http://www.RealEstateTools.com/index.phpReal Estate Analysis Software for the iPad and iPhoneenJoel GrasmeyerCopyright 2010 Real Estate Tools, Inc.2010-10-27T07:53:35-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:22:57 -0600Joel GrasmeyerProperty EvaluatorProperty Flipper2010-10-27T07:53:35-06:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/itemize_and_estimate_improvement_costs.php#unique-entry-id-7http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/itemize_and_estimate_improvement_costs.php#unique-entry-id-7Property Evaluator and Property Flipper version 3.4 was released today for the iPhone and iPad. Version 3.4 adds the ability to itemize and estimate improvement costs, and enter improvements in future years. This has been one of the most-requested features since the 3.0 release. This feature took quite a while to implement, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

So now you can enter the improvement costs in 3 different ways:

1.) As a fixed dollar amount. This is useful when you just have a few improvements and you know the total improvement cost off the top of your head.

2.) As a single cost per square foot value. Experienced investors who flip properties often estimate improvement costs with a fixed improvement cost per square foot. For example, a basic cleanup and make-ready job might be $5 per square foot, while a complete remodel might be $25 per square foot.

3.) As itemized expenses. If the property needs extensive repairs and improvements, you can itemize the expenses, and the total improvement cost will be calculated automatically. Each itemized improvement cost can be entered as a fixed amount, or it can be estimated using the built-in cost estimator.

The cost estimator allows you to create your own custom improvement categories and assign a unit name and cost per unit to each one. For example, you might estimate carpet at $3 per square foot, and a new roof at $2 per square foot.

Improvement costs can also be entered in future years.

So let’s say I’m a flipper walking through a property. I see that the carpet in the 12-foot square living room needs to be replaced, so I add an itemized improvement called “Carpet in Living Room”, enter 144 for the quantity, and tap on the Carpet category. Then I see that the roof might need to be replaced in 5 years, so I add an itemized improvement in Year 5, choose the “Replace Roof” category, and enter the property square footage.

Now the itemized improvement costs are automatically calculated and presented in a simple table. This is really helpful when you need to present a financial projection to a lender or an investment partner.

If you find this feature useful, please send me your feedback or write a review on iTunes. More exciting news is on the way, so keep an eye on this blog for updates.

]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty EvaluatorProperty Flipper2010-09-28T08:05:40-06:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/version_3_3_lets_you_duplicate_properties.php#unique-entry-id-6http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/version_3_3_lets_you_duplicate_properties.php#unique-entry-id-6
Version 3.3 of Property Evaluator and Property Flipper was released today with some great new features.

I really try to prioritize my development efforts based on customer feedback, and today’s update delivers the most popular feature requests over the last few months.

First up is the ability to duplicate properties. This is really useful in a couple of situations. Let’s say that you just finished analyzing a property, and now you want to look at some what-if scenarios. What if the rent is 10% lower? What if I put 30% down instead of 20% down? The list goes on. Instead of entering the property data all over again, you can just duplicate the property, change a number or two, and see how it affects the performance projections.

The Duplicate feature is also really handy if you’re a real estate agent and you want to create projections for several listings that are all very similar. For example, you might be listing 5 condos in the same development that all have the same floor plan, but the addresses are different, and the prices are slightly different. Now you can just duplicate the first property, change the address and the price, and send out a PDF of the projection to your clients.

Many people requested the ability to add their contact info to the header of each page of the performance projection, so I added that to version 3.3 as well. You can customize what info appears in the header by choosing PDF Report Settings from the Settings within the app.

You can also add a disclaimer to the bottom of the cover page of the PDF Report, and you can add some comments about the property, that appear just below the property address on the cover page.

You can also enter some private notes about the property, that are only visible within the app. For example, you might enter some data that is only visible to agents within the MLS. The private notes do not appear on the PDF Reports.

Finally, I added the Assumptions section to the Evaluator report, and I added a clear button on the right side of the text entry fields so that you can clear the contents of the text field with a single tap instead of multiple taps on the backspace button.

I really appreciate all of the great feedback and feature requests. Together, we can make some really great tools for real estate investors!

]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty Flipper2010-09-14T13:36:09-06:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_flipper_for_ipad.php#unique-entry-id-5http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_flipper_for_ipad.php#unique-entry-id-5Property Flipper is now available for the iPad!

Property Flipper is designed for real estate investors who are flipping properties. You start by entering the market value of the property, then subtract the closing costs, improvement costs, holding costs, and purchase price to calculate your profit on the deal. Alternatively, you can enter how much profit you would like to make, and Property Flipper will calculate the maximum purchase price that you should pay for the property.

The iPad version takes maximum advantage of the larger screen area relative to the iPhone. You can view the entire flip analysis on a single screen. To edit a number, you just tap on it, make a change, and all of the calculations instantly update. You can also change the holding period with the slider at the bottom of the screen, and instantly see how it will affect your profit on the deal. Being able to interact with the numbers directly is really intuitive and gratifying!

The iPad version of Property Flipper also shows you a preview of the PDF projection before you send it off to a client, lender, or investment partner. In the Pro version, you can add a custom cover page to the PDF with your contact info, along with a picture and description of the property. This really helps to create a professional impression with your clients!

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for more improvements. Now that the iPad versions of Property Evaluator and Property Flipper are complete, I’m focusing my efforts on adding some new features that customers have requested.

You can get a copy of Property Flipper in the App Store on your iPad or in iTunes on your computer.

If Property Flipper helps you out, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review in iTunes.]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty Evaluator2010-08-25T15:52:57-06:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_evaluator_for_ipad.php#unique-entry-id-4http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_evaluator_for_ipad.php#unique-entry-id-4Today I'm happy to announce that Property Evaluator is now available for the iPad!

The iPad version offers the following improvements over the iPhone version:

1.) It takes full advantage of the larger screen size, with larger font sizes and graphics that make the reports easier to read.

2.) Data entry is much easier. Instead of drilling down through several navigation layers on the iPhone version, the iPad version allows you to edit the value of a number by simply tapping on it.

3.) You can preview the PDF report on the screen before you email it to your clients or investment partners.

I've been working hard on the iPad version for the last 6 months. Now that the initial release is behind me, I'll be able to get back to adding new features to all of the versions.

If you have any comments or feature requests for the iPad version, please let me know. I'm constantly adjusting my priorities based on customer feedback.

Also, if you could take the time to write a review on iTunes, I would really appreciate it.

]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty EvaluatorProperty Flipper2010-04-16T07:44:38-06:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_evaluator_3_is_now_available.php#unique-entry-id-3http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_evaluator_3_is_now_available.php#unique-entry-id-3Property Evaluator 3 for the iPhone is now available on the App Store!

This version has been in the works for the last year. Property Evaluator was completely rewritten from the ground up to create a real estate analysis tool that is much more powerful and flexible than the previous version.

In version 3 you can create your own custom categories for income, expenses, and itemized closing costs. You can also assign a custom frequency to any transaction. For example, you might collect rent monthly, pay your insurance annually, and pay your homeowner’s association dues quarterly. With version 3, you can enter these items exactly the way you pay them.

You can also make any transaction proportional to another transaction. For example, you could make the rent 1% of the purchase price, make the taxes 1% of the sale price, make the management fees 10% of the annual income, or make the sale price $100 per square foot. This makes the data entry much more accurate and efficient.

Both Property Evaluator and Property Flipper are now available in 3 versions: Standard, Premium, and Pro. The Standard version is limited to evaluating a single property with up to 3 expenses. The Premium version lets you save multiple properties, and email the financial projections to your clients, lenders, or investment partners as a PDF file. The Pro version adds the ability to evaluate multi-unit and commercial properties, and it adds a cover page to the PDF reports with your name, company, and contact info.

In version 3, the emails are sent directly from the iPhone app instead of through the server.

You can upgrade to the Premium or Pro versions directly within the Standard version using in-app purchase. Note that version 3 is a separate app from version 2. So if you already purchased version 2, you’ll have to purchase version 3 separately. I had to do this for the following reasons:

1.) I created a new data format that is much more flexible and powerful than the old format, and the two formats are not compatible.

2.) In order to enable in-app purchase within the app, I had to create a different type of App ID that wasn't compatible with the old Property Evaluator app.

3.) Version 3 requires iPhone OS 3 or higher, while version 2.5 works with iPhone OS 2 and higher. I wanted to keep the older version available for people who haven't upgraded their iPhone OS to version 3 yet.

I’m really excited about this release, since it builds a solid foundation for many more great new features that I have planned.

The next project that I’m working on is creating versions of Property Evaluator and Property Flipper for the iPad! The extra screen space is going to allow some really nice enhancements to the user interface!
]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty Flipper2010-02-26T06:27:12-07:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_flipper_is_available_on_the_app_store.php#unique-entry-id-1http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/property_flipper_is_available_on_the_app_store.php#unique-entry-id-1Property Flipper is now available for sale in the App Store! If you’re a real estate investor involved in flipping properties, you should check it out.

Ever since I released the first version of Property Evaluator, I have received quite a few emails requesting a tool designed specifically for evaluating flips instead of buy and hold properties.

To evaluate a flip, and investor typically starts with the current market value of the property, and then subtracts the closing costs, holding costs, improvement costs, purchase price to find the profit on the deal. Other investors want to start with a desired profit amount, and figure out the maximum offer that they can make on a property to achieve that profit. The great thing about Property Flipper is that it allows you to do both types of calculations! You can also slide your finger to change the holding period from 0 to 12 months and instantly see the numbers update.

Another great feature is that you can make any of the input values proportional to another value. For example, you might know that the average market value in a neighborhood is $100 per square foot. You can enter this assumption once, and the market value will automatically be entered when you create a new property. This is a huge time saver!

Property Flipper is available in Lite and Premium versions. The Lite version allows you to evaluate a single property. The Premium version allows you to save multiple properties, and email the flip analysis as a PDF file. You can upgrade from the Lite version to the Premium version directly within the app.

The PDF report feature is a huge time saver. With the push of a button you can send a beautifully formatted PDF report to your clients. You can even include a picture of the property in the report.

If you’re an individual real estate investor, you might want to send the PDF report to your investment partners or your lender before you commit to the purchase.

If you’re a real estate agent or lender, you can use Property Flipper as a marketing tool to email professional-quality PDF reports to your clients.

All of this can be done on-site in a few minutes while you’re driving around looking at properties! Now you don’t have to drive back to your office to run the numbers through a spreadsheet.]]>Joel GrasmeyerProperty EvaluatorProperty Flipper2010-02-08T00:56:04-07:00http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/new_iphone_apps_coming_soon.php#unique-entry-id-0http://www.RealEstateTools.com/blog/index_files/new_iphone_apps_coming_soon.php#unique-entry-id-0
I’ll also be releasing a new app designed specifically for investors that are flipping properties. Keep an eye on RealEstateTools.com over the next month for more details.]]>