All Forum Posts by: Nathan Miller

@Edward Toomey V It's unfortunate you had that experience with a software purposed for landlords; however, I'd hate for you to give up on software designed to work for landlords and ditch to QB.  QB really is not made well for landlords and landlords leave QB every day for better software, payment processing is really expensive, and with QB there's no tenant portal for your tenants to schedule payments or push maintenance requests.  Short story, landlords tend to run away from QB, not towards it.

You might give other software designed for landlords a try before moving back to QB.  Also, SAAS platforms are supposed to include support and service (that's the last S), but the quality varies greatly from company to company.  There is some really great landlord software out there that also provide really great support.

And QB to the best of my knowledge only lets tenants pay invoices as the invoices are generated.  That may work ok for a small landlord with just a couple tenants, but for anybody with more than a handful of renters, the automation available in good PM software is critical.  PM software will let the tenant's see their statement and schedule their rent payments so it's automatic every month rather than having to do it manually each month through QB.  And also, as you mention the repair request is a big help too.

Most of the above answers relate to bookkeeping, but it sounds like you may be wanting something specific to manage the rentals which is different software entirely from Quickbooks or Quicken which do not really help you collect rent.  BP lists some of these software options here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/property-management-tools

@Kayode S. Elepe Yes, the PRO membership includes access to a couple software options at a discount (Rentredi and Stessa I believe).

The NARPM suggestion is very good idea, I 2nd that.  Also start on the right foot using a proper accounting package for property management.  General accounting software (ie, Quickbooks) will cause you a lot of headaches and time.  There's a number of really great applications you can start with and that will save you a lot of time in the future making the switch, because that's a future certainty.

Which software depends on how fast you grow and what your maximum size portfolio might end up being.  Lots of topics on this, but a starting point would be to look at Appfolio, Buildium, Rentec Direct, Rentvine.  Try out the free trials and see which one feels best to you, because they all have very similar feature sets.  There's also plenty more - just search these forums for examples or visit https://www.biggerpockets.com/property-management-tools

I would say no, no, and definitely no.  The solar you pay for will only discount the tenant's electricity bills, but that doesn't mean you can raise the rent by an equal amount because then when you advertise you will be seen out of market.  Unless you have a way to sell that electricity back to the tenant or if your state subsidizes green energy 100% it will never make sense.  Even then, now you are a utility provider and the maintenance overhead won't make it worthwhile.

That said, I love solar and highly encourage it on primary residences!  Solar + Tesla Powerwall is a great combo!

Congratulations David, that is some awesome and very impressive growth!

I don't now if RentRedi's leases are attorney vetted for each state/county/city; however, it is always a good idea to have a local attorney familiar with landlord-tenant law review it before you begin using it.  Alternatively, if you are a member of a local landlord association, they often have locally vetted leases available.

Good news, almost all the platforms are going to support you remotely collecting payments and taking in repair requests.  Both of those actions are typically done on a tenant portal or app and it's considered a core set of features these days for landlord software.

Here's some software options that you commonly see recommended on BiggerPockets. The more mature platforms that are designed for landlords include:

•  Appfolio (founded 2004)
•  Rentec Direct (founded 2007)
•  Rentvine (founded 2018)
•  Realpage Companies (these include Propertyware & Buildium)

There are also a growing number of low-cost platforms available that are able to offer you a lower price by sharing costs with your tenants (payment processing fees, applications, tenant screening, etc). These platforms include RentRedi, Stessa, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com (formerly Cozy), and TenantCloud.

Almost every platform mentioned contains the features you are going to need. It boils down to which platform's processes, pricing, and support works best for you. The more mature platforms are going to be more complete; however, not everybody needs every feature. The best way for you to figure this out is visit the platforms and explore their free trial (if offered). Run through some of the features you will need like setting up a property, moving in a tenant, receiving rent payments, and publishing online applications.

Pay attention to which platform feels the best to you as you perform these functions. Each platform does it a bit different and you are going to like some more than others. While trying it out, call their customer service and see how they treat you and how knowledgeable they are on their product. Ask their customer service to walk you through the above options if needed.

It shouldn't take more than a couple hours of research to try out the top platforms and identify which feels the best for you. Those couple hours of research will save you hundreds of hours of time down the line, so it's well worth the effort.

Your rental company can certainly be the LLC. It probably looks more professional; however, likely won't provide you the liability protection of a LLC if the property is owned by yourself. The liability protection is debatable anyways and has been debated to death on BP recently as well. Regardless, make sure you are properly insured.