All Forum Posts by: Zubair Ahsan

@Autumn Alexander, wow! REIFAX and REIKIT definitely look like tools that can help cut down time on research. I will need to do a thorough review before I can give feedback. Do you know where source their rental estimates? or how their estimates faired for you?

Thanks, Matthew for the story! Quite impressive, not only were you able to validate rent comps, but also affect them. Your process flow is not only a time saver but also de-risks the asset!

Thanks, everyone for the feedback! Have any of you done long distance investments? If so, were your rental estimates ever off? If yes, what was the cause?

- Zubair

I agree with Matt, there are ways to maintain accuracy while lowering time of research on average. I'm not exactly certain of all the ways to improve research efficiency or by what magnitude, but I'm sure with the help of the BiggerPockets community we will get there.

- Zubair

Great insight Matt, I will have to keep that in mind when I canvas areas to eliminate listings to research!! Definitely a big time saver! 

- Zubair

Thanks for the thorough feedback, Caitlin! Going long distance is quite tricky as you are open to wide array of zip codes to choose from. Every time you find a property you think you like you have to reach out to a local expert. Unless you narrow down the zip code, it will be very difficult to canvas leads. I agree there's a wealth of information to gain from PMs and their websites once we have narrowed down the zip and maybe even neighborhood.

By the way, what do mean by using "Zillow and Rentometer for spreadsheet work"? How have you used these in spreadsheets?

- Zubair

I am looking to buy rental properties in areas I am not familiar (in a lot of cases out of state). Unfortunately, I've found estimates from Zillow, Rentometer, and other platforms significantly off after conducting thorough research. This time adds up investigating one property after the other. Has anyone found tools or a process to make accurate rental estimates without eating up all your time? Love hear your experiences and feedback. I too will share what I learn as I continue through the process.