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.
- Zillow
- RealEstateABC
- HomeGain
- Domania
- Eppraisal
- Home Predict
- Reply
- Yahoo! Real Estate
- CyberHomes
- HouseValues
- HouseFront
- AOL 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.
- 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
- Countrywide
- Bank of America
- BB&T
- Chase Bank
- CitiMortgage
- RealtyTrac
- Realty Store
- Foreclosure Data Bank
Government
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.
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.
- iiProperty
- Rent Tracker
- Buildium Property Management Solutions
- DIY Real Estate Solutions
- iRealtyManager
- Property Center
- PropertyWare
- RentingYourHome.com
- RentYield
- Renttropolis
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.
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Good article, but I would love to see RentVine.com add to your list for rentals.
Thanks
Dave, Consider it done.
Mike, thanks!
This is awesome. Keep up the good work, guys. By the way, nice look.
Wow what a great list of resources
Thank you for this great knowledge.
This will be certainly help me.
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.
Great list of sites.
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
I would love to see http://www.rentbits.com added to your list.
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.
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.
This is a really useful post, I’ll be bookmarking the links for future reference. TY
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.
Excellent post, looks like a good list of RE links. I’ve already bookmarked some.
Super great list! I use a lot of those.
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!”
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?
@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.
Thank you for your research. Wish you included a software section for programs like ProAPOD, though.
Cazoodle Apartment Search http://apartments.cazoodle.com can be added to the rentals search sites list.
Thank you. Yes, it’s cool, Karl’s Mortgage Calculators and useful for me
Here’s a good free rent site to add to the list. My friend had good luck using it.
http://www.housesforrent.ws