Rental Property Investor · Fort Mill, SC · Member since 2014 · 161 posts · 132 votes
Hey guys,
What kind of application (desktop or mobile) do you use for managing your properties? I am kind of a old-fashioned guy who is using Excel to do all the calculation and book-keeping, I think it's time to try something new. Any recommendation? Thanks.
I'm probably gonna sound really old saying this, but.... pencil and paper. And I'm only 30 years old (well, I'll be 31 soon).
To be honest, this answer comes with an asterisk. That being, we own a local triplex that we manage, plus 3 fourplexes in other states that we have PMs manage (they use software for their management). For the triplex, we have a slip of paper on the fridge where I record when each of our triplex tenants pays rent. Any receipts related to the triplex go in a drawer. I record everything (income, expenses, deposits withheld, etc.) on a piece of paper (with, yes, a pencil), and I bring that paper to our accountant at tax time. I do similar for our fourplexes - I tally up income, expenses, management fees, etc. and take that to our accountant.
Honestly, this is how my parents taught me to do it because it's how they do it (they're old fashioned). Someday I may break down and create an Excel spreadsheet for all the little categories and input it all that way, but for now, pencil and paper is faster for me.
I do have some Excel spreadsheets set up for household budget, income and expense estimates, etc., but those are just for things that determine how much money goes into each account (one account for monthly expenses, one account for less-frequent expenses, savings account, etc.).
Do I win something for being the most old school? :)
We use AppFolio, but I think they might have a $200 per month minimum, so it depends how many units you have. It makes the accounting very simple though and saves a lot of time.
They are constantly improving based on feedback from customers too. They have a mobile app with limited functionality, but I often login to the full site through the web browser on my phone or tablet.
I managed 25 units and I just used Excel. I looked into other options, but kept just going back to my trusty spreadsheet.
Hey Sue, yeah Excel is still pretty good though, I used Excel most of the time. What kind of features you want most if you switch to other solutions by the way?
@Johnny Situ - I started with excel, but after 4 units I switched over to Buildium. All online and they have an accompanying app. I have been using them for two years now. You get a free website with tenant portal where they can pay rent and submit maintenance requests. I use it to manage properties, track accounting and track work orders. They changed their pricing last year, so I think the minimum is around $40 a month or roughly $1 a unit per month.
I've checked out True Rent and it looks good. Most likely that is what I'll use. Free for the first 50 units then $1 for each one afterwards. It has features comparable to the more expensive software.
I also started out with Excel. Then I switched to QuickBooks Pro. Once you get through the learning curve, QuickBooks is good. Also, QuickBooks is "industry standard" among CPAs. Its easy to email your QuickBooks file to your CPA at the end of the quarter or end of the year.
I have used quicken rental property manager for quite some time. Have 25 units and with one entry it puts things into several catagories automatically. Shows tenant payment history and balance due plus will print out income and expenses report and a yearly tax statement.Does a lot for a simple program
I managed 25 units and I just used Excel. I looked into other options, but kept just going back to my trusty spreadsheet.
Hey Sue, yeah Excel is still pretty good though, I used Excel most of the time. What kind of features you want most if you switch to other solutions by the way?
Well, I'm retired now, so I don't need to do any bookkeeping anymore - yay! I just hate ongoing data entry, so I gave up on other solutions. I just found it actually took more of my time instead of saving it, messing with all of the apps, etc. I preferred to just sit down once a month and deal with the books, and for my needs all I needed was a simple spreadsheet.
Keep in mind I did not keep books for the owner as far as his other costs, though. He was even older and more old-fashioned than me, ha ha, and he just kept receipts for each month for each property he had, and he did use Turbo Tax for landlords at the end of the year, and did his own taxes, though.
My spreadsheet showed him income each month, and year-to-date. I also created one that showed what his income would be for each apartment if they were at market rent, date they moved in, amount of their security deposit, and notes which would include any issues or their expected move-out date, if they had a balance due - when payment was expected (some students relied on financial aid and it would be late occasionally). It was a handy quick reference.
I've been using - propertymanagercloud.com - for the past few months (moved over to this from spreadsheets). I like it because it's online, managed by somebody else, is designed to help keep things consistent (I'm not very good at being consistent!). I don't like it because it's limited features, doesn't appear to have a connection to any financial software (eg: quickbooks) but it's only $15 for the 2 properties that I manage so I'm saving $185 over the property management company we fired last year (best decision ever!). Good luck with your search!
I'm probably gonna sound really old saying this, but.... pencil and paper. And I'm only 30 years old (well, I'll be 31 soon).
To be honest, this answer comes with an asterisk. That being, we own a local triplex that we manage, plus 3 fourplexes in other states that we have PMs manage (they use software for their management). For the triplex, we have a slip of paper on the fridge where I record when each of our triplex tenants pays rent. Any receipts related to the triplex go in a drawer. I record everything (income, expenses, deposits withheld, etc.) on a piece of paper (with, yes, a pencil), and I bring that paper to our accountant at tax time. I do similar for our fourplexes - I tally up income, expenses, management fees, etc. and take that to our accountant.
Honestly, this is how my parents taught me to do it because it's how they do it (they're old fashioned). Someday I may break down and create an Excel spreadsheet for all the little categories and input it all that way, but for now, pencil and paper is faster for me.
I do have some Excel spreadsheets set up for household budget, income and expense estimates, etc., but those are just for things that determine how much money goes into each account (one account for monthly expenses, one account for less-frequent expenses, savings account, etc.).
Do I win something for being the most old school? :)
i started with excel and tried out a web based PM software. I felt it got over cumbersome. I am sure if PM was my full time job those programs would be great. But I ended up back on excel. i just keep a folder for each property and put the receipts in the folder and at the end of the month i add everything up and input it in the spreadsheet. then file the receipts away for years end. only takes a hour or so per month.