Simple Book Keeping!!!

[Brandon Metz]

well hear i am trying to construct a perfect google spreadsheet for my duplex. I make progress then realize something and change the whole things and again and again. Maybe i just thinking to hard here. Would anyone like to share their method on smaller book keeping and perhaps i can compare what exactly needs to be recorded and what may just be excess. I only have one property and i live in one half so simple is key. Perhaps their is some links to proven templates out there i can use to get a good idea of how mine should look.

[Andrea Hauserman]

I get it. After making myself nuts with complicated spreadsheets I now use very simple math because for the average me - it doesn’t matter. some of the inputs depend on being right in the past and future - like vacancy. That was an estimation up front when I purchased - what are the probabilities this place will stay rented or not - location dependent. What’s the economy in this town - will give me a warning about future taxes like in broke communities in Cuy County or things like sewer and sidewalk assessments in Akron or Kent. I track Tax/ins/maint/cap ex actual expenditures and watch for projected needs. I keep enough in the acct to pay next due taxes/ins + about 2-3 months rents to cover the inevitable. I inspect my own properties once a year, I try to take care of the things that reduce later damage like cleaning the gutters and servicing the furnaces. I stopped spending time on continued analysis because I don’t have that time to spend and it hasn’t made a difference in the actual outcomes of owning rentals anyway. I do take an annual look at actual profitability and that has caused me to plan the sale of 1 property this year - despite my investments it continually underperforms my goals. Best wishes