Real Estate Investor Software

Ladera Ranch, CA · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes

Hello, does anyone one know of any good software programs for real estate investing. I have been looking at Profit Grabber, 360 Real Estate Investor Software, Real Estate Prospects, and React. Let me know your thoughts

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Sharon Vornholt

Goshen, KY · Member since 2009 · 835 posts · 683 votes

13y

Chris P.-

I think you absolutely need software to have a central place to have all of your contacts, manage your direct mail campaigns, and to have the ability to write notes that conncect to your contacts. For instance, each time I speak to a seller I will put a note in the computer. When they call me back in 6 months after turning down my offer and say to me "you offered me 60K", I can look back at my notes and say "actually it was 50k".

You can enter your contacts, merge and print your direct mail campaigns. Even if you use an outside service to do your mailings, you have to have a way to keep up with these people.

I have used a program by Act that is made by Sage since I started. It is available in office depot or online. I only use a tiny portion of what it is capable of doing. There is a stand alone version and a cloud version. If you go with the cloud version, you can put that on your own hosting. Don't pay that monthly fee they charge. You can put it on a site like Hostgator for under $10 a month.

It's not specifically for real estate but it works great. I did a several posts here on BP about using a database and this software.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/04/30/systems-managing-direct-mail-campaigns-investors/

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/05/14/setting-up-your-database-for-your-real-estate-investing-business/

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/05/07/how-using-a-database-in-your-real-estate-business-makes-you-money/

Sharon

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Juan Perez
Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 1 post · 0 votes
11y
I highly recommend http://realbench.net/ you can use it for both flipping and rental properties, it generates green and red signals, plus it is dirt cheap. That is all I use these days, no spreadsheet or anything else, just realbench.
Good luck
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Gary Wright
Temecula, CA · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 12 votes
10y
there's a good application called Real Estate Property Pro that helps to identify distressed props as well as property searches. Unfortunately at its only avail through a guru or for $3000. I'm using it to seach Pre-foreclosures.
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Jeff B.
Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
Originally posted by @Chris P.:

I get that the software doesn't make the deal, but don't you use anything to keep track of direct mail campaigns, mailing frequency, etc?
This is known as CRM software (Customer Relations Management) - - & one worth using is expensive. There may be some ShareWare or OpenSource packages available.
Linking the property details with the Customers may be significant effort.
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Michael Lee
Investor · Coppell, TX · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 646 votes
10y
Hello and welcome to BP! I don't know if I can help you because I live in Dallas County Texas and have never been east of the Mississippi River and I am 59 years old. I will be glad that you are happy with this site and what it has to offer you in the way of learning and the questions you can ask of those that have allrady done what you expressed what you want to do. It is a shame that you have gotten in the middle of a fight but you will be OK. Take advantage of what is offered to you here and elsewhere that are not always about sales. I have seen a lot in my 59 years and I am glad to hear that your younger. I have been in the construction business since I was 17. I also had a real estate broker license for about 30 years. If you think that I can help you please contact me through BP at any time. Good luck to you!
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Wendy Hoechstetter
Interior Designer · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2015 · 34 posts · 19 votes
10y
Is anyone familiar with Rehab Valuator, particularly the Premium version? Is it worth the money? Does it have all of the metrics that are necessary, calculate things accurately, etc.?
http://rehabvaluator.com/free-software-af10-c/

It *looks* good at first glance, but I'm new to this and don't know what else is out there. It also costs $197/year or $29/month and is cloud-based, which I'm not really sure how I feel about.

I will deal with CRM software later, if I need to; right now, I'm just interested in analyzing deals, tracking bids and construction costs, and coming up with professional-looking pro formas and packages to present to lenders.

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Austin Faux
Real Estate Investor - Internet Marketing Professional · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 181 posts · 41 votes
10y
I personally use REI BlackBook and will never stop using it! I love it it helps me do Comps quick, it helps me organize my database, setup follow ups & to-dos. It helps me automate some of my marketing. It helps me keep all my properties organized. I highly recommend checking it out
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Wendy Hoechstetter
Interior Designer · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2015 · 34 posts · 19 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Austin Faux:

I personally use REI BlackBook and will never stop using it!
What is the pricing structure like, Austin? I have found that companies that don't even offer video demos and require any sort of live or in-person demos are often selling products that are extremely expensive, and/or have a zillion modules one has to buy in order to obtain full functionality, thereby making them far more expensive than they may initially appear.

I'm already getting turned off to the one I inquired about simply because the guy is blowing up my inbox with more and more sales pitches.
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Austin Faux
Real Estate Investor - Internet Marketing Professional · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 181 posts · 41 votes
10y
@Wendy Hoechstetter it is a flat fee of $97/m for everything (3 websites, 1 phone #, CRM, Comps, etc). There are only two things that cost more $4.99 per additional phone # and $297/y (I believe that's right) for a tool called the equity analyzer. But you don't actually need that tool if you don't want to use it. Otherwise it's simply a flat fee of $97/m.

They also offer free one-on-one appointments to help you understand how to use the system. There is also a ton of training videos, and they even do live webinars to show people how to use the system. They also have an annual boot camp in St. Louis to show you how to use the system and to introduce new features.

Overall I would say REI BlackBook is totally worth it. You can even schedule a live demo to see how it works. Like I said I love it, the customer service is great, and they keep rolling out new features and keep the price tag the same....great stuff!
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Daniil Kleyman
Real Estate Investor · Glen Allen, VA · Member since 2008 · 74 posts · 43 votes
10y
@Wendy Hoechstetter - Rehab Valuator does exactly what you describe. It helps you analyze deals quickly and put together professional packages for buyers as well as lenders. We are building out additional project management features that will help you actually track and manage your projects. For now the software lets you put together detailed rehab budgets and scope of work sheets. Let me know if you have other questions. I'm happy to answer them!
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David Lehane
Rental Property Investor · Kalamazoo, MI · Member since 2016 · 78 posts · 14 votes
10y
I was looking at the Quicken 2016 Rental Property Manager package, while I know it is not a CRM, I currently use Zoho (free) for that I would be interested in anyone point of view on this software?
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Jason M.
Wholesaler · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
9y
Frankly, back of the envelope calcs are all you should need to do - which can be accomplished easily with a calc and/or excel. If you are wanting to manage your portfolio through some sort of software, let me suggest you create some sort of database regarding your portfolio in excel or google sheets and then build a free visuals / analytics of your portfolio in Tableau Public - which is free.
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Jason M.
Wholesaler · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
9y
if you want to see a example of real estate data in a tableau visual just google "zoomie brokers and tableau public"
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Aaron Saarela
Investor · Surrey, British Columbia · Member since 2016 · 21 posts · 5 votes
9y
We just started Landlord Maxx which was 199.00 one time fee. I like it. It has a lot of great features. I was going to go with Quickbooks, or Saje like my accountant recommended but they don't make an option for mac. We had to do something to convert it? and so we chose landlord max which works for windows or apple.
Amanda
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Aaron Saarela
Investor · Surrey, British Columbia · Member since 2016 · 21 posts · 5 votes
9y
We also purchased a cheap program called property evaluator for apple computer. It works great and I think it was 50.00. It helped see all numbers when determining which properties numbers will work, it all comes down to numbers. Way more accurate than when we did it with pen and paper, or the 1 percent rule.
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Drew Bonner
Lynchburg, VA · Member since 2017 · 61 posts · 41 votes
9y
PHILIP GIZZI rentecdirect.com. This software is so affordable and has features like: automatic payments from your tenants bank account, tenant screening, publishing vacancies to sites such as realtor, zillow, Craigslist, etc., and keeps individual spreadsheets for each of your properties. Give it a look!
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Mark Whitted
Rental Property Investor · Rockwall, TX · Member since 2017 · 87 posts · 49 votes
9y
I haven't read every post in this thread, but it seems to be all about managing DM campaigns, maybe managing fix & flips, or actual rental property management. I was just listening to a podcast where an investor couple with several buy and hold cashflow rentals with several different property management companies were talking about tracking their properties, managing their managers, and keeping up with things like tax and insurance bills, deeds and such using spreadsheets. Is there any kind of rental property portfolio inventory database software available?
Being an enterprise software developer with over 35 years of experience and trying to transition to Web/app development, I think I may see an opportunity here. Anybody else seeing this?
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David OunanianBusiness Member
Real Estate Broker · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 380 posts · 195 votes
9y
@Mark Whitted Being an tech professional myself I totally agree with you - if I design it can you code it?
CASHFLOW NATION535 Reviews
Website View Page
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Account Closed
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 8 posts · 2 votes
9y
@Brandon Turner Brandon - would you mind sharing the spreadsheet you use to track your monthly rental income and expenses? I've combed through the Tools--FilePlace section, and haven't found one that works for me. Wondering if you've updated what you posted on Tools, before I build my own? Thanks!
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Brandon TurnerPro Member
Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
Hey @Account Closed have you checked this? https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/basic-rental-property-income-exspense-tracker
Podcast Guest on Show #92
1 Reply
Don Souza
Rental Property Investor · San Rafael, CA · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 16 votes
9y
I created a real estate investment app for myself in Salesforce.
1 Reply
Account Closed
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 8 posts · 2 votes
9y
@Brandon Turner Brandon - thanks. I did check it out, and w/ some simple mods (tracking multiple properties, creating a summary page, and some simple COC, ROI calc, I think this could work. What do you use? Must be more detailed than this right? Thanks!
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Devin Deswert
Investor · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2016 · 78 posts · 38 votes
9y
I agree with excel. Hands down the best and most flexible solution. Also a note pad, if you want to get real fancy then the Evernote moleskin notepad.
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Brian Orr
Rental Property Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2016 · 208 posts · 96 votes
8y
Hey @Brandon Turner - I'm curious if in the past 4 years your stance on this has changed? I'm currently searching for tools to analyze flips, estimate rehab costs and also manage the rehab timeline and the million things in between. I'm looking at houseflippingspreadsheet.com - thoughts?
1 Reply
Jacob Anderson
Rental Property Investor · Cedar City, UT · Member since 2016 · 209 posts · 45 votes
8y
@Brandon Turner thanks for that link, that is good stuff, much better than my "created one".
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Diana Duncan
Real Estate Investor · Miami / Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2013 · 63 posts · 12 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Philip - try Zoho CRM. The free version should be perfect for you, I love it. You can even access and track everything from your phone.
https://www.zoho.com/crm/
Looked promising however very bad reviews Zoho Trustpilot Reviews
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