How to Invest in Rentals with Awning

Awning is a real estate brokerage that helps investors across the country. The company leverages public, licensed and proprietary data to analyze investment properties for their feed. Licensed real estate agents act as advisors that focus only on investing from property selection to closing. Awning helps investors shop for the best lenders and property managers through its partnerships.

Buy a rental property with Awning

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  ️️️5.0 Customer Rating

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  ️$30M Sales Volume

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  ️100K+ Homes Analyzed

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How Awning Works

Investors that work with Awning prepare to buy the right property, select and place offers, complete due diligence, and close with support from an Awning agent. Buyers can use a property manager to lease the home or do it on their own.

First, investors prepare to transact when the right property becomes available. An Awning agent will help them:

• Receive a pre-approval letter for financing,
• Explore property management options, and
• Select a primary location and property profile (buy-box).

Then investors review properties on the platform and recommendations from agents. Once an investor selects a desirable property, an Awning agent will help:

• Draft a competitive offer, 
• Coordinate due diligence, and
• Take the property to closing.

Awning agents work with investors to turn the asset into an income generating investment by:

• Transferring leasing responsibility to a property manager,
• Tracking the transaction until it’s leased, and
• Ensuring investors receive great service and are collecting their payments.
  

Awning Costs, Terms & Qualifications 

Awning Costs

There is no up-front cost to browse Awning properties, submit an offer, or speak with an agent. The only time that Awning makes money is when an investor purchases a property and Awning collects the buy-side commission. There are no hidden costs or fees when working with Awning. Awning does not collect any commissions or fees for referring investors to partner lenders and property managers, instead, it works with partners to create incentives for investors. 

Awning Terms

At Awning, investors aren’t bound by unnecessarily restrictive contracts and there are no other commitments that investors need to work with the brokerage. The terms of individual deals vary and investors cover these with agents during the offer and due diligence phase of the deal.

Awning Qualifications

There are no official Awning qualification requirements and the platform is open to anyone interested in real estate investing. Investors interested in purchasing a property need at least $25,000 in savings to qualify for financing and cover the closing costs.

Awning is also approachable to investors of any experience level. Awning agents have significant experience working with investors that range from first-time to multi-generational portfolio holders.

9 Steps to Investing with Awning

Each step outlines the desired outcome, most common procedures, estimated time required, general expectations, and compares the Awning process to traditional real estate investing with a real estate agent. 

1. Introduction

Investors and agents meet and align on investment priorities. This happens over a video call during which an Awning agent discusses what Awning offers and understands the unique needs of the investor. Investors answer basic questions and use it to explore Awning and the current state of the real estate market. 

In the traditional real estate process, you may meet with an agent to discuss your needs. Knowledgeable agents help investors get the most out of this step, by filling any educational gaps. 

2. Pre-approval & Financing

Getting pre-approved and securing financing enables investors to place offers with speed and confidence. Awning encourages investors to shop around with different lenders for the best rates and terms. Most online lenders offer online applications that investors can complete in 15-minutes or less.

A pre-approval letter has the maximum loan amount and is valid until the expiration date. Investors that upload a pre-approval letter to Awning can make offers on properties. Awning partners with lenders nationwide and does not collect any referral fees. Awning partners offer investors discounts, gift cards, and other incentives for working with them. 

3. Property Management

Property managers get involved in a deal during due diligence and after closing. Awning makes it easy to select the right property manager by partnering with the best local property management companies. Awning agents can introduce you to the property manager and our systems are integrated, so handing off an investment property is simple and straightforward.

Throughout an investor’s journey Awning works with the property manager to verify rents, estimate repairs, manage contractors, and to get the property leased. This means that like a turn-key solution there is very little work required to invest and unlike a turn-key solution you can choose the property manager you like.

Investors should know that Awning does not accept referral fees from property managers and negotiates different promotions for investors to take advantage of instead.

4. Market & Buy Box

Investors have a goal and a set amount of resources to achieve it. The mix of investor driven factors and the current market opportunities help Awning agents come up with a market and buy-box for the investors. 

• Market definition: A market refers to a geographic location available to investors through Awning. Every state has a dedicated agent that has extensive local knowledge. But investors can define more specific markets down to specific based on the large number of data points Awning offers.
• Buy-box definition: A catch-all term which refers to the specific financial criteria an investment property needs to meet to be considered by an investor. This includes the price, yield, cap rate, projected appreciation, and can include other variables like opportunities for building, required renovations, and more.
  

Agents define a buy-box after a market deep dive conversation, which takes 30 minutes to one hour. Investors can refine this buy-box and market at any point. Traditional real estate agents follow a similar process, but most don’t run any advanced projections and even fewer have access to markets across multiple states.

5. Property Review

A property review takes place whenever an investor requests a deep dive or an agent finds a property that’s a good match. Most investors opt to get on a call with an Awning agent to discuss the property, metrics, and potential offer amounts. 

By the end of the review, investors can either pass or place an offer. Depending on the properties and the size of the buy box, these review opportunities will happen more or less often. The pacing is up to the investor. Compared with a traditional agent, Awning agents work with investors daily, so their market knowledge and ability to understand the financial metrics is better.

6. Offer Writing

When an investor finds a suitable property, Awning agents get to work drafting an offer. The first few offers take a day to write, but investors and agents that establish a routine can prepare offers in minutes. In a hot market, quick offers make an enormous difference. 

Agents prioritize getting offers written and submitted as soon as an investor requests it. Since Awning agents specifically block off sections of their day for offer writing, offers get written quickly and completely. Awning agents work with investors to get the right deal, since investors return to Awning to keep building their portfolio.

7. Due Diligence

Properties with an accepted offer can start the due diligence process. An Awning agent will work with an investor to confirm rent estimates with a local property manager. The agent oversees repair quotes and otherwise makes sure the deal still makes sense. Every deal is different and Awning agents handle everything from last-minute rate shopping to renegotiating a deal to make it work if something material is found.

Due diligence often takes up to 10 days to be competitive in most markets. Investors should expect frequent contact and should communicate concerns or worries to an agent. Awning agents are completing multiple deals a week and can offer greater insight into anything that arises during this process. 

8. Closing 

Awning works with investors to transfer the property to a property manager who oversees repairing and leasing the unit after closing. Awning agents watch the deal until the property manager leases the property.

Repairs and leasing take a few weeks. Investors receive regular updates from Awning and the property manager throughout this process. 

9. Beyond

The property manager handles almost everything after leasing the property. An Awning agent can help if a dispute comes up, or an investor is seeking a different property manager, refinance lender, or an attorney. Of course, Awning agents can continue to surface deals and will continue to look for the perfect opportunity to grow a portfolio.

Awning will also keep you in the loop about local developments, major market changes, and new markets Awning enters. If any new features or opportunities are available, Awning investors know first. Like a traditional agent, Awning hopes you keep coming back to buy more properties. Unlike a traditional agent, Awning keeps making the product and service offering better and expanding to more markets for investors to explore.

Conclusion

Awning agents assist investors in preparing, finding, and securing an investment property in markets across the country. This process involves getting financing, finding a property, placing offers, completing due diligence, and handing it off to a local property manager. Awning continues to partner and work with investors after the purchase process to ensure things are running smoothly.