Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
Is there a good software out there that will populate contracts and other forms? I know of Zipform, but you have to have license to obtain. Is there anything out there that is open to anyone for purchase that works similarly?
Rehabber · Tucson, AZ · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 802 votes
16y
My vote is for Adobe Acrobat. There is a standard and pro version. I bought an 8.0 Pro version on eBay for 130.00 a couple of years ago. I installed it on all three of my computers. I do not even know how I got along without it.
I also use MS Excel and I created a form on it which pre-fills all my contracts, addendum's, fax covers, letters, and property condition reports which I use for short sales since you need more documentation.
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2010 · 328 posts · 182 votes
16y
Adobe Acrobat (not Reader) will also allow you to do this. You can password protect the file and make it not editable after you're done so that you can email it and not worry about modifications by other people.
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
16y
That's something I did think about. The software was about $400, I think. Which, I will pay eventually cause I believe a lot of what we do revolves around PDF format, etc.
I guess what I was hoping to find was some software that brought up a "form" where you just entered all the information by tabbing through. Then, when done, you click a "create form" type of buttton and it spits out the form with all the blanks filled out. This seems to be a bit harder to come by than I realized it would...but, both of the above options will work just fine and I appreciate the input!
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
16y
Haha, I don't know the answer to that, yet JCC. I figured I would just ask that part of it when I got to it...haha. So, don't feel in the dark about it, you're not alone =)
Residential Real Estate Agent · Chandler, AZ · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 928 votes
16y
This is exactly what mail merge does. You fill in an excel sheet and Word will auto populate it. The best part is if you have an electronic fax, you can autofax it as well.
You can buy it on ebay for $120-$180. Or use Nitropdf, but I recommend adobe over it.
Real Estate Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2009 · 86 posts · 39 votes
16y
Some of the nicer comprehensive databases systems allow you to upload documents and autopopulate them. The one I use is buildium. The advantage is that all the tenant/whatever data is already in the database.
Rehabber · Tucson, AZ · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 802 votes
16y
My vote is for Adobe Acrobat. There is a standard and pro version. I bought an 8.0 Pro version on eBay for 130.00 a couple of years ago. I installed it on all three of my computers. I do not even know how I got along without it.
I also use MS Excel and I created a form on it which pre-fills all my contracts, addendum's, fax covers, letters, and property condition reports which I use for short sales since you need more documentation.
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
16y
I originally was asking about something like what Scott Nachatilo is talking about...that would be idea. I think Scott Hubbard has the right idea for me, for now since I don't have THAT much activity, yet.
Thanks for the offer Michael...I will keep that in mind in the future if there's something I can't figure out. I was just looking for a way to fill out an easy form that would autopopulate a contract or addendum, etc...
I think all of these ideas are great, though! Thank you all for the responses.
Scott Hubbard: When you mentioned the Excel and creating forms that pre-fills, what/how are you doing that? I am pretty Excel Savvy, but don't know how to create a form that autofills contracts...which, is sort of what I was looking for.
Real Estate Investor · West Covina, CA · Member since 2009 · 35 posts · 5 votes
16y
Chris.
I think what scott is talking about is what you are looking for.
I had a partner a few years back that made his own. The way that it worked was his main data base listed all the information like name, last name, property address, APN #, etc. then all he did was select a contract or form and it would add all the information required from the data base. An auto merge!
Ive thought about contacting him about that in the past and If i can get in touch with him ill post what ever I find out
Rehabber · Tucson, AZ · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 802 votes
16y
I use multiple sheets.
1. Sheet 1 is your data form: Seller information, property, address, offer amount, title company, buyer information etc.
2. Sheet 2 would be the form you want to fill out. For instance, a purchase contract. Copy and paste the contract in Excel using text to column feature. Create a a cell in the form where you want to place the data. In the formula bar type in ' = ' sign, then click on Sheet 1 and the cell that carries the data you want to appear in the form.
I have about 10 different forms including a HUD 1. I only have to fill in the data form once and use only the forms I need.
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
16y
Thanks Dee, would love to hear what your partner is/was doing.
Okay Scott, that makes sense, I think...I will have to mess with it to see if I can get it to work.
Michael, that would be great, the format you have there. Is that created in Adobe? I mean, the forms and all that? If so, that may be the route to go...I do like the functionality of what Scott is talking about, however. I mean, enter your data once and it populates every other form you have with the correct information...but I do want it to ultimately be laid out like you posted Michael, in the end.
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 45 posts · 4 votes
16y
Okay, thanks again, Michael. So, in general, the info has to be entered just once?
I don't know why I am so stuck on this...I guess I have done only 5 contracts in the last 2 months...but I am not dedicating a significant amount of time to the deals. So, I just got to thinking how overwhelming this could get if I were doing more deals and spending more time generating business...a tool like this just seems it would simplify things so much.
Rental Property Investor · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2012 · 74 posts · 43 votes
10y
Found this old thread and wanted to revive it to see if there are any better options, now that it is 2016? I am a realtor and my brokerage uses formsrus.com, and I really like how it is organized and pre-populates contracts, etc. I could see this being really helpful with the rental properties I manage, in fact I called and they have a setup specifically for property management, but I'm not ready to shell out $49.95/mo (the price for a small business like mine). Any online suggestions? Or just purchase Adobe Acrobat PRO?