New "Portfolio Tracker" tool on BiggerPockets... and it's FREE!

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New "Portfolio Tracker" tool on BiggerPockets... and it's FREE!

Brandon TurnerPro Member
Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes

Hey folks!

We just released another awesome free tool (for everyone - Pro, Plus, and Free members!) to help you stay more organized as you build your real estate portfolio. 

It's called the  Portfolio Tracker and we'd love to have some members test it out and let us know what you think! 

The Basic Idea

We wanted to provide a simple, one-stop-shop page for those with a growing rental portfolio to track their net worth, as well as give users the ability to share a summary of their portfolio with lenders, partners, or others. 

Right now, the tool only tracks Rental Properties. If people find this tool valuable, perhaps we'll add a Flipping and Wholesale component as well. Thoughts?

Give it a try today by visiting  www.BiggerPockets.com/portfolio

How It Works

The portfolio tracker is super simple and intuitive, but here's some basic information on how to use it: 

1.) First, add a property by clicking the "add a new property" button on the bottom right. 

2.) Enter the purchase date, purchase price, current value, loan balance, and monthly cash flow. (The equity field will be calculated automatically.) 

3.) Edit any entry any time by simply clicking on any existing row. This way, you can update your portfolio regularly as the numbers change. 

4.) If so desired, print or share via email a PDF report of your portfolio any time by clicking either of the blue buttons on the upper right corner of the Portfolio Tracker. 

Can We Get Your Help? 

This product is currently in "beta" mode. This means we are still working on it, but need YOUR feedback to make it better! So if you are willing to test it out, play with it, enter your portfolio, etc ... and give us feedback, we'd really appreciate it!

Feel free to leave any comments here in this thread! For example: 

  • What do you like about it?
  • What don't you like about?
  • What needs improvement?
  • What is "unclear" about how it works? 
  • Any suggestions to make it better?
  • Did you notice any "bugs" or "quirks" that should be fixed?

Thank you, everyone! I hope you all enjoy this new tool!

-Brandon 

Podcast Guest on Show #92
12Reply
205 views

Most Popular Reply

Mike H.
Rental Property Investor · Manteno, IL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y

If your intent is that investors would be showing this to a lender, then here is what I would throw out as some possible improvements.

1) Purchase date only goes back to 2010. Should go back further for people with portfolios that started before then.

2) Let me enter purchase date directly as an option. Its far quicker.

3)Instead of monthly cash flow as some number, allow me to enter:
a) Rent. 
b) Mortg payment, 
c) Taxes, 
d) Insurance 

And then calculate the monthly cashflow (i.e Gross monthly profit). Repairs, capex and vacancy are very subjective. Each lender will have their own ideas. Better to leave it blank and let each lender extrapolate their own numbers. But the amounts above are typically what they want to see.

4) Add a column for monthly principal paydown as well that can be entered as well. I think this is a vastly under-appreciated monthly income stream that real estate generates. And most lenders would be surprised at how quickly that adds up in terms of the returns....

5) Add current lender name and/or loan terms. It helps tracking the loans/balloon dates and also lets other lenders see that you're getting loans from other banks and what their terms are. Sometimes they might suggest refinancing existing loans over to them if they see some low hanging fruit......

6) And maybe a field for rehab amount. Some lenders like to see what your all-in price actually was on the house..... But I have only been asked that a couple of times so I don't typically track that on my homegrown schedule of real estate.

What I would say though is that this is really a great idea and I hope you guyscontinue moving forward with it. I'm curious to see what other fields some of the real pros on here also track and present to their lenders.

3Reply
See this reply in the discussion

43 Replies

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  • Ndy Onyido
    Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2014 · 615 posts · 172 votes
    10y

    Hey Brandon,

    As always, thank you for the innovative ideas on making BP site a go-to site for REI. This one is not an exception. I took a quick stab at it and here are my observations:

    1. The date field for year of purchase should be more intuitive in allowing users to pick the year. You may have this as a pick list as scrolling backwards to get a date of purchase ( say as recent as 2011), takes the user through multiple clicks. 

    2. The following fields ( purchase amount, current value and cashflow) should allow for display of numbers with thousands/millions  separator ( eg 20,000.00 format).

    Otherwise, the feature of ability to email this in  a pdf format is great. 

    Again, thanks for the awesome job you folks are doing.

    Have a Merry Christmas.

    0Reply
  • Derek Martin
    Investor & Attorney · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 86 posts · 29 votes
    10y

    Brandon,

    I like the concept. I keep the same thing on an excel sheet. It's fun to see it change over time!

    1. It should probably total everything up at the bottom. Especially to give a total net worth.

    2. The Purchase Price and Purchase Date don't factor into the current numbers. Are they just for reference purposes? 

    3. Maybe include a basic equation for "Monthly Cashflow." Everyone seems to have their own equation (reserves, vacancy, property management even if it's self-managed, etc).

    4. On my spreadsheet, I include a notes section. For example, "needs a new roof in 2 years" reminds me what lies beneath the numbers.

    Great tracker. Hope this helps!

    2Reply
  • Gautam Venkatesan
    Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 619 posts · 128 votes
    10y

    Nice start! 

    The delete icon does not seem to work.

    0Reply
  • Michael Faulk
    Realtor · Shreveport, LA · Member since 2012 · 311 posts · 58 votes
    10y

    I now know how I will be spending my Monday evening. 

    1Reply
  • Matt Motil
    Rental Property Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 880 votes
    10y

    The download PDF button brings up a PDF with all the fields blank. Also, it would be nice to have some additional fields or options to have the sheet calculate cashflow based on inputs from the user. 

    Maybe have a basic that allows you to input cashflow like it is now, or an advanced check box that brings up all the different fields like taxes, insurance, maintenance, mgmt, capex, vacancy, etc.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    New to Real Estate · Fayetteville, NC · Member since 2015 · 51 posts · 6 votes
    10y
    Totals go at the top. It's non-standard, yes I know, but it helps give an overall snapshot before scrolling.
    0Reply
  • Maxwell Anyimah-mensah
    Rental Property Investor · Lynnwood, WA · Member since 2015 · 45 posts · 21 votes
    10y
    Wow, Just the concept of having this tool available of BP is a huge step and help for an investor as myself... Thank you folks at BP... I/We appreciate your efforts in guiding as through this journey!
    0Reply
  • John PowellPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Kennesaw, GA · Member since 2015 · 308 posts · 153 votes
    10y

    I just tried the tracker but it generated the report without any data (zeros across the board). I tried emailing it to myself with no luck. once I clicked away from the page and went back all the data was gone. It is like there should be a save button but I did not see one.

    0Reply
  • Jeff B.
    Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    Q?  Is the data private, or commonly visible to everyone?

    0Reply
  • Mike H.
    Rental Property Investor · Manteno, IL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    If your intent is that investors would be showing this to a lender, then here is what I would throw out as some possible improvements.

    1) Purchase date only goes back to 2010. Should go back further for people with portfolios that started before then.

    2) Let me enter purchase date directly as an option. Its far quicker.

    3)Instead of monthly cash flow as some number, allow me to enter:
    a) Rent. 
    b) Mortg payment, 
    c) Taxes, 
    d) Insurance 

    And then calculate the monthly cashflow (i.e Gross monthly profit). Repairs, capex and vacancy are very subjective. Each lender will have their own ideas. Better to leave it blank and let each lender extrapolate their own numbers. But the amounts above are typically what they want to see.

    4) Add a column for monthly principal paydown as well that can be entered as well. I think this is a vastly under-appreciated monthly income stream that real estate generates. And most lenders would be surprised at how quickly that adds up in terms of the returns....

    5) Add current lender name and/or loan terms. It helps tracking the loans/balloon dates and also lets other lenders see that you're getting loans from other banks and what their terms are. Sometimes they might suggest refinancing existing loans over to them if they see some low hanging fruit......

    6) And maybe a field for rehab amount. Some lenders like to see what your all-in price actually was on the house..... But I have only been asked that a couple of times so I don't typically track that on my homegrown schedule of real estate.

    What I would say though is that this is really a great idea and I hope you guyscontinue moving forward with it. I'm curious to see what other fields some of the real pros on here also track and present to their lenders.

    3Reply
  • Mike Gannon
    Rental Property Investor · Enterprise, AL · Member since 2015 · 39 posts · 10 votes
    10y
    I would agree with the desire for more input/info on the sheet taxes, MIP, interest/principal, rent, etc. I would like to see an intuitive and simple format to quickly see the cash flow per property at any given time, to include results of additional principle payments. I was also curious about visibility, and look forward to the answer. The date manual input suggestion was a great one, but luckily enough for me my first property was in 2010 lol.
    0Reply
  • Toye Lane
    Woodbury, NY · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 1 vote
    10y
    Hi Brandon, I'm an investor from Long Island , Ny. Where do I find the tracker tool to use ? It's sounds very interesting and helpful
    0Reply
  • Kevin Wells
    Medical field · El Cajon, CA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    total equity isn't calculating correctly it is only showin equity for first property entered.  I tried multiple times with same result always first entry shows as total equity.  It sometimes  updates when you sort by a column or edit a current value after initial save.  This was all done on mobile I didn't test on a "normal" computer to verify result.

    Nice quick snapshot of portfolio decent start expanding cashflow as suggested above would be great improvement.

    0Reply
  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    Hey everyone! Great suggestions and comments. I'll be making some changes based on the information you guys have supplied. And I'll be reaching out to some of you for some additional questiosn!

    Thanks all! Anything else -feel free to add your thoughts in this thread!

    Podcast Guest on Show #92
    0Reply
  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    Hey @Gautam Venkatesan - the delete button seems to work for me. Can you give it a try again and see what happens? If it doesn't work, can you let me know what kind of computer (mac or pc) and what browser you are using? Thanks!

    Podcast Guest on Show #92
    0Reply
  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    @Jeff B.- private, unless shared with the "share" button. But that's good feedback - I need to make that more obvious! Thanks! 

    Podcast Guest on Show #92
    0Reply
  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    Hey @John Powell  and @Matt Motil - Do you remember if you clicked the little blue checkmark on the far right?  That will save the entry when you make one. I realize now that this is not very intuitive and several people have encountered the same issue. If the checkmark isnt' clicked, it won't update or save the new listing. Which means it will show only 0s on the report. So we'll be re-doing that so it saves automatically and this won't be an issue. Thanks for the help fellas!

    Podcast Guest on Show #92
    0Reply
  • Gautam Venkatesan
    Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 619 posts · 128 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Brandon Turner:

    Hey @Gautam Venkatesan - the delete button seems to work for me. Can you give it a try again and see what happens? If it doesn't work, can you let me know what kind of computer (mac or pc) and what browser you are using? Thanks!

     It is working now. Thanks for following up.

    0Reply
  • Michael Hamilton
    Investor · Zionsville, IN · Member since 2013 · 5 posts · 4 votes
    10y
    Hi, As a future enhancement, it would be nice to date stamp your portfolio. By doing so, you can look back and see how your portfolio looked two years ago compared to today and the ability to see trends (cash flow growth, equity growth, etc.)
    2Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2014 · 308 posts · 144 votes
    10y

    You know Brandon, I'm getting really sick and tired of this "super helpfulness" you've been having.  I expect you to be grumpy, unhelpful, and just an all around unpleasant experience on this site. :)

    Ha!

    Thank you so very much for continually adding features to this already awesome site!  I also dig your podcast, and have gotten a LOT of tips that have saved me thousands!

    1Reply
  • Joe Mueller
    Barrington, IL · Member since 2010 · 204 posts · 54 votes
    10y
    Love it to set the foundation and build as you go!
    0Reply
  • Brie SchmidtBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Mike H.:

    If your intent is that investors would be showing this to a lender, then here is what I would throw out as some possible improvements.

    3)Instead of monthly cash flow as some number, allow me to enter:

    a) Rent. 
    b) Mortg payment, 
    c) Taxes, 
    d) Insurance 

    5) Add current lender name and/or loan terms. It helps tracking the loans/balloon dates and also lets other lenders see that you're getting loans from other banks and what their terms are. 

    These two are important if I were to use this.  When I need to provide a summary for my banks I am required to provide this information.

    Podcast Guest on Show #132
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    2Reply
  • Michael M.
    Investor · Willoughby, OH · Member since 2015 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    10y
    Will this "tool" be made available offline? If not, can it be made available for offline, for pro members or purchase?
    1Reply
  • Gary Charlton
    Real Estate Professional · Adelaide, South Australia · Member since 2015 · 18 posts · 6 votes
    10y
    Thanks Brandon Turner and the creative team at BP. This will go a long way to keeping track of my portfolio so financing future deals will be more streamlined.
    1Reply
  • Billy Rogers
    Investor · nowhere, TX · Member since 2012 · 242 posts · 84 votes
    10y

    @Brandon Turner Great job on this.   I think it's really useful and appreciate the effort that went in to it.

    0Reply
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