All Forum Posts by: Nathan Mills

I use Roof.io. It works great for service calls/task reminder and tenant communication. The tenants use it to pay rent as well but the thing my tenants like the most is the push notification style communication. It might not be exactly what your looking for but it’s what has been working for me. Way better than email and text and beautifully designed. I hope this helps. 

With new tenants I just tell them this is how rent is paid and how maintenance requests are conveyed. They love and appreciate it. Even if they are paying the $2. Larger groups really like the roommate side of the app.  With current tenants that I am trying to switch over I ask them politely to switch, I pick up the $2 cost and they seem to like the convenience of not having to write a check and getting the rent reminders. It typically takes a few reminders but they end up doing it. I can see it taking a full turnover cycle to get everyone on board if you don't nag them a bit. Millennials can be "busy" so snagging their attention can be a challenge. Ironically one of the reasons I love the app (once my tenants start using it) is because it moves communication out of email and straight to 'notifications' which millennials are more likely to respond to then emails or phone calls. 

I definitely use the maintenance feature. Roof ends up being a automatically curated todo/reminders list app for me on my phone and a way to keep an eye on the broader details of my portfolio on the web. I can open the app and see who needs attention, or that everything is running smooth. So nice. 

I use Roof and love it!

Roof streamlines rent payments, service calls, and tenant communication in an app that is both clean and beautiful. It's built with sub 30 door Property Managers in mind. In an age where tenants don't reply to emails having an app that sends push notifications for rent reminders and other communication is crucial. It also provides a great tool for roommates to split chores and have house discourse. It's an app both you and your tenants will appreciate.

Use biggerpockets0414 as the referral code and get your first 3 tenants free for a year.  

Any questions feel free to reach out [email protected] 

The best paint hands down for the money is Sherwin Williams "Property Solutions"

I own and manage a portfolio of about 200 tenants. We run into this at least once a year. The second time they are late I call them and meet with them. I talk to them face to face to get a good assessment of the situation. I explain to them that they can not under any circumstances be late again or I will have to evict them. If they seem to be a bit unsure about their ability to pay rent then I tell them they need to find a new place to live immediately. I have never had to formally evict anyone. I know this method isn't for everyone but I try to be a human as much as a business man.  

I find any time I can put a dollar into a property I get approximately $1.20 in value. So after putting some love and money into a property I will gladly pull my money back out though leveraging that new value. The game of wealth creation is to "leverage appreciating assets". The key is to take the money from refinance and put it into more assets, not liabilities. 

Matthew,  One of the things that I had to learn was that I was never going to have enough money to build the prortfolio I wanted to. So I learned that most other investors use OPM. Other Peoples Money. Take time to nurture relationships in the town for which you are looking for deals.  Money is always attracted to value. So if you don't have money look for value.  Real estate is just math.  It Doesn't take money to buy Real Estate it takes math and relationships. Let me know if you want more nuts and bolts. 

Thanks Ben. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help! If you don't already have a rent payment solution you are happy with check out Roof.io! 

Don't forget, the win is in the buy not the sell. 

As a 16 year old (1999) I read “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. This set a foundation for how to think and I would ever circumvent the pre designated terms of life that the industrial revolution and its subsequent employment/retirement model it had set in place. I chose to get a technical education instead of paying for a standard 4 year collage education. By 2001 the traditional collage education had already started to show signs of becoming less valuable. I planned to use the money from working on cars to fund my first asset acquisition/construction. Before that became a reality I was given an opportunity to start a real estate sales company in the Dominican Republic. I quickly blew threw my savings and soon racked up $15,000 in dept and a ego destroying experience of failure. Not just any failure but the kind thats only possible in a developing country where there is no safety net and no $7/hour jobs as the poorest would gladly work for $40 a month. Many days without food or running water. The stress of not knowing how my next meal was coming from would help fuel my next 11 years of foundation setting work.

After 2 years of struggling in the D.R. and $15,000 in defaulted debt I headed back to the North Carolina. I took the first job I could find, which was mowing lawns for my uncle who had a small rental property portfolio. I was reinvigorated with the prospects of getting out of the oppressive thumb of the rat race. I quickly made myself as valuable as possible, creating efficiencies in the portfolio and taking over the responsibility of management, soaking up all the property management knowledge I could find. I lived as inexpensively as I could and after 24 months of hustling I purchased my first property. A triplex that cash flowed $100 a month. I could taste freedom. I managed that property and did every repair myself.

Now 11 years later I share a 6 million dollar portfolio with my best friend

 that generates $50,000 a month in rents. So whats next?

I finally have some extra bandwidth to create the tools I wish I had when I got started. The whole time I was building my portfolio I was looking for efficiencies in the management and how to help roommates live more deliberately. Recently I teamed up with a group that focuses on the tenant experience and creating simple tools. Together we build Roof.io which is the software I wish I had had when I got started. It’s saves me time and stress with regards to collecting rent and keeping track of my lease info. It’s also the kind of software that I feel good about making my tenants use. It’s simple, beautiful and packed with tools for roommates life.

Now my goal is to help people who are interested in rental property understand how accessible it can be and how much wealth can be generated from the magic of leveraging appreciating assets. With a good team, tools, and tenacity anything is possible. Like so many others, my life has been vastly altered by “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and I wish to continue the tradition of sharing the stoke, mindset, and tools for growing wealth.

- Nathan Mills