Developer · Member since 2023 · 73 posts · 43 votes
I'm finding it a bit overwhelming to manage the documents with our handful of MTR/LTR properties. Insurance, tax, tenant info, leases, applications, listing/marketing docs, water, notices, repairs, logs of maintenance and tenant damage, etc. I get a number of physical docs but also have many other docs in digital format.
I have a physical folder for each property and year (purchase/closing, insurance docs, ...).
I have a digital folder for each property, a tenant folder for the tenant(s) of each property.
A digital general property management folder with applications, leases, marketing, etc.
I'm trying to use sheets to log repairs/maintenance/ToDo
Scanning every doc into digital would seem like a huge waste of time, so I imagine I need to keep physical files.
Anyone have a better system for managing physical/digital docs?
Spend an hour creating a solid filing system. Try to keep it from being 54 levels deep! Create a standardized naming system so that you can still find files with a search function, even if they are placed in the wrong folder.
I name my files: YYYY-MM-DD - address - tenant - purpose
Example: 2024-02-01 - 123 Straight St - Alex Jones - Lease Agreement
This works with 350+ rentals. If you only have a few rentals, you can probably get by with a dumbed-down version: 2024-02-01 - 123 Straight St - Lease
Spend an hour creating a solid filing system. Try to keep it from being 54 levels deep! Create a standardized naming system so that you can still find files with a search function, even if they are placed in the wrong folder.
I name my files: YYYY-MM-DD - address - tenant - purpose
Example: 2024-02-01 - 123 Straight St - Alex Jones - Lease Agreement
This works with 350+ rentals. If you only have a few rentals, you can probably get by with a dumbed-down version: 2024-02-01 - 123 Straight St - Lease
We use Dropbox as it's the most flexible, although we use Google Docs/Sheets for some collaborative projects.
Here's our folder structure:
Portfolio Name 01) Management Info (we use the 01 so sorts to top of folder list) Main_W_123 (property folder. We put street name first as easier to find!) 01) Property Info 01) Insurance (at top as most important) 02) Property taxes 03) Deed & Title 04) LLC Docs (if any) 05) Purchase-Sale Docs 02) Utilities 03) Maintenance 04) Leases Lease Name Folder Application Docs 05) Advertising 06) Rental Licensing (required in most of metro Detroit) 07) Inspections 08) Appliances & Mechanicals