Real estate investing software has transformed the real estate world by giving professionals across the industry access to incredible amounts of data. Leveraging it in your business can transform how you operate as well. However, it’s not a magic pill. Software can only have a positive impact on your business when you pair it with the right processes and habits.
If you’re ready to get the most out of your real estate investing software, here are the seven most important things you can do.
1. Understand the features
The capabilities of modern real estate investing software are incredible. But many investors miss out on some of the best features while they focus on generating leads, comping, and marketing to sellers.
While you certainly can’t overlook these pillars in the real estate investing process, there are less popular features that can revolutionize your business if you use them the right way.
Take the time to explore your software, especially the less exciting parts, like list management and reporting. You’ll find capabilities that you didn’t even know existed, and they’ll make you more efficient, informed, and effective.
Top features to explore
Because there are so many features packed into most real estate software platforms, there’s a lot you can miss if you aren’t looking. We recommend paying special attention to these features:
- List stacking – A tool that allows you to compare several property lists and quickly identify the most promising opportunity
- Skip tracing – A feature that uncovers property owners’ contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses
- Real estate calculators – Tools that calculate real estate property values and other figures for you
- Driving for dollars – Tools that let you canvass neighborhoods for distressed properties more effectively
- Lead scoring – A capability that will automatically highlight properties that meet your custom criteria
2. Identify effective real estate lists
Many new investors try to target every list imaginable because they think it’s the best way to find deals. While it’s important to take large-scale action, that action needs to be targeted and strategic if you want to produce consistent results.
While your lead generation software may have the power to build thousands of different lists, that doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your time or resources. Instead, identify a few great lists and work through them until you’ve mastered them.
Limiting yourself to one list at a time will let you focus on learning essential real estate skills. You’ll also learn how to stay disciplined and focused even when working through a list is difficult and doesn’t feel fruitful.
Popular real estate lead lists to focus on
When it comes to real estate leads, there are a lot of different types you can focus on. Investing isn’t a one list fits all business, but there are a few common indicators that everyone should have some experience with. They include:
- Pre-foreclosures
- Tax defaults
- Absentee owners
- Expired listings
- Vacant properties
If you’re just beginning your real estate career, start at the top of this list and work down. As you learn how to talk to each kind of motivated seller, you’ll quickly develop the skills you need to build a successful business.
3. Connect with cash buyers
If you’re wholesaling real estate, you can use real estate investor software to find the hottest deals on the market, but if you don’t have anyone to sell them to, you’re not going to make any money. While that’s common knowledge, what isn’t is how important relationships with cash buyers are.
Most wholesalers only start thinking about finding buyers after they sign a contract on a deal, but this can seriously impact their profits. The solution is to reverse wholesale, which involves starting with cash buyers, learning what they’re looking for, and then finding matching properties.
Even if reverse wholesaling isn’t one of your primary strategies, you should still form relationships with potential buyers and build a healthy cash buyers list. This will save you from the panicked search for a new buyer if one of your regulars falls through. You may even dramatically increase your assignment fees by building these relationships.
How do you find cash buyers? There are a lot of strategies, but one of the best ways is to use your real estate lead generation software. Many of these platforms have built-in filters that identify individuals who’ve recently made cash real estate purchases. If you’re looking to get the most out of your real estate investing software, this is one strategy you can’t afford to ignore.
4. Cold call every day
If you want to get the most out of your real estate software, you need to contact the leads you generate. Imagine pulling a list that has a guaranteed $25,000 deal somewhere inside it and then just looking at the addresses without taking action.
It sounds ridiculous, but if you’re not cold calling, that’s what you’re doing. Add to that the fact that cold calling is a practice-based skill, and you start to see how much you’re missing out on by not making regular calls. It may be anxiety-inducing to pick up the phone at first, but you’ll soon overcome that fear and discover how effective real estate cold calling can be.
Just be careful to keep up with the latest dialing regulations and best practices. While calling regularly is important, calling too much can make you a target for carrier restrictions. We recommend limiting yourself to 150 calls daily per phone number.
5. Take advantage of training opportunities
If you’re logging into your real estate software but just winging it, you’re likely missing some opportunities and certainly not getting all of the benefits from your account. Most platforms offer extensive training to help you use all the tools available to you.
If you have the opportunity to attend live training webinars, set aside some time for them. If your platform gives you access to a training library, explore it, especially when you have questions. Paying for a service you don’t know how to use is like leaving money on the table. Thankfully, every resource you need in order to learn how to use your account is readily available to you.
6. Master your local market
Many investors tend to spread into a new market as soon as they have trouble finding deals close to home. There’s nothing wrong with expanding into a new market, but you should only do it after you’ve mastered your local market.
There are several reasons for focusing on your market first. Primarily, you know your neighborhood. By living there, you have a front-row seat to the trends and changes happening nearby. You probably don’t have the same level of insight about other markets. But most importantly, sticking to your local area for a while will teach you how to be consistent and focused, even when the process is tough. You’ll also learn how to negotiate deals, even when local market conditions are challenging. If you plan to make a career as a real estate investor, learning these lessons early is vital.
7. Take consistent action
The final tip to making the most of your real estate investing software may seem obvious, but it’s easy to miss. If you want to succeed, you need to take consistent action. It’s not enough to generate leads and market to them a few times a week. You need to establish routines and work consistently.
Of course, we’re not recommending you work endlessly and risk burning out. Rather your goal should be to build a personalized plan that’s sustainable and stick to it. Not only will this help you build a stable business, it will also increase your efficiency and output. The more high-quality conversations you have, the more deals you’ll land.
Conclusion
Getting the most out of your real estate investing software is about more than just using the features and finding leads. It’s about how you use the property information available to you to make informed decisions. If you find leads but don’t make the most of them, you’re not just losing money on software, you’re also losing deals to other investors.
If you’re ready to get more from your real estate software, start small. Don’t expect to have a well-oiled machine by the end of the month. All you have to do is remember to be intentional every day. Learn everything you can about your software and then put it to work. You’ll be amazed by the results.
