Something I have recently discovered and started to use is the due diligence tool www.duedil.com.

This is a straightforward, easy to use way of finding out public domain information about companies and individuals. Company information among other things reveals published financials, directors, registered and trading addresses, filings and status. Individual information shows the companies that individual is or has been involved with.

By way of background, I quote from the Duedil blog: “Duedil was founded in April 2010 by entrepreneur, Damian Kimmelman with the purpose of developing a sense of trust in business, by opening up company information such as, financial records, litigations, directorships, people searches, stock information and more, and all for FREE!”

While it comes into my category for an essential tool, it does not necessarily provide a 100% accurate reflection as one well respected female property investor pointed out. Like many other research tools, it is a means of gathering information during the investigation stage, and one which can help you formulate further questions before entering into a venture with someone else.