How do you stay organized?

Question

Hi everyone,

Starting out on my investment journey and I have been learning a ton and enjoying the process.

I was curious how you all stay organized? What programs, applications, or software do you use to keep track of all of the data and information around your investment properties?

As I start out, I want to stay as organized as possible and I am sure some of you have systems in place or apps that you use to help keep it all together. Would love to hear your suggestions.

Thank you,

Nelson

Vicki X. · Answer

Lots of great ideas here! Wouldn't it be really nice to have all the rental activities in one place, organized and reconciled? From rent payments and bill pay, tenant applications and screening, maintenance coordination, lease generation to managing the books and run financial reports...Account Closed Depending on what are the biggest pain points for you, I'll be happy to share my research and takeaways. I'm a big fan of staying organized and am getting there with various tools. Feel free to DM me.Different software solution are designed for different audiences. Here's my summary:- Property managers or investors with a larger portfolio: Buildium, Doorloop (complete feature set but you'll be paying good amount of fees every month)- Self-managing, small to medium investors: Azibo, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com, Hemlane, Turbotenant, Rentredi, Tenant Cloud, eRentpayment, zillow rental manager- Accounting tool: Azibo, Stessa, REIHub

John Mathew · Answer

Hi there! Congratulations on starting your investment journey and it's great to hear that you're learning a lot and enjoying the process. When it comes to staying organized with investment properties, there are several programs, applications, and software that can help you keep track of all the data and information. Here are some popular options: Excel or Google Sheets - These are great for organizing data and creating spreadsheets to track expenses, rental income, and more.Property management software - Platforms such as AppFolio, Buildium, and Cozy offer a variety of tools for property owners to manage their properties, including rent collection, maintenance requests, and lease agreements.Real estate investment software - Programs like RealPage, RealData, and REIPro offer analysis tools to help you evaluate investment properties and make informed decisions.Accounting software - Programs such as QuickBooks and Xero can help you manage your finances and track expenses. Ultimately, the software or program you choose will depend on your specific needs and preferences. It's a good idea to research and test out different options to see what works best for you. Best of luck on your investment journey!

Lloyd Preece · Answer

1) Excel sheet - 1 tab per property summarising income and expenses. Set yourself a monthly reminder in your phone to update it in the first week of each month.2) Capital One 360 Account: Allows you to open up to 20 checking accounts under one master debit card. Makes life really easy for opening up one account per property and keeping everything separate

Tommy Parker · Answer

Hey Nelson, good question. It took me a while to get something to stay well organized. I definitely have a calendar in which I block out time for any distractions to do the data importing, checking financials and searching properties. In terms of data, I keep a lot of it on a google spreadsheet and use Innago for online rent payments, tenant screening etc...Another big thing I have is trying to keep a consistent schedule as best I can throughout the week. Having a rhythm can keep me focused and motivated. Hope this helps!

Jill F. · Answer

Primarily Buildium for property management and I primarily communicate with tenants via email or text messages so I have it in writing. For renovation projects (we have 7 in progress now): google drive, calendar, docs, sheets, and keep. For most things we pay by credit card so we have good records of our expenditures if we don't always get them entered in Buildium promptly.

Nathan Murith · Answer

The big ones for me are:* calendar* Google Drive and Google docs such as Spreadsheets* Game changer, free, and simple is Stessa. It’s basically an asset (rental property) management tool. Great property and tenant tracking, expense tracking, documents, mortgages, etcThose are more for managing the business and your portfolio. if you are asking about actual property management software because you self-manage, I cannot say really as we use property management. I know things like Avail.co and RentRedi get a lot of love in this forumI know this site also has a lot of other resources you might want to check out: https://everyreitool.com/

Theresa Harris · Answer

I have 5 rentals and two are handled by a PM. I keep track of everything in a notebook. Sounds old school, but it works for me. I have a template with all of the basics (rent, taxes, etc) and as any other bills come in, I write down the amount and what it is for. All of the receipts go into a folder and in that everything for each property is kept together with a binder clip. Every year I start a new folder/new page in the book, so things are easy to find. The ones handled by the PM, I get a printout at the end of the year with an itemized summary of the expenses and income.

Account Closed · Answer

Hi Nelson,Here is an article I like to share as it lists options based on the number of properties:https://www.biggerpockets.com/...The article hasn't been updated so please keep in mind:In the Small Investor section, Cozy is now Apartments.com and Azibo is not listed as an option.In the Medium section, Buildium is not listed as that is a good product once you have 50 or more doors. We use Azibo to track our income and expenses but we haven't used the other features yet. Good luck!

Drew Sygit · Answer

Account Closed how many units?As you scale, you'll need better and better systems.Under 10 units, you should be able to get by with:1) Excel sheet for each lease to track rent charges and payments, with balance owed column. Create a template and reuse for each lease.2) Google Calendar, with recurring appointments for EVERYTHING!3) Online payment system for rents.4) OPTIONAL: online accounting system, sooner you start the better if you plan to grow.You can also upgrade your BP membership to PRo and access RentRedi PM software for free.Please send us any feedback via email, as we do not use the DM feature here. Also, if you like our response, please don’t be shy about giving us a vote😊

Tyler Davis · Answer

I try to take advantage of technology whenever I can. My stack:TurboTenant - Property Management and Online Rent Payments.Google Drive - All my property documents, receipts, licenses, insurance, etcGoogle Sheets - Tracking my Books, Expenses and IncomeGoogle Calendar - When bills are due