Asana, Monday.com, Google sheets or something else!?

Question

Hey all, I currently use spreadsheets for most of my property analysis, task management, and operational tracking.  Lately, I feel a little held back by google sheets functionality.  I have done a little research but haven't tried anything other than Google.  Would love any recommendations!  Especially if anyone has used these platforms or had success with one of them or can explain specific use cases.  Thanks!

Allan Smith · Answer

Podio can do a lot. Automate all kinds of things. I've mostly used it for acquisition and prop mgmt. The main thing I found about it though, is it take so many hours to get it to work right and do what you want. If you do it yourself you lose a lot of time. If you hire a developer you lose a lot of time and money.

it's best to pay for a template, like wholesale hacker. And if I went back and did it again, I would be very tempted to sign up for something that automates it already. Investorfuse, buildium, and so on

Allan Smith · Answer

@Jonathan Farber Podio is pretty popular with REIs. I use it mostly for my acquisitions funnel, but I'm slowly building out the property management as well. It can be very labor intensive to get it up and running. There are templates out there you can buy which are well worth it like Wholesale Hacker and Income Digs. Some use cases for me:

• automated offer templates. I click a button, it creates an offer template. I tweak variables like closing date and price, merge to pdf, then click to send via an esign program. Once they sign, podio automatically uploads the contract and creates a "deal" template which contains workflows from the point of getting a contract and forward.
• Automated evicting letter to tenants via certified mail (I do have to type in the amount and deadline. then click send and it takes it from there)
• Drip campaign triggers
• Task templates (sort of). For example, once a property goes under contract, a task is assigned to me to pick the exit strategy. If I pick buy and hold, that triggers the 8 - 10 tasks that need to be completed for due diligence, etc.

I mean in a perfect world you get enough revenue going from your business that you just use software already out there or have it custom built. I checked out a bunch of them like investorfuse, investor PO, and others I don't remember, and none of them were quite robust enough for my needs.

Kuba F. · Answer

To me spreadsheets are like backs of envelopes, good for ideation, quick to get something done.  Once you have too many backs of envelopes, then it's probably time to wrap process around it.  We use Asana for general project management and collaboration.  It's easy to use, collaborative and mostly free. If you're doing any construction, then Buildertrend is your tool.

Carlos Zamora · Answer

Hey @Allan Smith,

Appreciate the recommendation here for InvestorFuse and hope I can add some value your way and anyone on this thread here as I'm just getting setup on BiggerPockets here.

Podio can be a great tool, but a challenge for investors is how much time/energy do you want to spend on building out software while working on and in your real estate business. I was on zoom calls with 2 investors this week that almost said the same thing word for word that have been building out their podio setup the last 6-12 months. "I'm tired of working on my CRM instead of working on my business"

Thats a big value InvestorFuse and other CRM's bring to the space; we have a lot of that setup for you already as far as acquisitions and lead management, and we do all the integrations with your marketing tools for you (Connecting cold calling tools, websites like Carrot, phone systems like Callrail smrtPhone) etc.

We launched a new version of InvestorFuse on our own platform thats off of Podio, thats specialized for acquisitions, and soon will have transactions built out with the capability to send deals to tools like Asana, InvestorLift, or whatever you like to manage deals on depending on your exit strategy.

Happy to chat with @Anthony Caiola or anyone on this thread that wants to jam on Podio setups and tech stacks for your operations.

All the best y'all! :)

Allan Smith · Answer

For task management, trello and asana are the big ones. The bigger operations eventually incorporate the task management into their overall software that they semi-custom build out. I use podio and as my company grows I take more time to customize it to do everything including task mgmt.

Anthony Caiola · Answer

Hi @Allan Smith

This thread is a few years old but I was wondering if you'd be able to unpack "how' you use podio in the property acquisitions process? I'm pretty embedded in Asana and working to incorporate a more detailed and robust process for three aspects of our business acquisitions, rehab/development and management (of our rental portfolio)

Curious how you're using podio and what workflows/systems it's enabled/simplified?

Jonathan Farber · Answer

@Allan Smith thanks for the input!  I've heard @Brandon Turner talk about Podio.  What are the main functions you use it for?  Any tips of best practices?

Jonathan Farber · Answer

@Kuba F. thanks for your input, I think ill check out!  Any specific use cases you really enjoy it for?

@Jay D. @Zach Milburn

Asana, Monday.com, Google sheets or something else!?

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