I learned about the free tools - Zillow, Trulia, Bing Maps, Netronline - how to check title, get BPOs, where to look for bank contacts and sources, how to evaluate the property and develop a bid based upon my initial selected exit and to view REAL deals in progress and watch the results, good or bad.

(Use tools like loopnet, Costar demographics, and crime maps.

Any deal analysis tool will work, you can just plug in the numbers.

Purchase price: $236,000 Sale price: $280,000 Contributors: Peter Vekselman Partner Driven, in collaboration with Ed Lindsey, successfully completed a deal on Persimmon Lane in Shepherdstown, WV.

Around here I normally calculate about a 30% overhead when evaluating a property, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have to bump to 40% to cover the increased insurance cost there.I’ve seen a fair number of SFRs that look like they would provide 8% gross using the only tools I have available over here, which is rentometer and Zillow.

Purchase price: $80,000 Sale price: $105,000 Contributors: Peter Vekselman Partner Driven, in collaboration with Ernest Bannister, successfully completed a deal on N 31st, Philadelphia, PA.

I’m looking to collaborate with others like myself who are starting out and needing help, whether it is actual physical help with a renovation or moral support.

Definitely something investors should add to the tool belt to enhance their level of due diligence.

BiggerPockets recently released a tool to help real estate investors find an advisor, which you can check out here.

@Kim Meredith Hampton Thanks for sharing your experience with these tools.