Software, Software, Software

[Robert Barbee]

Hello All!

I have been a rei daydreamer for several years now and I never really knew how to take that leap.  After listening to Brandon's 90 day challenge webinar one night I decided that I had to get going.  Fast forward 90 days later and I have closed on two properties and I have another one under contract to close before the end of the month.  I am strictly a buy, hold and manage investor as of now.  With that being said, I feel that with this being a side gig for me, because I still have a career in distribution and sales, I am a bit overwhelmed with the paper flow.  I have been trying a few different software programs that I like so far but I wanted to get some experienced input from you guys and gals.  I want accounting, maintenance tracking and anything else that helps me manage the flow of my business.  My goal was to have 5 properties at the end of year two, but I think that I will realistically hit that number by the end of this summer.  Please let me know what you think!!!  Currently reviewing: propertyzar, simplifyem and tenantcloud

Thanks in advance!

[Nathan Gesner]

People, particularly amateurs just starting out, tend to focus too much on big tools. You don't need anything fancy for a few rentals. I would argue you don't need any special software at all for less than 10 rentals. You create a spreadsheet with one unit per tab. Each tab has:

- Tenant information

- Rent ledger: date of payment, form of payment, amount, balance

- Maintenance tracking: date, problem, vendor assigned, date completed, date invoice paid, notes

That's it. Don't make it so complicated that you have to spend more time learning the software than it's actually saving you. Software should be used to solve a problem. Figure out your problems first and then find software that can help solve those problems.