Property Analysis software

[roders]

Hi all. I’m keen to get feedback on the suitability of analysis software available. I haven’t managed to locate too much so the names of any gems that you may be using would be great. I thought it may be useful to get investors feedback on whether spending the dollars is an investment or a waste of money. I certainly believe the software should save me a lot of time but are they accurate (or as can be for the info that you input) and dependable. The main ones I’ve come across are the Richmastery and The Property Analyser.

[donna]

We recommend and sell the NZ version of Jan Somer's Property Investment Analysis software. There is a free download and information at http://www.propertyinvestor.info/pia/?ext=1

Sarah

[hort1]

Hi Roders

I use the Richmastery software and find it easy and fast to use.
Since buying and using it we have had chattels valuations done on some of our properties and the software is bang on.
I guess at the end of the day you can do it all with pen and paper and the good old trusty calculator.

Happy Investing

Warwick

[RevIQ]

Hi Roders,

RevIQ launched the most advanced NZ Property Analysis Software for investor earlier this month.

This software replaces the Richmastery software and has more than 3 times the features of Jan Somers PIA.

Details can be found on the reviq web site: www.reviq.com. You can also download a FREE 14 day Trial, well worth doing as its features are impressive.

[fudosan]

If you are after income producing properties, write on a piece of paper the following:

Rent x 52 weeks
- (minus) Vacancy (say 2 weeks)
- Rates
- Insurance
- Lawn (if required)
- Water (if required)
- Advertising
- Maintenance
- Property manager fee (if required)
- Others (if required)
- Mortgage Interest

If you still get a positive figure, this is a cashflow positive deal that you should look further into. I like to treat depreciation as a bonus.

[Monid]

Hear Hear Fudosan

[roders]

Thanks everyone, and Fudosan your bang on, and a nice simple way to get the raw info to assist in the decision. Looking at some of those available I can certainly see the benefits of time saving and the ability to calculate numerous variations. Its just justifying the costs of $200 - $1400 course I surpose its deductable eh.

[Marcus]

I have DDR's REAP software and it works well enough. However, I have used the same formula Fudosan mentions along with a list of criteria (and a little intuition) for some time. The software seemed like a great idea at the time but I could honestly do without it.

Regards,
Marcus

[Hero]

HI Roders
QED Reporting Services provide a property anlaysis service for $30.00
You fill in a questionairre with the data and assumptions you have for a particular property and they provide a report showing the effect on your wealth, cashflows in/ out and when, and rate of return. There's also tables, charts and graphs and a handy report that shows the effect on your cashflow of around 100 combinations of pruchase price versus rent. This is very useful when trying to determine how much to pay for a given rent or how rental to charge for a given purchase price.

regs

[drelly]

May I make an observation...

If someone doesn't know how to figure out whether or not the numbers on a house are any good without using software, perhaps they shouldn't be buying an investment property anyway?

[Roger_2004]

If someone doesn't know how to figure out whether or not the numbers on a house are any good without using software, perhaps they shouldn't be buying an investment property anyway?

If they're newbies like me? A bit of study & education would soon remedy that!

[roders]

Thanks Drelly for your observation!
Like any endeavour in life, we are not all blessed with complete and utter knowledge of every subject. Its all about life experiences and learning. PI is no different and as my degrees don't include accounting I'm keen to listen and take advise from seasoned PI'ers. Additionally I find it interesting that leading investors recommend having an accountant look over the numbers prior to going unconditional. I understand software is very detailed and runs numerous scenarios hence my point of being a major time saver and minimise the human error factor.
For those who offer constructive help, thank you.

[CJ]

For those who have bought and use software, does it provide any other usefull informatino other than what a simple excel spreadsheet can do. Other thatn the new (expensive) Rev IQ, Arent they all based on excell anyway.

Earlier in the year, someone posted a link to their website that had a free web based property analyer. Simple but effective. Not sure if it is still running.

[donna]

Other thatn the new (expensive) Rev IQ, Arent they all based on excell anyway.

PIA is written in C which is a "proper" programming language.

Sarah

[drelly]

Hey Roders and Roger...

I was actually quite serious. It's really important to understand the fundamentals of what makes a property a good deal. I totally disagree with ESC's (for example) attitude of "just fill in the boxes in our dinky excel spreadsheet and it will tell you if you're going to be rich or not" approach.

The numbers are really the least complicated part of it anyway! It's all the other aspects of a deal that make it hard to decide. If all we had to do was a little calculation to determine success or failure, it would be way easier!

The numbers are just the first indicator of whether it's a potentially good investment or not. I was offered a 3 bed property for just $68,000 a couple of years ago. Less than 5 mins drive to Whangarei town centre. Recently redecorated. Market rent of about $180/wk. So gross return of about $13.8%. I didn't buy it.

Five minutes research showed that the property had been sold less than 6 months ago for only $45,000. The new owner had "done it up" himself hoping to make a quick profit. Not only was he colour blind but he bought the "best" house in the worst street in town. There are sections of the road where there isn't any tarseal, car wrecks in the front yards, one of the first places the police look for stolen goods. Too hard basket for me.

In the end it comes down to a judgement call, not a calculation.