50+ PROPERTY RESEARCH TOOLS, TRICKS AND HACKS

Adapt to the challenges of the current market by sharpening your property deal-finding toolkit

In the ever-evolving world of property investment, leveraging technology to enhance your research process has never been more crucial. With a myriad of digital tools at our disposal, the ability to conduct in-depth research, analyse data, and remain organised is now more accessible than ever before, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve in a highly challenging market. Whether you’re new to the world of property investment or looking to up your game, this guide is designed to empower you as we delve into a range of powerful tools, from comprehensive data platforms to smart organisational aids, plus provide handy on-theground research hacks.

This fusion of digital prowess and ‘soft’ research skills will ensure you have a well-rounded understanding of your potential investments, ultimately leading to smarter investment decisions.

RESEARCH TOOLS

Rightmove & Zoopla: This pair hardly need any intro as they are UK’s leading property portals, offering extensive property listings and valuable insights into property prices, local amenities, and demographic data.

OnTheMarket: A less cluttered but equally powerful alternative to Rightmove and Zoopla, offering a user-friendly interface and extensive search options.

PropertyData: This platform aggregates various datasets including price trends, rental yield, and area analysis. It’s an excellent tool for the analytical investor seeking data-backed decisions.

History is on your side…

Did you know? The average house price in the UK has more than tripled in the last two decades, according to the Land Registry. This underlines the importance of thorough research and choosing the right property at the right time. With all the tools and resources at your disposal today, smart investing can help you ride this wave of growth!

Property Log: A Google Chrome extension that tracks price changes on Rightmove, giving you an edge in price negotiations.

Buy to Let Group Facebook & Local Facebook Groups: Online communities provide a wealth of practical knowledge from experienced investors. Questions are answered, strategies are discussed, and you may even find potential deals.

Realyse: A comprehensive tool offering in-depth analysis of the UK’s residential and commercial property markets. It’s ideal for investors wanting to delve deeper into market trends and predictions.

Local Council Websites: Check out planning permission applications for neighbourhood insights. You can see what type of renovations others are doing and how often they get approved.

Companies House: For commercial properties, Companies House can provide you with important information about the companies that own or lease these properties.

Investment Property Forum: This community offers expert opinions, educational resources, and networking opportunities.

UK Crime Stats: Knowledge of local crime rates can influence rental yields and property values. Use this tool to make informed decisions.

Instant Street View: Using Google’s Street View this website allows you to instantly virtually walk around the property’s neighbourhood, offering a sense of the area’s atmosphere.

Website scraper: Tools like ParseHub can help automate data extraction from property websites, ideal for heavy-duty investors with large portfolios.

Viewber: An on-demand service offering property viewings and inspections by local agents across the UK. Ideal for remote investors, Viewber provides you with concise feedback and photos from each viewing.

What3words: This app divides the world into 3m squares and gives each a unique 3-word address, making it easy to pinpoint precise locations. Helpful if you’re meeting someone at a renovation site that doesn’t have a specific address yet.

SUPERCHARGING YOUR RESEARCH

Upwork: Hire researchers, data analysts, virtual assistants and many more to offload some of your research tasks.

Fiverr: Another excellent platform for hiring freelancers for tasks like property research, data entry or market analysis.

LinkedIn Learning or Coursera: These platforms offer online courses on property investment, market analysis, and even tools like Excel that could be critical to your investment research.

Property Deals Insight: This advanced property investment software tool can help in locating potential investments and conducting thorough market analysis.

Ahrefs or SEMRush: While traditionally used for SEO, these tools can also help you identify popular property-related searches and trends in your area, giving you an edge in understanding what renters or buyers are looking for.

IFTTT (If This Then That): A powerful tool for automating a wide range of digital tasks, like getting email alerts when new properties meeting your criteria are listed on estate agent websites.

Chat GPT-4: An AI model by OpenAI, capable of conducting data analysis and generating reports, saving you considerable time and effort.

Remember, the ultimate goal of using these tools is to make data-driven decisions, which is key to successful property investment. By leveraging these resources, you can save time, reduce risks, and potentially increase your returns on investment.

Keep going, it will be worth it

American industrialist and businessman, Andrew Carnegie, once said, “Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate.”

SOFT RESEARCH SKILLS

While digital tools provide an invaluable resource, it’s essential not to neglect the ‘soft’ side of research. This is where you can gain qualitative data that can be just as crucial when evaluating a potential investment. Let’s explore some techniques for on-theground research and personal interaction.

Chat with estate agents: Local estate agents can be a rich source of information. They can provide insight into the local property market, upcoming trends, and valuable property leads. It takes time and consistency to cultivate good relationships and prove you are serious

Talk to Locals: The postman, the local shop owner, or neighbours can provide valuable insights into the neighbourhood, potential problem areas, and changes happening in the community.

Visit at different times: Visit potential areas during the day, night, and weekends to get a holistic view of the neighbourhood.

Local newspapers & community magazines: These sources often cover local news, developments, and issues that you may not find in online data.

Network at local property groups: Attend local property meet-ups and networking events to share experiences and get insider tips.

Attend local council meetings: Regular attendance at these meetings can provide a wealth of information about upcoming developments, community concerns, and demographic shifts.

Local market research: Check out the local shops, restaurants, and businesses. Are they thriving? What types of businesses are there? This can tell you a lot about the local economy and demographic.

Leverage personal networks: Don’t underestimate the power of your personal network. Friends, family, and acquaintances may have information about available properties, potential buyers or renters, or first-hand experiences with different neighbourhoods.

Consider the physical environment: Looking around at the state of local infrastructure, public spaces, and even the condition of other houses in the area can provide insights. Are streets clean? Are buildings well-maintained?

Building relationships with contractors: Contractors can provide insight into the cost of potential repairs or renovations and may also know about properties coming up for sale or those sitting vacant. How about house clearance companies? They will see properties that are likely going to be in probate. Incentivise trades people to bring you deals.

These soft skills and local interactions can provide insights that aren’t immediately evident from property listings or data sets. Combine this with your digital research for a comprehensive overview of your potential investment.

BRING THE DEALS TO YOU

As your property investment journey progresses, you may find yourself wanting to create a system that brings potential deals to you. By employing certain tools and techniques, you can establish a ‘deal funnel’ that will do just that.

Set up property alerts: Most property portals like Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket allow you to set up alerts for new properties matching your criteria.

Use a property sourcing agent: A professional sourcing agent can bring you deals that fit your criteria, often before they hit the open market. Make sure they’re registered with an appropriate governing body like The Property Ombudsman. Remember, do your own stacking and due diligence. Just because they say a deal stacks doesn’t make it a good prospect.

Network extensively: Attend property investment networking events, join online forums, and engage in social media groups. The more people in the industry who know what you’re looking for, the more potential deals that will come your way.

Direct mail campaigns: Sending letters to homeowners in your desired investment area can yield off-market deals. These campaigns can be targeted towards estates in probate, absentee owners, or properties in disrepair.

Vistaprint: Vistaprint offers direct mail services that can handle everything from design to distribution. You can use their templates or upload your own design, and they will print and send the mail for you.

Postary: Postary is another good choice for direct mail automation. They offer a variety of options for sending postcards or letters, with various customisable templates.

PPC and SEO Marketing: If you have a website, use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies to attract potential sellers in your area.

Establish relationships with local estate agents: Regular communication and good relationships with estate agents can lead to tips on new listings or sellers eager to make a quick sale.

Property auctions: Keep an eye on property auction catalogs. These properties often represent good value and can be less competitive than the open market.

Use social media: Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook can be used to broadcast what kind of properties you’re looking for and to connect with potential sellers.

NimbusMaps: While not fully automating the process, NimbusMaps is a tool used widely in the UK for sourcing property data from public records. It can give you access to a wide range of data, including ownership details and property boundaries.

Land Registry: The UK Land Registry allows you to search for property ownership information. Automation of this process might need to be facilitated by custom scripts or by hiring a data entry freelancer through platforms like Upwork.

By effectively setting up your deal funnel and leveraging these tools and techniques, you can ensure that potential property deals are brought directly to you, saving you valuable time and resources.

CAPTURE AND ORGANISE YOUR RESEARCH

Lastly, but by no means least, let’s consider the importance of staying organised. The most successful property investors are those who keep their research well-organised and easily accessible. Fortunately, we have numerous digital tools available to help with this.

Research Revelation

In a 2019 survey by the Property Investment Network, 67% of UK property investors said that comprehensive research was the most important factor contributing to their success. This just goes to show the power of information in property investing. So, whether you’re a newcomer or a seasoned investor, it’s time to level up your research game!

Evernote, Microsoft OneNote and Notes on the iPhone: Keep your research organised using these note-taking apps. They allow you to store articles, images, and notes in one place, which can be accessed on multiple devices.

Trello: This project management tool is excellent for tracking potential properties through your research, viewing, and purchasing stages.

Google Drive or Dropbox: Use these cloud storage platforms to store all your property-related documents and share them easily with your team.

Slack: For team communication, Slack can provide organised, searchable conversations around each property in your portfolio.

Pocket: If you come across useful articles or reports during your research, Pocket can help you save them for later, even offline.

Zapier: This tool automates data flow between apps, such as adding Rightmove listings to your Trello board or saving articles from Pocket to Evernote.

By effectively capturing and organising your research, you can ensure that all of your valuable data is easily accessible, helping to streamline your decision-making process and keep your property investment journey on track.

The successful property investor leverages both digital tools and ‘soft’ research skills to gain a well-rounded understanding of potential investments. By making the most of the resources outlined in this guide, you can supercharge your property research and make informed, data-driven decisions that lead to successful property investment.

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