All Forum Posts by: Jasmine Delves

One thing to be aware of in Florida is that they have very explicit laws that prevent the discrimination of service members.
If a rental application is submitted by a service member, it must be processed within 7 days after submission. If they aren't notified in writing of approval or denial within this time frame, the lease will automatically go into effect (regardless of your own screening process).

Hope that helps!

Facebook is generally a good place to look for tenants (plus it has the added benefit of being completely free). For example, if you were listing in Boston, there's a pretty active group called Boston Roommates. Chances are, there will be a Facebook group already for people in your city/town who are looking for somewhere to stay. There may be more specific ones for Nurses/Students too.

Hope that helps!

Avail is great for listings and you can create state-specific leases with custom clauses. It lacks a little in the property accounting side though, so if you end up growing your portfolio, it might be more useful to use software with additional features such as bank feed integration, advanced tax reporting, and receipt scanning. 

It really depends on what you are hoping to get out of the software (for example, your priority might be tenant screening or management or accounting). Lots have free trials/free plans that you can take advantage of and see what works for you.

Modified spreadsheets are a good starting point. QuickBooks is great for general accounting but wasn't built for landlords, so I'd recommend looking into purpose-built property management software (there are lots of different apps out there). That way, you can treat each property as an independent business. 

You can do your accounting and create reports but also use other features like rent collection and tenant management.

Hope that helps!

Depending on the main features you're looking for, there are lots of property management apps out there that allow you to automate rent collection and late fees, and also log and track mileage and repairs in the same place (plus many other features). Some apps are more geared towards tenant management whereas others are more focused on tracking income and expenses, accounting, and reporting. 

It all depends on what your priorities are so I'd definitely recommend having a look to see which one suits your needs.

Hope that helps!

For wireless doorbell cameras (if you end up getting a lock without a camera), Nest or Ring are both good options. 

As others have said, it can be challenging but manageable if you have the right team of people you trust (property manager, contractors, CPAs, etc). That being said, if you have the capacity to manage it yourself, landlord apps will allow you to do lots remotely anyway.

Lots of the property management apps allow you to securely store documents (you can link them to each of your properties too). I'd look for one with a smart scan feature as well. It allows you to scan and digitize receipts, before automatically entering the expense details into your account. Way easier than dealing with shoeboxes stuffed with receipts!

It totally depends on what your priorities are when it comes to features. RentRedi is great for rent payments, managing maintenance and listing properties. Other software has rent collection and tenant screening features but focuses more on income and expense tracking and report generation (so is more useful when it comes to bookkeeping and filing taxes). So it depends on what you want to get out of the software.

I would definitely recommend looking around and taking advantage of free trials too.

Hope that helps!

It totally depends on what features you are looking for. Most purpose-built software should allow you to do away with excel spreadsheets. Some apps have added features like integrated bank feeds, automated rent collection, and smart scan, which allows you to digitize receipts (by taking a photo of them). Others are focused on income and expense tracking and bookkeeping. Others are more about tenant management. 

I'd recommend having a look around for one that suits your needs. Some of them offer free trials as well, so you can try them out before you commit to paying anything. 

Hope that helps!