InvestNext
If you are raising capital for a deal, having an investor portal will make tracking investor cash, communicating with investors during and post-closing, and organizing legal and tax documents 100x easier than your own excel spreadsheet. Ha!
So, this first one matters less if you are putting together a Joint Venture (JV) type of deal because you will likely NOT have to report to investors if all members pitch in with an active role.
If you are looking to structure a syndication, like a Regulation D, 506b, or 506c, a portal like InvestNext is game-changing.
Trello
We like to use Trello for task and project management throughout the due diligence process and post-closing operations.
The “Board” and “GANTT” views are my favorites because you can see all tasks that need completion, what status they are sitting in, who needs to take action, and the timelines for each item.
GoogleDrive
Most people know and likely use GoogleDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, or another cloud-based document filing system.
You might be able to get away with a free version for some time, but eventually, docs fill up quickly, and the storage can soon run out.
If you see the partnership growing and you take on more projects, hire more people, add more investors, etc., it might be wise to look into the paid version with WAY more storage.
RentManager, AppFolio, Buildium,
There are dozens of property management software that you may have heard of, have used in the past, or have gotten used to because your property management team has used one.
That’s the thing–do you need to master any of these? Possibly.
Your property manager will be the one to manage and organize everything on the software itself.
Truthfully, you may only see monthly profit and loss statements, rent rolls, and income statements unless you are the actual property manager.
I have gotten used to RentManager the most, but that’s because the managers I have worked with over the years have preferred and used it.
Loom
I love Loom, but I am also an investor educator by trade!
At ADPI, we have been using Loom to screen-record our educational lessons, but it does so much more!
On the investing side, once your pitch deck/investor summary is complete– make sure you record yourself walking through the entire deck on video with your little face in the bubble in the corner. Explain the process just like you were explaining it to your 7-year-old son, daughter, niece, or nephew.
This video is to warm up your investors before the big recorded webinar!
Send all potential investors the 5-10 minute walkthrough of your pitch deck, and then invite them to join you on a live webinar where you will go a bit more in-depth and answer questions!
Using Loom to screen record is also perfect for working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) team.
Any task you can think of on the computer can easily be captured on Loom and explained to a lead VA who can knock out whatever you need!
I love using Loom with our VAs!
Now that you have mastered Loom, you must run and invite any potential investors to join you on a recorded live webinar.
The recording will also go out to the same investors who watched and anyone else who may be interested in this deal or any of your following deals. Doing this will help you continue to build up your email list!
For the webinar, let’s discuss WebinarJam.
WebinarJam
Webinar Jam is pretty cool software–not only can you host a live and very interactive webinar with “Offers” and “Polls”– but you can record it and keep it as an “evergreen” product that you can share with your community. It also has fantastic data and analytics to review and improve upon, like page views and traffic, registration rate, show-up rate, how long attendees stick around during the webinar, and conversion rate– if you choose to monetize it somehow.
I highly recommend WebinarJam because I have used it multiple times and can honestly say I love using it and all the features it brings to the table.
CRM
Now, about that email list…
You’ve been told to talk to everyone about real estate investing.
You’ve been pushed to go out there and find partners, brokers, property managers, or anyone willing to have a conversation with you about real estate investing!
How will you remember all these people, what they talked about, what they do, and how you should connect again and potentially work together? Do it with a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM).
We at ADPI use ActiveCampaign.
It’s pretty robust but is also designed for a somewhat “large” organization.
There are a few CRMs out there:
- HubSpot CRM
- EngageBay
- Bitrix24
- Zoho CRM
- Insightly
A CRM differs from email campaign or email marketing software, but some CRMs have built-in email services, like ActiveCampaign.
Some free email marketing and campaign software are:
- HubSpot
- MailChimp
- MailerLite
- Sendinblue
This is NOT an all-inclusive list of every piece of tech or software you will need to be a thriving commercial and multifamily investor; however, this is a GREAT starting point!
