Real Estate Investing tools. (Tool box tips #1)

Ok so it’s time to answer some questions about what the Real Estate investor should fill his or her tool box with. (And more so…why.)

Every Real Estate investor needs certain tools. This is the first article to recommend and suggest tools for the starting investor...as well as the seasoned one.
All the tools and or sources I recommend…I USE MYSELF!!!

OK so let’s jump right in shall we:

First things first…we cannot start to play the investment game if we don’t have a basic understanding of our credit. Now you might ask why I am starting with recommending a credit report before anything else. The answer is easy. If you have bad credit and you know it you will have one less surprise in store for you.
There is several online credit reporting services. Most of these companies also do credit repair. I recommend contact at least one and purchasing a copy of your “TRI MERGE” credit report.

Now a word to the wise here. Don’t think that if you log into “JOE BOBS house of free credit reports” that what they are going to give you for free is anything like a TRI MERGE report. It is not even close 99% of the time… so spend a few bucks and get a real one.

Sites I recommend are:


Doctor Credit they do both repair and monitor your scores for you for a very reasonable fee.

Another one I strongly recommend is:


Lexington Law also a very good company to work with. The best part is they are VERY meticulous.

Ok…now that we are done with talking about the credit issue. Let’s look at one of my all time favorite tools…and the best thing about it. IT HAS BUTTONS!!!

I hate having to work out all the constant non-stop number formulas in order to get to the bottom line of if an investment is worthy or not.

To be honest I just didn’t pay much attention in school to the practical application of mathematics. I mean other then balancing my check book what did I need to worry about. Besides anything I need to do I could use a calculator for.

Yeah right….

A few years back a friend of mine introduced me to a “Real Estate investor’s calculator”. I have been smiling about playing with figures ever since.

The calculator is put out by a company called calculated industries. Now let me start by telling you they have several models/bells and whistles. This is one of my all time 2 favorite tools.

This is the one I use:



This little gem will do all the math figures you need. Everything from DTI to PITI payments. It has a cash flow function as well built in. And to top it off it will allow you to enter all your figures in the same manner that Real Estate professional speak. Not to mention it is programmable for the local property taxes you will come across. I highly HIGHLY recommend this tool.

Well that’s it…the first tools I HIGHLY recommend for your tool box. Look for other “tool box postings” soon.

Just a fast note on investing and growth.

First off I want to thank everyone for helping with the growth of Investor411.ORG as of yesterday we have over 200,000 real estate businesses and support services listed on the site.

Of those about 12% are our advanced ads that are helping our members get more traffic for the offices they work for and support services they offer.
If you’re not listed with us… then go toInvestor411.ORG and log in and set up your listing. IT IS FREE FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS/ support services business.

Ok…next in the hopper…today I will be closing escrow on two new investment properties. I was planning on buying till December but I wasn’t going to let these two go.

One is a duplex in San Diego... It will cash flow about $300 a month from the start. The other is a small SFR that will flow at about $322 a month.
For those that are still holding off on investing I can understand completely….however, if you’re an investor….now is the time.

Ok next order of chit chat….

I have come up with the crazy idea that I think I want to come up with an improved MLS for the nation. More often than not the MLS (at least in SO. Cal) is a bit off in the numbers…or they just don’t have accurate info. Not to mention it is not investor friendly at all…this needs to change.

So I am going to start the research process to “build a better mouse trap”. One that allows both R.E. pros to use it…as well as investors to find projects.

Let me know what you think.
Ok…well that it for now. Time to go sign some papers.