There’s always something to howl about.

Revestor.com is live now. Revestor.com searches current listings by cash flow and capitalization rate.

I received an email, from BHB Anaheim presenter Bill Lyons, that Revestor.com is live now and will be announced to the public tomorrow.  Bill knows that the Bloodhound way is to fly under the radar, sneak in the back door, and quietly win so I appreciate the chance to break the news.

Revestor.com is a new property search site.  It’s unique proposition is that it allows users to search by either capitalization rate or cash flow.  Revestor believes it will become a useful tool for both investors and primary residence home buyers.  Bill Lyons suggested that its unique ranking display, offers data to a home buyer, which is currently unavailable.  Incorporating the income potential of a property offers another valuation model for home buyers to consider.

I ran a search for an area with which I’m familiar; Oceanside, CA  zip code 92056.  I searched for properties listed from $150,000 to $250,000, by cash flow, and ten current listings were displayed.  The top two listings appealed to me:

3906 Marvin –  a 3BR 2BA, 1064 s.f. SFD with $902 of free cash flow, with an 80% LTV loan, listed at $169, 767

3132 Glenn –  a 4BR 2BA, 1302 s.f. SFD with $533 of free cash flow, with an 80% LTV loan, listed at 249,900

Revestor offers a “launch” blog post and I’ll insert Bill’s comments from there (italicized), as I offer my ideas  here.

Here is what I like about the site:  I like the map display of the listings and I love the fact that it ranks the listings by investment potential.  The financial data offered, on individual listings, is pretty comprehensive.  It drills down on expense data and allows the user to customize it.  The mortgage data is cool because it allows you to slide the down payment tool and see real-time figures.  The exit strategy information is unique but I’m unclear as to how they determine the potential resale value.

Bill offered:  While San Diego is just a starting point we are still very much a “work in progress“. The site is not perfect (especially for a perfectionist that is striving for simplicity). We launched with about 75% of the functionality/capability that we wanted to, but hey, we were anxious to bring about change.

Here is what I think needs improvement:  It’s only available for San Diego County right now.  That works fine for me but, as I’m sure the management of Revestor,com knows, that ain’t gonna fly if they intend to be a player.  I’m unclear as to the accuracy of the rental rates.  I thought the data look pretty high but I haven’t seen a property lease, in that zip code, for over a year now.  The individual property listing display page seems kind of boring with incomplete MLS listing data but the financial data exceeds my expectations.  Finally, the mortgage information is not “live” yet and a tad too ambitious.  That should improve as they secure live mortgage feeds.

Bill offered: We will be the first to admit our ‘estimated rent’ and our algorithm are not 100% accurate. Over time (as the algorithm recognizes patterns in our database and our users give feedback it WILL gain more intelligence and get very close!). At this point, Revestor is not an end all be all, but rather a pre-due diligence tool. You certainly aren’t going to call up your real estate agent and say “buy 1234 Main St – now!” without doing any additional research but it sure is going to give you a good place to start

All in all, Revestor,com is a great tool with a limited reach.  Tomorrow, it works for San Diego County agents and home buyers,  If Revestor,com wants to last past their cash burn rate, it is going to have to add new markets…quickly.  I’ve know Bill for five years now and I’ve seen him build profitable businesses pretty quickly.  If I had to bet on on a horse race, I’d bet on the Lyon.  Give Bill your feedback and don’t be too kind. He’s a big boy who can handle constructive criticism.