All Forum Posts by: Justin R.

@Chris Seveney are you referring to ODC specifically, or by "they" are you just referring to all operators in general?

Unfortunately too many operators manipulate the investment summary with unrealistic financial projections. I wouldn't imagine ODC would do it intentionally, and laugh about it like you mentioned. 

@Jeremy Horton Your hindsight is 20/20. I've also been in ODC funds that have outperformed the S&P 500, so it's not fair to cherry-pick and say how someone "should have" invested while looking back.

@Bryn Kaufman That absolutely sucks - no sugar coating it. I'm in that syndication too. Losing capital cuts deep. It hits our livelihood, our future, our families. The pain is real.

But here's the reality of how this happens in RE versus crypto: leverage. We could have played it safe with Class A, but we chose Class B for the upside. When you take higher-risk equity positions combined with debt, you need to understand the math - if the property drops 25%, we lose everything. It's identical to buying your first home with 20% down and watching a 20% market correction wipe out your equity, except with shorter-term financing amplifying the pressure.

Here's what matters now: many operators are drowning right now. What separates the survivors from the failures is accountability, integrity, and relentless effort to get investors back on track. Brandon and ODC have those qualities.

What I feel is fair and honest, is random people spreading baseless rumors about him "living his best life on the beach" while investors suffer. Unless you have facts, keep the speculation to yourself. The man is losing money alongside his investors and fighting to turn this around.

I don't believe there have yet been significant "realized" losses with any of his funds. A few of ODC's syndications have struggled since the interest rate hikes, but I believe ODC's transparency has actually created some panic among newer investors who are seeing the challenges firsthand and hearing about possible projections for the first time.

When I invest with an operator, I have two primary expectations: 1) Honesty and integrity, and 2) Working hard to protect my money. Brandon and the ODC team have delivered on both fronts, even through these difficult times.

Claims that he's "living his best life" while investors struggle are simply inaccurate. He's deeply concerned about his investors' money and has even relocated to an area near the distressed properties to manage the situation directly.

Do I think ODC is perfect? No - I personally believe they grew too fast. Did they time the market perfectly? Absolutely not. They faced unforeseen issues with timing and debt, just like many other operators. Every operator faces challenges, but what separates the good ones is how they act and perform during times of distress. Are they accountable, honest, transparent, and operationally savvy enough to pull through?

So far, ODC has demonstrated all of these qualities, and I would invest with them again once there's more market stability.

@Chad Hale Because my accountant has access to QBO, and my bookeeper breaks down all the PM monthly reports into QBO each month, there is no need for me to send monthly/annual reports to my accountant. I do send him the 1099M of course but that is it.

Thanks for confirming it does double entry accounting. Im assuming that is what would catch any errors in owner distributions, deposits, profit/loss? 

@Bonnie Low this is great info and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

 Yes @Bonnie Low this does help. Both Business' are real estate, so that doesn't really matter, just the fact I need to have double the QBO subscriptions. 

Everyone should have some "general expenses" I would think, that are not tied to a particular property. Such as Accounting fees, home office, business liability insurance, and similar. Does Baseline give you the option to track expenses without attaching it to a particular property?

How does your accountant pull info from baseline to do taxes, or track your cost bases/balance sheet?

@Alecia Loveless thanks for your thoughts. I don't think Im paying my bookeepeer an outrageous amount, although with economies of scale (I have one commercial insurance plan, commerical portfolio loan from a single bank, one bank account, etc) it probably doesn't take the Bookeeper 3x to do my books compared to yours. 

If I could move to a more simple software than QBO, it would save me several thousand a year, and the simplicity would be valuable as well. Best to you!

 What's your thoughts on using Rent Manager for an investor that already has professional property management? Is it overkill as I would not be dealing with leases, work orders, etc?

How do you share your accounting from the software to your Accountant?

Thanks @Jake Baker for the info. I have 22 properties (about 100 units.) I do all the expenses (simply because that is easier than me communicating with Bookeeper every time I have a charge) and she does inputs on monthly statements, balance tracking, basis, loans (7 loans), and reconciliation. 

I would definitely not want to make the change, and then regret it. I was actually a little low, I pay $154 per month ($1848 annual) for my two QBO plus accounts. That's a lot for use of software. Last year I spend $9500 additional in bookkeeping (not including my accountant or tax filing.)

That's correct, I spend $140 per month on QBO ($90 for one LLC, and $50 for the other) plus my bookkeeper that averages about $500-$600 per month.

Great idea, and yes I would do a trial for a few months using both. I just don't know if it's worth having my bookkeeper set up all the balances, cost bases, and loans for all the properties for the trial. 

As an accountant it makes sense for you to use the desktop version. I feel that the QBO is the only way to go for me, as I am remote from my Accountant and Bookkeeper. Is there a way for me to give them access with the desktop version?

Thanks

Ive been using QBO for 8 years and it has been O.K. at best. I have a decent size RE portfolio, and use professional property management. I don't need a property management based software.  I know how to use the basic features of QBO, as I do my own expense tracking, but my Bookkeeper is needed for the more complex entries (Loans, capital balances, reconciliation, data entry from PM monthly statements.)

I spend almost 8k per year in QBO and Bookkeeping costs (Not including my accountant or tax prep.) I would like to go to a more simple software like Rentastic, but here are my concerns.

- Loss of historical data (for both IRS audits and for personal portfolio tracking.)

- Unfamiliarity of software with my Bookkeeping and Accounting team.

-Will it be robust enough to track additional business expenses that are NOT tied to a single property (IE; Business insurance, Home office, ETC?)

If anyone has made the move, please let me know how the transition was, and if you are happy.

Cheers!