Should I create a separate email account for landlording?

Question

I am in the process of searching for our first rental property and trying to learn from other people’s experiences.

So my question is this : do you think it’s a good idea to setup a new / separate email account for “landlording” stuff? Primary purpose would be tenant communication, registration with electronic payments, banking ...

I am thinking of setting up an account separate from my personal email so that both me & my wife can access it.

Also any advise on Google vs ProtonMail? I know ProtonMail is more private/secure and prevents Google compiling even more info on you by reading all the business emails, but would having a shared Google Drive for easy access to documents by both spouses outweigh it?

Thanks guys.

Rachel Jacobson · Answer

Keeping your rental business separate from your personal accounts helps you treat it more like a business. Plus, it's not that hard to do. Good luck!

Matt R. · Answer

I have a whole domain name and Web site just for my rental business, and I use the email provided by my Web host.  I have four email addresses set up there.  One of them is the name of the street the rent house is on; that's the one I use to talk to the tenants (now) and prospects (when I was advertising it).  (When I get another house, I plan to set up another email address just for that house.)  One is "cozyco", where my payment info comes in from Cozy.  One is "stores", which is the one I give out when I have to sign up for a store account or website related to my business.  The last is "goog", which is the one I set up a Google account with.

It's possible to set up a Google account and not use a Gmail address.  They will still snoop all the stuff you do have with them (like your texts and calls if you use Google Voice), but that makes it harder for them to snoop your email.  Google will bug you sometimes when you log in to set up a Gmail address, but you don't have to.

If you use any kind of webmail service, try to have local copies of your email as well.  That way, if the service goes away, you still have your old emails.  I use Thunderbird on desktop, which creates a file on my PC that has my emails in it.

As far as privacy, it's simplest to assume that any free-to-you "cloud" service is snooping your data, selling it to anyone with money, and giving it to the feds for free.  Some of the pay ones probably are doing all that, too.  :D  (So are Windows 10 and OS X, but that's another discussion...)

Michael Lee · Answer

Keeping all your rental property stuff in a different account will work better! It's hard for us to track rental property emails in our own account because we always have a bunch of unread emails in our inbox nowadays. Keep them in a separate account and check everything related to your rental property there.

Amy Beth · Answer

@Alexander Kleyman. My spouse and I created a separate email account for our tenants.  We both can check it on our smart phones.

Alex Smith · Answer

I would recommend it. If you wanted to go so far as having a separate phone number, you can set something up through google voice. I would push your tenants to have everything in writing though.

Jeff Willis · Answer

You should have a separate email account for each function and never use your private email. As to using Proton Mail, it is up to you. Unless you feel you need the security, why/ I do use use Proton Mail for all my personal  email to keep prying eyes away

Alexander Kleyman · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions & tips everyone. I do like things organized & professional so even thought we may not have many properties (yet), it’s a wise idea to be professional from the start.

Seems like setting up a Google Business account may be the way go especially since I could re-use my Fido U2F hardware security keys and keep the new Google accounts secure.

Should I create a separate email account for landlording?

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