Rookie House Hacker Seeking Advice on Tools for Midterm/Short-Term Rentals

[Hamidou Keita]

I'm currently under contract for a duplex (2 bed, 1 bath each unit) and planning to house hack by living in one unit and renting out the other. I'm considering offering the rental as a midterm or short-term option. As a rookie in this space, I'm looking for advice on the best tools and software for the following:

• -> Listing the property across multiple platforms like Airbnb, Furnished Finder, etc.
• -> Syncing calendar bookings across different sites
• -> Screening tenants if needed
• -> Collecting rent and security deposits
• -> Managing lease documents and agreements

Would love to hear what apps or systems more experienced hosts are using to streamline these processes!

[Wes D.]

Hi @Hamidou Keita!

We have listed our two units on Furnished Finder since we purchased our first condo a year ago; we haven't needed other sites (yet!). Our combined occupancy rate is 92%.

We use KeyCheck, a FF affiliate, for tenant screening (credit, criminal, eviction), lease agreements (state specific), and credit/debit card payments. KeyCheck is integrated with FF. We also use Bill online through Bank of America for invoices and payments, as well as Zelle for payments. 

I recommend reading 30-Day Stay by Zeona McIntyre and Sarah Weaver, and Real Estate Rookie by Ashley Kehr. Both books, published by BiggerPockets, are loaded with practical advice that was helpful to us as we got started. The Landlord Diaries podcast was really helpful too in learning how to best use FF.

I hope this is helpful as you get started. Best of luck!!

-Wes