As technology becomes a bigger part of the real estate landscape, new players continue to enter the fray and they may come from places that you’d least expect. The latest example is Revestor, a digital real estate search engine that uses proprietary data and live listings to help sync agents and potential investors with desired residential properties. It was founded in 2011 by Bill Lyons, and is poised to threaten the dominance of Airbnb and Zillow, sites that have changed the way real estate is managed, discovered and even rented today.
The free tool not only simplifies, but also accelerates the process of finding the right property utilizing key investment indicators such as cap rate, cash flow and return on investment.
To determine the potential of an investment property, Revestor looks at a variety of factors including acquisition price, rental income and expenses, financing, and exit strategy.
There are a few assumptions, including that you will pay the full listing price, to a 20 percent percentage down payment, and a five-year short-term investment period. However, all information is customizable, which makes it easy to adjust the numbers and get an instant result without having to manually rework data.
“We make evaluating investment properties seamless,” says Lyons, “Number crunching and hours of work are eliminated with our automated search engine so users can be sure they’re making the right investment.”
Moreover, location, seasonal demand, and local rules and regulations are all things to take into consideration when investing in real estate. Revestor allows real estate investors to find properties with the highest potential returns.
Lyons pitched Revestor on the television reality show “Shark Tank.” While he didn’t get a deal, he didn’t give up. The site continues to grow and has active social media accounts with a couple of thousand followers.
Lyons told Forbes that while Revestor has the same data as other services, its primary added value lies in its ability to run investment calculations.
“Our property detail pages have sliders, which allow the user to change the numbers of key indicators as it relates to their investing goals,” he said. “We also have the ability, through free account creation, for users to set their own investment criteria and to be notified by email when like properties become available.”
He also told Forbes he sees the site evolving and making a mark on the real estate landscape.
“We’ll evolve through innovation and through the direction of our customers,” he said. “If we can do those two things better than others, then we’ll be the ones shaping the future of the real estate investing market.”
