65+ Online Tools and Resources for Real Estate Investors

• Related • Filed Under

Real estate investors need to calculate property values, determine rents, manage tenants, and track finances for all of it. Here is a collection of resources that we hope will help you do it.

Real Estate Values: Whether buying or selling investment property, you have to know the market. Here are some resources to help you determine the value of your real estate.

Real Estate Forms: Real estate investing is 9 parts financial, 1 part legalese. While you should never assume that a form contract has been properly drafted, they can represent a good starting point when drafting legal documents. Here are some resources to help get you started.

Property Foreclosures: Foreclosures mean discounted property. Here are some sources to find them.

Government

HUD Homes
Fannie Mae
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
HomeSales.gov
The Department of the Treasury / IRS
Small Business Administration
US Army Corps of Engineers HAP Properties
United States Department of Agriculture
United States Marshals Service

Bank Foreclosure Listings

Other Foreclosure Listing Services

Rental Ads: If you’re renting, here’s where you can find your next renter.

Mortgage/Financial Calculators: These are some tools to help sort through the 9 parts financial.

Productivity: Lots of sources of information. Here’s one tool to organize it.

Terabitz

Rent Comparables: It’ always difficult ot find true rent comparables. We’ve found exactly one resource that purports to provide comparable rents for your market (47. Rentometer.com), and we’re afraid it isn’t that great. Also, check out our article for an alternative approach.

1031 Exchange Services: It’s not how much you make; it’s how much you keep. These resources provide information and intermediary services for 1031 exchanges to help you keep more.

Tenant Screening: You may like the cut of that prospective tenant’s jib (whatever a jib is), but just to be sure, a credit report and background check might be in order. Here’s where you can get them.

Information and Resources for Managing Rental Property: Management–the bane of the individual real estate investor. Here are some resources to make it a bit less burdensome.

So that’s our list. If you know of an additional resource that real estate investors might use, please leave a comment, and we’ll check it out.

Latest Additions

True to our word, we’ve checked out and are adding the following to the list at our reader’s suggestion. You can return any time and check out the list as we update it by clicking on the Tools and Resources tab at the top of the page.

RentVine (Rental Ads)
RentMarketer (Rental Ads–A Gateway to post to multiple rental listing sites)

There Are 27 Responses So Far. »

Comment by Dave Dugdale on 3 December 2007:

Good article, but I would love to see RentVine.com add to your list for rentals.

Thanks
Comment by Mike-TWA on 4 December 2007:

Dave, Consider it done.
Comment by Dave Dugdale on 4 December 2007:

Mike, thanks!
Comment by Mark @ TheLocoMono on 7 December 2007:

This is awesome. Keep up the good work, guys. By the way, nice look.
Trackback by Money Smart Life on 9 December 2007:

Carnival of Personal Finance - Edition 130…

Welcome to the Carnvial of Personal Finance!

Make sure you check out the intro video below for some highlights of the carnival:

As you might be able to tell, this was my first web recording so it could use some work. Fortunately, I’ve been blo…
Pingback by Carnival of Personal Finance » Carnival of Personal Finance #130 on 10 December 2007:

[...] 65+ Online Tools and Resources for Real Estate Investors [...]
Pingback by Useful Websites of the Day 12.11.07 « Useful Websites on 11 December 2007:

[...] Help: 65 Online Tool for Real Estate Investors — Good [...]
Pingback by Tools and Resources For Debtors and Real Estate Investors @ My Carnival Highlights on 12 December 2007:

[...] 65+ Online Tools and Resources For Real Estate Investors @ TwoWiseAcres [...]
Comment by thewild1 on 12 December 2007:

Wow what a great list of resources
Pingback by Weekly Roundup #9 (December 22, 2007) - My Investing Blog on 22 December 2007:

[...] read a lot, maybe even something like BookSwim might be up her alley! 9. TwoWiseAcres gives some big tools of the trade for online real estate investors. 10. BirdOnAWire lets us know the one thing you can do today to [...]
Pingback by TwoWiseAcres.com--Real estate investing blog | The Dough Roller on 7 January 2008:

[...] 65+ Online Tools and Resources for Real Estate Investors [...]
Comment by Foreclosure Network USA on 18 February 2008:

Thank you for this great knowledge.
This will be certainly help me.
Comment by Mike Brown on 25 February 2008:

LOL, I saw the title of the blog article and thought it was an article for seniors (65+)

This is a good collection of RE links. I’ll be bookmarking this and using it as a reference.
Comment by Hustle Strategy on 26 February 2008:

Great list of sites.
Comment by Dan on 27 February 2008:

Please also add http://www.rentmarketer.com. We post rental properties for real estate investors to the largest online rental distribution network consisting of over 60 different rental and classified sites.

Thanks.

Dan
Pingback by 40 Alternative Income Ideas and Resources | Moolanomy on 4 March 2008:

[...] Becomes a landlord, or a real estate investor — e.g., rent out a parking space, a room, etc. [...]
Comment by Dan on 15 March 2008:

I would love to see http://www.rentbits.com added to your list.
Comment by Mike-TWA on 17 March 2008:

Dan of Rentmarketer, Rentmarketer has been added.

Dan of Rentbits, Unfortunately, I see no option for individual investors to list their properties on this site.
Comment by Sell My House on 25 March 2008:

It would be helpful to add sites like http://www.ExpertHomeOffers.com to your list. Real Estate investors can sign up to recieve real time real estate leads in thier area. I use ExpertHomeOffers to get properties in my area.
Comment by Property For Sale Mallorca on 12 April 2008:

This is a really useful post, I’ll be bookmarking the links for future reference. TY
Comment by David on 15 April 2008:

It is amazing how real estate values and investment opportunities can vary so much among different regions. Our market here in Austin, Tx has remained strong and is still growing.
Comment by Investment Properties on 21 April 2008:

Excellent post, looks like a good list of RE links. I’ve already bookmarked some.
Comment by Dominique Peladeau on 10 May 2008:

Super great list! I use a lot of those.
Comment by Joe on 18 May 2008:

I’ve been markting my site with free classified ads for years, it’s free and it’s been a great traffic builder for me, just another free option to add to your marketing plan.

Joe
http://www.classifiedclub.com
“1000’s of Sites to Post your Free Ads!”
Comment by Online Dividends on 27 June 2008:

This is a very nice starting list for beginning real estate investors. I have a question though, is it worth it going through all the hassles of managing 1+ rental properties, when you can actually build a diversified portfolio of REIT’s that owns a variety of properties in many locations and even coutntires and where you are paid a quarterly dividend?
Comment by Rob on 27 June 2008:

@Online Dividends: I own REIT funds, too, both international and domestic. So the choice isn’t one or the other. With rental properties, though, the benefit of leverage increases returns in a way that investments in REITs can never match. Of course, there’s a lot more work that goes into investment property as compared to a REIT fund, but the increased returns are definitely worth it.
Comment by James Kobzeff on 2 July 2008:

Thank you for your research. Wish you included a software section for programs like ProAPOD, though.