Real estate is often one of the smartest investments you can make. It can provide steady, passive income — even in the face of inflation or a turbulent market. Unlike stocks, bonds, or retirement accounts, you can also buy or sell real estate at will without penalty.
Like many other investments, real estate also carries some risk. Property value can fluctuate based on factors like the economy, local markets, or international politics. Many real estate investments also carry supplementary costs like property management and maintenance, which can further compromise revenue.
It’s important to be aware of these risks, and ways to address them, when you consider investing in real estate. One productive way to counter property-related risk is through real estate software.
What Can Real Estate Software Do?
People of all backgrounds can use real estate software to make the investment process easier. Technologies like AI can now automate specific tasks, perform valuable market research, analyze your investments, and monitor the performance of your properties over time. This leaves you more time to manage your growing real estate portfolio, while software handles the details.
Automating Services
Automation handles many of the real estate management tasks you might not have time for. It can help you manage maintenance requests, lease renewals, and even inspections. Automating real estate services gives you more time to focus on big-picture tasks.
Real estate software helps to automate the entire application process. Many programs allow you to request applications for qualified tenants. They collect details like credit score, employment history, and legal records for your review. Some real estate software even auto-verifies tenants who meet your preferences.
You can also automate payment collection through a real estate software program. Tenants enjoy a hassle-free payment process through a secure, online portal. You can even customize your automated software to require a specific payment method and send reminders to help tenants avoid late fees.
Analyze Investments
Real estate software is capable of analyzing the benefits, and risks, to each potential investment. This vetting process can help choose properties that provide the most financial upside with the smallest chance for risk. It also helps you identify and avoid investment properties that might have hidden risks or unforeseen costs.
Choose real estate software that can intelligently analyze investments before you make them. Look for features like data analysis that allow programs to consider evolving information. For example, your software should be able to factor property values, local market trends, and rental rates when analyzing a property.
Investment analysis should also include financial analysis. Your real estate program should be able to evaluate cash flow and forecast future changes. It should also help you understand how long you’ll need to invest before you see a return. Investment analysis helps you quickly and effectively identify the benefits when you’re choosing between multiple properties to invest in.
Investment analysis should also come with a reporting feature. Reports, especially real-time reports, help investors analyze properties in short- and long-term windows. These reports can save you valuable time and energy by collecting the most important information on your properties. They help you check in on the ‘health’ of your investments without spending hours reviewing all the details.
Monitor Performance
Analysis doesn’t stop after you invest in real estate. Proper real estate management means analyzing risks and benefits before, during, and after you invest your money. Alongside data analysis, real estate software also helps you monitor the performance of your real estate investments over time.
The software can help investors monitor real estate more closely, without requiring any more of their time. This helps you better understand how your property is performing and how you might further improve its output. This software monitors several metrics — including occupancy rates, income, and expenses — to give you a more holistic perspective on performance.
Performance monitoring is always more effective if you have a standard to measure against. Many real estate software programs offer performance benchmarking to help you gauge how similar properties are performing. This helps you compare your property to others and leads to more informed decisions about buying and selling.
What Should You Consider When Looking for Real Estate Software?
It’s important to identify your own needs and priorities before purchasing real estate software. Different real estate software platforms fulfill different tasks for different types of investors. Consider factors like the number and type of properties you plan to invest in. Make sure you choose the real estate software program that best fits your long-term financial goals.
What Are Your Needs?
Considering your needs is a critical first step when investing in real estate. Your needs should help determine which properties you invest in, how much you invest, and when you can reasonably expect returns on your money. They can also help you decide which real estate software program is best for you.
The size of your portfolio should factor into your choice of real estate software. You might need a more advanced real estate program to handle a large real estate investment portfolio. Smaller software programs, with basic features like rent collection, should help you handle portfolios with only a few properties.
Property type can also influence your choice in real estate software. For example, you’ll only need tenant-focused features if you invest in residential real estate. Investors with diversified types of real estate might need more robust features to handle complex leases and different markets.
What Are Your Financial Goals?
Different people have different goals when it comes to investment. Some investors are looking for quick returns. Others are looking for passive income, or they are content to invest for longer periods of time. Make sure that your financial goals align with the type of real estate software you choose.
Choose real estate software with your investment end game in mind. For example, you’ll need a comprehensive program if you want to build and grow a rental property business. Look for features like portfolio management, financial forecasting, and data analysis. If you’re simply looking to diversify your assets, you might only need a simpler solution that handles rent contributions.