Four Ways to Approach Real Estate Investing Online

Investing in real estate digitally can seem daunting at first. How can you use tech to build and curate your portfolio? Luckily, we’ve outlined four easy ways you can integrate tech into your real estate business and use digital tools to invest in real estate.

1. Look for Up-and-Coming Markets Online

When it comes to learning how to invest in real estate digitally, start off by learning your markets. Whether you’re investing in-state or long-distance investing, you’ll want to understand the market you’re investing in. To do this, start by researching areas you’re interested in on sites like BiggerPockets and listing sites like Realtor.com and Zillow.

Then, you’ll want to collect as much information as you can from these sites. From there, you can create a thorough analysis for investing in real estate digitally. This may include historical information on the property, popular property types, mortgage and rental prices in the area, current job market conditions, and neighborhood quality.

Additionally, ensure you’re comfortable with all the details you’ve covered in your research. If there’s a nugget of information you always seek when checking out markets to invest in within your neck of the woods, make sure to cover that as well.

2. Take Online and Virtual Tours of Properties

If you can’t make the trip to visit a property you’re interested in purchasing, a good alternative is taking a virtual tour of the home. This can give you a good initial idea of the condition of the property. Look for which amenities it has and what work might be needed to improve the marketability of the rental.

Of course, take virtual tours with a grain of salt. It is always possible to hire a person on the ground to visit the location for you and do a thorough investigation of the location. If you’re using property management software like RentRedi, you can even hire a property manager and add them to your account for free so you can still oversee your business while they take care of on-the-ground matters.

Technology can ensure you’ve done your due diligence when it comes to conducting an exploration of the property.

3. Use Social Media to Market Your Rentals

Once you’ve settled on a property and made your purchase, it’s time to market the rental to potential tenants. This is key when you want to invest in real estate digitally. 

Of course, you’ll want to post your listing to sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. However, don’t underestimate the power of social media. Many applicants use sites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to find their next homes, so be sure to post your vacancies there as well.

Then begins the vetting process. Fortunately, there are plenty of online application and tenant screening sites at your disposal. For example, in RentRedi’s property management software, you get a prequalification, application, and full background check (credit, criminal, and eviction reports) that you can use to find qualified candidates.

4. Set Up Online Rent Collection

After you’ve found a renter, it’s time for rent collection. Online rent collection is no longer a hidden gem in the real estate investing world. If you want to invest in real estate digitally, offering online rent collection is a great way for tenants to pay rent and for you to collect it.

Apps like RentRedi come with web and mobile apps for tenants so they can pay rent online or with their phones. Additionally, they can pay with ACH, card, or cash—making it easier than ever to pay rent.

How to Invest in Real Estate Digitally

If you’re wondering how to invest in real estate digitally, wonder no more. With the use of technology, it’s fairly easy to use online tools to navigate finding, purchasing, and managing rentals—all online! 

Whether you’re out of state or just down the road, property management software is great for the management portion of your rentals. You can collect rent online, screen tenants, list properties, sign leases, manage maintenance, add free teammate and property manager accounts, and more.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.