on properties.
· Above all, it’s cheap. You can get quality analysis at a fraction of the cost.
Choosing a real estate investment software
It goes without saying that there are dozens if not hundreds of such applications on the market. Not all are created a like, with some performing better than the other. Here are features to look for.
1. If you don’t already have some recommendations, you can start with a Google search for the top real estate investment softwares on the market.
2. Read up reviews of some of the applications you have shortlisted. It will give you an idea of the best features in a software as well as the negatives helping you decide better.
3. Price can be one of the factors you use to narrow down your choices. Some require an upfront payment while most others entail a monthly charge. Choose something that suits your budget.
4. If you have a few friends that are also into real estate investing, you can ask them for the software applications they use.
5. Check the tasks the application can perform for you.
6. Most real estate investment softwares have a demo version to test the features of the application. Take the demo before you pay for it.
7. Selected applications have specific software requirements, in the absence of which it might not work. This includes future upgrades. Inquire if the upgrades are available from the developer and whether they are paid or free.
8. It should be user-friendly and should have a minimum learning curve. The different functions should be well-organized and easy to locate.
9. What if you face a problem? Do they offer technical support? Find out about the methods you can use, email or telephone, to reach tech support.
