In a world gone mobile, those who are connected by the devices in their hands have realized that apps are their best friends. Even real estate investors can use smartphone apps to make business easier and more efficient. Check out the below apps for serious real estate investors.
Some of the Top Smartphone Apps for Real Estate Investors
1. Property Fixer — If you’re a flipper, you need a way to calculate the cost of a project, from the purchase of the property itself to your total rehab costs, and the sales price on the back end. Property Fixer allows you to calculate your profit margin on a fixer-upper easily from your mobile phone.
2. Property Evaluator — Property Evaluator is for the buy-and-hold investor. Analyze the cost of acquisition and ongoing expenses plus improvement costs to get a feel for your investment expenses then compare them to your rents and calculate your portfolio earnings. You can do this with one property or an entire portfolio.
3. The Landlord App — If you own rental properties, The Landlord App will allow you to keep track of rents, expenses, late and no payments, and even upload ads directly to Craigslist. Everything you’ve done on paper until now, can be done on your smartphone.
4. LoopNet Commercial Real Estate Search — Commercial real estate investors can have their own app, which allows you to search for properties that match your criteria. View photos of properties, see where they’re located on a map, and see nearby properties for sale or lease. You can even contact the selling broker.
5. Construction Cost Estimator — Whether you rehab properties or work on new construction projects, Construction Cost Estimator allows you to calculate expenses and estimate your repair and construction costs right from your smartphone. You can even print hard copies of your estimates and email PDF’s.
6. HUDHomestore Mobile Search — Foreclosure kings and queens can search available foreclosures with the HUDHomestore Mobile Search app. You’ll see photos, maps, listing agents, and even asset manager and field service manager information.
7. Property Tracker — It doesn’t matter what kind of investor you are, this app rocks. You can track all of your real estate investments in one place. Property Tracker tracks monthly income and expenses, vacancy rates and lease expiration dates, and even your contacts and correspondence with contacts. Even more, you can create tax documents, print a schedule of owned properties for your loan applications, and research property appreciation trends. This is one valuable app.
Why are Mobile Apps Important for Investors?
While several of these smartphone apps are available only for the iPhone or based on the iOS operating system, you can likely find an Android equivalent with a simple Google search. Mobile usage has grown to such an extent that, as of May 2014, more than 5o% of website traffic now comes from smartphone devices and tablets. This is important for real estate investing because mobile usage is expected to grow.
If you are a real estate investor, or you are considering real estate investing as an alternative to your other investments, consider these apps. You may find they enhance your crowdfunding investment strategy.
