The Rise of Women Real Estate Investors: Breaking Barriers

If you’re a woman interested in taking control of your financial freedom, consider investing in real estate. For years, women real estate agents and brokers have helped others find their dream homes, but many women have felt reluctant to invest in real estate. However, the trend of women investing in real estate is rapidly changing.

Women investors are helping break down the barriers of gender and diversity by creating positive role models for other women by making successful investments, supporting each other through groups and workshops, and continuing their education toward financial freedom. Learn more about how to break through the barriers of real estate investing with the following tips.

Key Takeaways

• Women real estate investors are on the rise, both nationally and globally. Organizations like Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) are helping break down the barriers to gender and diversity inclusion. 
• Keeping up with changing real estate trends can help women succeed in real estate investing. 
• Real estate investors should embrace and actively use technology to help them with finances, property analysis, digital paperwork, and documentation.
• Consider crowdfunding finances if you have little start-up money or don’t qualify for a traditional loan. 
• Women are becoming more active in investing in commercial real estate.
• Fix-and-flip properties can help new real estate investors build their portfolios and learn about the home buying and selling process.

Keep Up With Trends and Changes in the Real Estate and Housing Industry

The real estate industry is ever-evolving due to technology, valuation and inflation, and consumer preferences. Staying ahead of trends and changes is essential to become a successful real estate investor. Knowing your demographic is one way to improve your real estate investments. Many young buyers or renters want properties with green space, sustainable building materials, and outdoor space to entertain. If you plan on renting to this demographic, look for properties with these features. 

As more and more people work from home, they may move out of the city and into the suburbs or onto properties outside of town. You may need to upgrade appliances to attract tenants if you have rental property. To keep up with changing trends, you can subscribe to real estate newsletters, join groups of other women real estate investors, and take ongoing courses and workshops to help you stay on track with new trends.

Embrace Technology

Homebuyers, investors, tenants, property management companies, title companies, and builders use technology to help with transactions. Using virtual tools can help you manage any investment properties swiftly and seamlessly. If you have rental investments, you can digitally manage rent collections, maintenance requests, and contracts, freeing up your time to look for other potential real estate investments.

Using automated social media and advertising platforms lets you market your rental property or property you’re selling without spending hours manually making posts or ads. You can even use prepared emails that go out upon a request for your property to gather the lead’s contact information. Then, you can review the information and personally contact the lead as time allows.

Using tools for market comparables and return on investment can help you filter through numerous listings.  Using this type of real estate tool can help you find properties that fit your demographics and specialty property types, whether single-family homes, multi-use buildings, or commercial properties.

Blockchain technology is a modern way to keep track of records and streamline your real estate investment properties. As your property portfolio grows, you can add digital blocks (sometimes called ledgers) within the software for each property. Blockchain technology allows you to share information with whomever you want across secured computers. This technology helps real estate investors connect with buyers, sellers, and contractors.

Master Your Math and Financial Skills

Real estate investing requires hard math and finance skills. Anyone considering real estate investing should use tools and software to help with debt repayment analysis, operating costs, net operating income, levered cash flow, and overall financial ratios.

You don’t have to be a math wizard to invest in real estate, but you should know how to use the tools to help you manage your properties and finances. Look for cloud-based software designed exclusively for real estate investors to handle several properties simultaneously. The best real estate investing software can track how well your properties perform, download tax-ready financial statements, provide top-notch customer service support, be cost-effective, and have a minimal learning curve.

If you’re new to real estate investing with minimal start-up money, consider crowdfunding. With crowdfunding, you set up an online proposal using a real estate crowdfunding platform and ask for financing for your real estate project. You ask several investors to lend you money, and they’ll earn interest on their investment. You’ll only want to use crowdfunding if you feel confident your real estate investment will make a profit so you can repay your loan. For someone who can’t get a traditional loan, crowdfunding may help them start investing in real estate.

Invest in Commercial Property

Many real estate investors shy away from commercial property. Until recently, male real estate investors dominated the commercial property market, but once women understand the financial value of investing in commercial properties, we see an increase in this market. Joining a group like the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) that supports and promotes gender and cultural diversity can help women break down the barrier in commercial real estate investing.

If you are considering commercial real estate investing, get mentoring to learn the ins and outs of commercial properties. Finding other women commercial real estate investors willing to share their tips, struggles, and successes can help you succeed quickly and get your foot in the door to this lucrative real estate investing potential.

Consider Fix-and-Flip Properties

If you enjoy fixing up properties and selling them, consider fix-and-flip real estate investing. This type of real estate investing is different from owning rental properties, either residential or commercial. You’ll need to find properties that need repair, source contractors and vendors to do the work, and then, once finished, list the property for sale, earning a profit.

Getting the work done quickly and reselling it fast is crucial to successful property flipping to avoid paying interest on a loan and additional property taxes. You’ll need to research how long similar properties in the area sit on the market to establish a realistic timeline to sell the property for profit. A local real estate agent can help you navigate the permit and zoning process and help you determine the after-repair value.

Suppose you’re planning on getting a loan for the fix-and-flip property. In that case, you may need to seek financing from a private moneylender or other investors, as many rundown properties don’t qualify for a traditional loan. Once you’ve found your fix-and-flip property and secured financing, you must source your contractor. Be sure to view the contractor’s portfolio and look for past customer reviews or testimonials to know about the contractor’s reputation and reliability.

Explore Your Potential in Real Estate Investing With an Infinity Investment Membership

Women interested in diversifying their portfolios and creating wealth should consider investing in real estate. If you’d like to learn more about tips and high-quality real estate investment techniques, sign up for our free Infinity Investment membership. This membership lets you access on-demand real estate investment courses and helpful workshops. To gain even more in-depth knowledge about building your real estate portfolio and creating financial freedom, sign up for our paid 360 Pro Membership.