In this series, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the top software tools available to real estate investors today and how they compare to FlipScout, the free DealMachine alternative.
The next tool we’ll be covering for real estate investors and wholesalers is DealMachine. The goal of the DealMachine app is to make contacting property owners with an offer to buy easier.
As a real estate investor, you’ll know that finding property owners’ contact information can prove particularly challenging. You want to make an offer, but you don’t want to be accosted for invading their privacy either. Using a tool like DealMachine this communication becomes more efficient and streamlined.
Keep reading for our deep-dive into the in’s and out’s of DealMachine for property investors:
What Is DealMachine?
DealMachine is a multi-faceted real estate marketing and investing tool that uses the concept of “driving for dollars”. The idea is that you can drive around, find a property you like, and use the app to find the property owner’s details, earning you your “dollars” when they accept your offer.
In essence, DealMachine has two features that stand out above the rest:
- You can send out direct mail to the owners of specific properties
- You can find the property owners available contact information, such as their email or mailing address
Now, these features aren’t necessarily unique – there are other direct mail services targeted at real estate out there. The difference is in the quality of the DealMachine portal and how much is possible from the foundation of the platform.
With the DealMachine app, you can visit the physical location of a home, take a quick picture and then send out a pre-written message to the owner to let them know they can call you if they want to sell. This makes reaching out to owners much more efficient than having to hunt down their details separately to be able to send direct mail.
Being able to customize a message can go a long way towards convincing the homeowner to contact you back. The DealMachine messaging option allows you to add a photo of the property, customize the font, and more. Being able to add a photo of the home is particularly valuable – seeing their own property in the image will increase the likelihood of them opening your message.
DealMachine also allows you to place a cold call, which is usually the best way to get the answers you need.
DealMachine Pricing
With DealMachine, there are several packages available to investors. The basic package for DealMachine starts at $49 a month, while the professional package will cost $99.
There are a few features that are included in the basic package beyond the CRM. The $49 package also comes with a set amount of street leads per month, custom mailer options, and more. The professional package has a few additional benefits like being able to assign a second member.
There is also an enterprise-level package which is priced at $3990 a year and suitable for teams of up to 30 members. The enterprise package includes one big draw which is the custom landing page and training portal made for your team.
DealMachine Drawbacks
As many features as DealMachine has, there are some drawbacks to using this tool. While the app provides you with details that connect you to the property owner, not every bit of information is completely accurate or up to date. There is also no assurance that you’ll hear back, even if you do have the correct contact information.
There’s a lot of footwork involved with finding property leads on DealMachine. The features don’t really work if you don’t – you need to be actively chasing down deals on a continuous basis for the tool to be truly useful to you.
Another potential drawback is the cost. While $49 is not-out there expensive, it can be a lot if you aren’t consistently netting deals or planning to make real estate investing a full-time career. The costs may be more justifiable for professional teams, using the professional or enterprise package.
DealMachine Alternatives – FlipScout
FlipScout is a free tool that lets you find properties that you can earn the highest return on. Launched by New Silver, FlipScout was designed to make investing in distressed properties easier than ever before.
With FlipScout, you’ll be able to search for any city or zip code and find properties that make sense to investors. FlipScout will also allow you to estimate repair cost and ROI, get access to key data, get alerts, and see the property in more detail. As mentioned above, there is no cost associated with using FlipScout and you can easily sign up with your email address.
FlipScout’s unique use of real estate and data intelligence makes finding a property to flip or rent anywhere in the country as simple as entering a few search parameters. FlipScout puts special emphasis on results that include foreclosures, auctions, undervalued homes, and other leads that house flippers look for.
The FlipScout portal enables you to instantly calculate the cost of financing and see how much return you can make. Other elements of the tool allow you to estimate rehab costs automatically and see a variety of other financial information to help you make a better investment decision.
FlipScout also has options available for buy and hold investors. Rental investors can use FlipScout to see average rents and how much money they can make along with other useful investment details.
Another FlipScout feature that proves useful is the ability to set up email alerts. If you can’t find the property you want right now, you can set up parameters that will have future property leads delivered to your inbox.
Lastly, FlipScout makes getting funded as simple as a button click. Since the platform is powered by New Silver, it has been seamlessly integrated with its online loan application portal. New Silver offers 10-minute online loan approval, instant proof of funds letters, and industry-leading closing times, and has a variety of loan products available to help investors achieve their funding goals.
FlipScout Cost
FlipScout is completely free to use – there are no upfront costs or hidden fees.
FlipScout Drawbacks
While not necessarily a drawback, FlipScout might not be right for every type of real estate investor. DealMachine allows you to follow up on all kinds of properties, including new and turnkey homes.
FlipScout on the other hand is targeted at distressed properties, including foreclosures and bank-auctioned properties. The true strength here is in the ability to discover new leads in various locations without having to see them on foot first.
Final Thoughts
DealMachine may be a good fit for you if you’re planning to build a real estate investing or wholesaling business with a larger team, or if you spend a lot of time traveling to find deals. FlipScout is more suited to finding distressed properties across the country and funding them easily. Both tools have merit in their own right.
While there is some crossover between the two tools, they can be used for very different purposes. It’s our suggestion to start with FlipScout as a property lead-finder as there is no cost associated.