All Forum Posts by: Matthew Crawford

we’ve slowly grown over 5 years and I just enter data into excel and we have an accountant that does the books. Our tenants pay by mailing money orders to our P.O. box or depositing directly to the bank and we just want to offer an online way of paying is why we want the software or program that would best suite us.

Hey eveyone! My wife and I own and manage 44 units and want to start using a software or app to help us stay organized and offer a way for tenants to pay online. I’ve seen stuff for cozy, buildium, appfoilio but I’m wondering what would be best for an operation our size that’s cost effective. Thank you! Matt

Zach Morrow it definitely is a balance thing. I have a couple houses that I paid cash for because I would’ve missed out on them otherwise but I always put 10-20% down on my single family homes. Once you start getting to wanting to purchase multifamily Properties is when, I’m my opinion you can begin to get more creative with financing and when you’ll need the bigger lump sums of cash ready. I try to keep the mind set of being ready for the next deal when I’m purchasing the deal at hand, this way I don’t regret not being ready.

My wife and I also have the ability to buy cash on single family homes but we’ve always chosen to borrow as much as possible to keep our cash ready for that “deal you don’t want to miss”. Usually to act fast in those deals it requires cash or a hefty down payment. It’s paid off for us because there would’ve easily been 3/4 big deals we would’ve had to pass on had we not left our cash reserve open for the opportunity. Our latest example was an 11 unit apartment building. Had we paid cash for the single family home we got a month prior we would’ve lost the deal on the apartment complex since multiple people were interested. Best of luck!! Matt

I was actually was faced with a similar situation a few months ago. I didn’t want to have to put the full 20% down so I went to 2 local banks that I had worked with before and said I wanted to do 10% down and they could put one of my free and clear houses on the loan as collateral. One bank came back and did the loan. After credits I actually brought less then 10% to closing on the apartment complex. It was also fully rented and doesn’t need hardly any work. Good luck!

Hey BP community! What are your thoughts on investing in Illinois. I live in central Illinois and have 35 units. We do very well on taking our time to find great cash flowing deals but there’s the growing concern of property taxes increasing and the state not being ran well as a whole. Are there any out of state investors that enjoy investing in Illinois? Local people are you worried about the future? I’ve been looking into it of state investing but curious of others opinions. Thanks! Matt

Very motivational for many aspects of life! Great podcast, ordered the book!

Thank you Tom! Matt Motil I actually have a realtor that wants to team up with me to open a property management/ real estate company. They’re in the process of obtaining they’re managing brokers license and I’m going to get my RE license.

Matthew Teter yes it’s very helpful. My goal is and always has been to create a vast personal portfolio of real estate. It hasn’t been till recently that I have been thinking about getting my RE license and starting the property management company. With that being said obtaining my RE license has just kind of made sense to me since I continue to buy and even sell Property frequently. The property management side has become more of a thought because other investors have asked me to manage there properties and it seems there could be money made if done correctly.

My goal is to get the property management company running to the point where I simply manage the managers I hire. I know that will take time but there is a need for the service to be done properly in my area and believe there’s a great opportunity to build a self running business. I also have three full service restaurants that I own and manage so I have to keep the juggling act in mind. Do you recommend a property management software to use? That’s a big hurdle I’m researching now. Thank you very much for your feedback!