All Forum Posts by: Daniel M.

I’m looking at a property that checks all the boxes—good numbers and fits my buy box—but I haven’t seen it in person. I’ve visited every other property I’ve considered in the past, so this is uncharted territory for me, and it feels a little out of my comfort zone.

I’m considering putting it under contract sight unseen to lock it up, but I don’t want to make a rookie mistake here.

I'm looking for some advice here. Do you rely on inspections, local contractors, the agent, or property managers to get eyes on it?

I feel like there’s a balance between being decisive and being reckless, and I’d love to hear how you guys approach this. Any tips, warnings, or real-life lessons are welcome!

Hey BP Community!

I’m gearing up to scale my real estate portfolio and need your insights! Right now, I’m juggling all my calls, texts, and emails on my personal phone, but it's time to step up with a dedicated communication system that can grow with me.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

- A tool to track key contacts (agents, attorneys, lenders, etc.).

- Seamless integration for SMS, email, and phone call records.

- Scalability and affordability.

- Cross-device compatibility (iOS and PC).

If you've been in my shoes, what’s worked for you? Do I need a CRM, or is there something even better? Drop your recommendations and advice below – I’d love to learn from your experience!

Thank you in advance!

I’ve been using Stessa for a while and definitely appreciate the value of having a CPA who knows how to leverage the platform for tax planning and strategy. As a Stessa Pro member, I rely heavily on its features to manage my properties, and while sending over the tax package reports works well (since the Income Statement and Balance Sheet are standard for most accountants), my bigger challenge has been finding a real estate-savvy CPA who doesn’t charge more than my annual cash flow for their services!

But beyond the CPA issue, I've been dealing with some major frustrations with Stessa itself. The platform has persistent sync issues with financial institutions that just won’t go away, even after weeks of troubleshooting with their support team. It’s made tracking my finances accurately a real headache and has me questioning the platform’s reliability. The AppFolio integration works great, but everything else is hit or miss, which is incredibly stressful when you’re trying to stay on top of your property finances.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced similar sync problems or if there are any recommendations for alternative platforms that might work better. It's definitely something to keep in mind if you're considering going all-in on Stessa.

I hear you—Excel can be a burden, no matter the size of your portfolio. I’ve been down that road, and the constant manual updates get exhausting. I also tried QuickBooks Online (QBO), but it’s not set up for real estate investors and can be a nightmare to configure. Plus, after adding my wife to the account, QBO blocked me, and it took two months to sort out! After that ordeal, I swore I’d never use them again.

I've been using Stessa, and while it’s great for generating reports and tracking income and expenses in a user-friendly way, it’s far from perfect. The biggest issue I’ve faced is unreliable syncing with financial institutions. Even after seven weeks of troubleshooting with Stessa's support, my accounts aren’t consistently syncing. On the flip side, the Appfolio connection works smoothly, which is a lifesaver since my property manager uses it. If your property management involves Appfolio, Stessa is probably one of the only platforms that integrates well.

I’m not too concerned about double-entry accounting systems, so Stessa’s simplicity is actually a plus. However, I’ve heard REIHub is worth exploring. However, I cannot find info on whether it syncs with Appfolio, which is a downside for me since my properties rely on that.

Overall, if anyone has found a better real estate accounting solution that handles property management well, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, good luck with your search!

I’m honestly surprised that BiggerPockets would partner with a platform like Stessa without pushing them to fix some severe bugs first. While Stessa’s reports and analytics are undeniably helpful, the platform’s inability to consistently sync with financial institutions is a significant flaw. For me, the only thing that works seamlessly is the AppFolio integration, which updates every 6-12 hours without any issues. Everything else is a total nightmare, with frequent failed connections and endless re-linking hassles.

What’s even more frustrating is that, despite being a premium-paying customer, I’ve been chatting with Christopher from Stessa’s support team for over seven weeks, and he has genuinely tried to help. But after all this time and effort, I still don’t have a proper syncing system. The ongoing issues are seriously impacting my financial tracking, and it’s disappointing, especially when other budgeting apps using third-party services seem to have no trouble with reliable syncing.

I’ve been looking into alternatives like REIHub. Still, from what I can tell, there’s limited information on whether it syncs with AppFolio, which is a must for me since my property manager uses it. Has anyone successfully transitioned to REIHub and found it reliable, or does it also fall short?

I’d love to know if BiggerPockets is working with Stessa to resolve these problems or if we’re expected to just put up with it. Given how important these features are for real estate investors, it’s frustrating that the integration isn’t as solid as it should be.

I would appreciate hearing any insights from the community, mainly if someone has found a better solution for syncing AppFolio or handling portfolio loans more efficiently.

Hey Tarcizio,

I can relate to your frustrations. Stessa’s reports are great, but lacking support for more complex loan structures—like your portfolio loan—can make tracking a nightmare. Plus, the sync issues with financial institutions drive me nuts. It’s wild that other budgeting apps can handle these connections seamlessly, but Stessa still struggles.

I’ve been on the verge of jumping ship myself, especially considering how much we pay for Stessa Pro, and I still face these limitations. I’ve been searching for affordable alternatives that can still automate transactions without pushing us back to Excel. REIHub is one option I’ve been looking into. If anyone here has tried it, I’d love to hear more about their experience.

Also, if anyone has suggestions for other platforms, we're all ears. It’d be great to find something that finally fits the bill.

Thanks, and good luck managing your properties. Hopefully, we’ll both find a solution that works!

I can totally relate to your frustrations. Stessa's reports are great, but the sync issues with financial institutions drive me nuts. The AppFolio connection works smoothly every 6-12 hours, but everything else is a total headache. I’ve used other budgeting apps that sync just fine using third-party services, so it’s wild to me that Stessa can’t get it together.

The only reason I haven’t bailed on Stessa yet is that it’s the only one I know of that syncs with AppFolio—which is a must since my property manager uses it, too. But, honestly, I’m on the edge of jumping ship if this keeps up. It’s frustrating, especially considering how much we pay for Stessa Pro and expect things to work.

I haven’t been able to find much information on whether REIHub syncs with AppFolio. If anyone here has tried it, I’d love to hear your thoughts or any experience you’ve had with it.

Also, if anyone has a workaround or knows of another platform that handles AppFolio better, I’m all ears!

Before a walkthrough and before signing a contract is it appropriate to ask the seller of a small multi family for:

1. Rent Roll

2. Property Tax Bills

3. Utility Bills (last 12 months) (landlord pays all utilities)

4. Income & Expense Statements (summary)

5. Lease Agreements (Sample or Overview)

6. Recent Maintenance Records (summary)

7. Capital Improvements Summary

I've been using Stessa for a few weeks, particularly for its bookkeeping features, which are well-suited for real estate investors. The dashboard does a solid job of giving a clear financial overview, and even when things get rocky, the customer support team has been proactive.

However, Stessa has its challenges. Specifically, I've encountered frustrating connectivity issues, like frequent disconnections and slow updates, especially from my primary bank accounts. Despite several attempts to fix these—like reconnecting and getting help from support—the issues have persisted, making it challenging to rely on the data integration via Yodlee, especially when other platforms like Plaid seem to handle this stuff more smoothly. Comparing Stessa with other financial tools like Mint and Monarch Money, which also use third-party aggregators without glitches, Stessa's problems are more noticeable. Considering what I pay for Stessa, I expect top-notch performance and reliability.

Despite these challenges, I'm optimistic about Stessa's potential. They're capable of ironing out these issues and finding better solutions for data aggregation to help avoid such disruptions in the future. While Stessa offers some great bookkeeping tools, they need to tackle these technical issues to live up to the high standards we, as users, expect. I'm looking forward to seeing how they evolve because, with the proper updates, Stessa could become the go-to platform for real estate investors looking for hassle-free management tools.

Hi everyone,

I live in New York but own real estate in Connecticut. I'm looking to set up a Revocable Living Trust and need an attorney who understands estate planning and real estate laws in both New York and Connecticut.

If you have any recommendations or know someone specializing in this, I'd appreciate your help!