REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Small Commercial Investors Are Thriving

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Daily Real Estate News | October 1, 2007 | Small Commercial Investors Are Thriving
Small investors are having a much easier time competing in the commercial-property market since the mortgage meltdown.

They have an edge because they often pay with cash, are more likely to buy properties needing renovation, and bigger firms have become increasingly risk averse, says Harvey Green, CEO of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.

Here are some tools for small investors that make managing property easier and more profitable:

Iiproperty.com is an online property management tool for investors (registration required). Visitors to the site can use the tool to track property expenses, rents collected and cash flow. The site's basic suite of tools are free, however, other tools -- such as automatic tenant invoicing – range in costs from $12.99 a month to $64.99.
Rentometer.com gives apartment landlords (and renters) the chance to compare the rent for a particular unit against other rentals in an area with a simple-to-understand graphical meter.
Goodmortgage.com provides a calculator to help investors forecast the possible financial outcome of purchasing and renting an investment property based on data such as purchase price and mortgage terms, monthly rental rates, expenses and expected growth in property value.
About.com's commercial real estate section offers a downloadable spreadsheet to track the performance of a real-estate investment, as well as definitions and how-tos for mathematical calculations used by real-estate investors.