Rental property investment calculator

• US 8,321,319 B1
• Filed: 10/23/2008
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Grossblatt, Lesley K., Foss, Lucinda Kathryn, Vu, Miriam Nga-Shun
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malhotra, Sanjeev
• Application Number:
  US12/257,284
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/35, 705/36.R, 705/36.T, 705/37, 705/38, 707/9, 707/10
• US Class Current: 705/36.R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for analyzing an investment in a rental property. The method steps include obtaining identification information of the rental property, wherein identification information identifies the rental property to an information source, submitting a request to the information source based on identification information, receiving property information from the information source based on the request, obtaining an investment parameter from an investor of the investment in the rental property, analyzing the investment in the rental property based on the investment parameter and property information to generate an analysis result, adjusting the investment parameter to optimize the analysis result resulting in an optimized analysis result, and generating a report based on the optimized analysis result.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing an investment in a rental property, comprising:

obtaining identification information of the rental property, wherein the identification information identifies the rental property to a real estate listing service and a government organization;

submitting, by a processor of a computer system, a first request to the real estate listing service based on the identification information;

receiving, by the processor, first property information comprising historical rent data of local comparable properties, current market rent data of the local comparable properties, and purchase price history from the real estate listing service based on the first request;

submitting, by the processor, a second request to the government organization based on the identification information;

receiving, by the processor, second property information comprising property tax and a rent control rule of the rental property from the government organization based on the second request;

obtaining investment parameters comprising down payment amount, mortgage information, and an inflation rate estimate from an investor of the investment in the rental property;

analyzing, by the processor and prior to making the investment, the investment in the rental property based on the investment parameters, the first property information, and the second property information to generate an analysis result, wherein the investment is analyzed on a net present value basis using the inflation rate estimate;

adjusting, by the processor and prior to making the investment, the down payment amount, the mortgage information, and the inflation rate estimate to optimize the analysis result, resulting in an optimized analysis result; and

generating, by the processor, a report based on the optimized analysis result.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises an address and a type of the rental property.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis result comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of capitalization rate, return on investment, return on asset, return on equity, and return on capital.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allocating an investment capital among a plurality of rental properties based on an allocation schedule;

generating a plurality of analysis results of the plurality of rental properties; and

optimizing a total return of the investment capital based on the plurality of analysis results by adjusting the allocation schedule.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the report to the investor of the investment in the rental property; and

receiving a fee from the investor.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

paying a fee to the real estate listing service.

7. A system for performing operations for analyzing an investment in a rental property, comprising:

an information source; and

a processor and memory comprising instructions when executed by the processor comprise functionality to;

obtain identification information of the rental property, wherein the identification information identifies the rental property to a real estate listing service and a government organization;

submit a first request to the real estate listing service based on the identification information;

receive first property information comprising historical rent data of local comparable properties, current market rent data of the local comparable properties, and purchase price history from the real estate listing service based on the first request;

submit a second request to the government organization based on the identification information;

receive second property information comprising property tax and a rent control rule of the rental property from the government organization based on the second request;

obtain investment parameters comprising down payment amount, mortgage information, and an inflation rate estimate from an investor of the investment in the rental property;

analyze, prior to making the investment, the investment in the rental property based on the investment parameters, the first property information, and the second property information to generate an analysis result, wherein the investment is analyzed on a net present value basis using the inflation rate estimate;

adjust, prior to making the investment, the down payment amount, the mortgage information, and the inflation rate estimate to optimize the analysis result, resulting in an optimized analysis result; and

generate a report based on the optimized analysis result.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the identification information comprises an address and a type of the rental property.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the analysis result comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of capitalization rate, return on investment, return on asset, return on equity, and return on capital.

10. The system of claim 7, memory further comprising instructions when executed by the processor comprising functionality to:

allocate an investment capital among a plurality of rental properties based on an allocation schedule;

generate a plurality of analysis results of the plurality of rental properties; and

optimize a total return of the investment capital based on the plurality of analysis results by adjusting the allocation schedule.

11. The system of claim 7, memory further comprising instructions when executed by the processor comprising functionality to:

present the report to the investor of the investment in the rental property; and

receive a fee from the investor.

12. The system of claim 7, memory further comprising instructions when executed by the processor comprising functionality to:

pay a fee to the real estate listing service.