Thoughts on Bigger Pockets Property Analyzer Tool

[Kyle Schoof]

So I was using the bigger pockets property analysis tool for the first time today (since it’s free all weekend) to compare the results to a financial model I built in Microsoft Excel and found myself wondering why some things are calculated the way they are. For instance why isn’t the property management fee deducted/calculated after the % vacancy is accounted for? I’m asking because isn’t the property management fee a % of gross rent collected, not potential rent collected? So what I’m saying is if you get $1200/month for rent and subtract 10% for vacancy to get $1080, you should subtract $108 from that (not $120) to account for a 10% property management fee.

Additionally, wouldn’t you want to calculate utility costs during the vacancy period? The current setup is all or nothing. Of course you could calculate and enter the correct dollar amount of utilities based on your determined % vacancy but it doesn’t state to do that (but that is what I did). An option to enter property appreciation would be nice as well.

I’m not trying or wanting to be overly critical. Just thinking you would want to be as accurate as possible with dollars in vs dollars out and factor in property appreciation to see how good the deal truly is. This is what I am trying to build into my excel model a least.