All Forum Posts by: Dean Meier

@Mike Dymski, it looks to me like with some tweaking of GL accounts, Appfolio could be used for an accounting system.  It is not meant to be used as one though.  It was meant to be a property management system.  Every transaction revolves around a building and not a company as a whole.  I'm told it will upload to Quick Books.  I can't say.  We do a bit of hard money lending and to create company wide financials I need to make entries in to our GL software for rental income while billing out from the accounting software for interest etc. We use MYOB.  It's clumsy but we're also not a billion dollar company so, it is what is.  

For sure I'm no accountant, any opinion I have about your question is really worth what you're paying for it 8^) 

@will F: in my experience you're never going to get exactly what you want.  Even Appfolio has some things that I would change.  However, they listen to the users and are constantly adding, adjusting.  My biggest beef is with their inspections.  You will see many people grumbling about inspections of one software or another.  I don't like that there's no built in way for tenants to sign and inspection so we have to do a work around.  Again, nothing is ever going to be perfect.

When I see people complaining about Appfolio, it's usually because they're trying to bring the software in to their systems.  My advice, would be to change the systems to accommodate the platform and you'll have a great experience.  

In summation, having a software that does everything this one does (so far it has done everything they've promised) is way better than not having it.  Just the ability to collect rent on line and have it automatically recorded to the building / tenant ledger saves a ton of time.  

@Will F we did subscribe to Appfolio and fired the property manager.  It was the best decision I've made since I started renting property in 1992. 

There is a for sure a learning curve and it's a bunch of work to get it implemented.  Appfolio did a great job holding our hand through implementation.  We drank the entire Appfolio KoolAid and developed systems around the platform.  We forced all tenants to pay on line through the tenant portal.  We had two that couldn't figure it out, so we asked them to leave.  It has made rent week a snap.  

Other friends have seen the progress and want us to put their units under our umbrella now.  Not sure how we can do that because no one I work with cares to be a real estate broker and in Minnesota it's required to have a broker's license to manage property.  Score one for the brokers lobbying to protect their jobs while adding zero value to society. 

Anyway, if you need some help with implementation or have more questions, feel free to ask.  

It may seem like $250 a month is a lot, but it's way cheaper than trying to hire someone to do everything the software does.   I would never go back. 

@ Lucas Phelps

How is your search going?  I have the same situation only using Appfolio.  We're just setting up for 30 units.  Have any advice? 

@Nicolas Vinot Did you every make the switch to Appfolio? I'm on the front end of setting up an account for 30 units right now. My plan is to use a local caretaker for showings and use a VA with Appfolio experience to manage processes, dispatch vendors, and reconcile books. We were using a property manager at 10% with no leasing fees on a 24 unit building but I became very unhappy with the way they show properties, their up charges for tech, stamps, and doing basic move in / out inspections and pretty much their inability to solve basic problems. I felt like I was managing the manager so much that I was running their company. I don't believe anyone will manage a property with as much care as the owners and my hope is Appfolio can do most of the heavy lifting. I've got 20 years of property management experience under my belt so maybe I'm dumb enough to try this. Grand experiment? Foolish? Wondering if you had any luck or any advice?

Hi Cole: wondering if you got this problem solved.  I'm in the middle of setting up an Appfolio account and noticed the properties can be set up pretty much anyway one would like.  At least, that's what I'm seeing from the data input spreadsheet.  This may be more of a GIGO issue from your property manager than a software issue.  The software allows one to setup properties and then it allows for one to setup tenants in a property and asks for the tenants address.  If your property manager only setup one property for your complex then you should get a report for just one property.  It looks to me like they setup seven different properties.  But, I literally I have zero experience with the platform so I'm more hoping than advising.  

@brant ingalls - are you still working at Matik?  

@mike henning - I worked with Merchants bank on a 24 unit buy and rehab loan.  They were priced super competitively and seem to be one of the few banks around who want to do rehab lending.  That's a big plus given that I do value add projects.  Jeff Carter is in their Inver Grove office.  He's super easy to work with.

I also work with a mortgage broker in town who knows who's lending on what.  He costs maybe a  point in fees but he'll get the deal done and save you a ton of running around and selling.  Well worth it to pay him.  I'm glad to pass his name and number along if you ask.  Just connect with me. 

I would get a background check on all residents 18+ years of age.  If the daughter has little to no rental or credit history then run a criminal background only and charge the tenant a bit less.  It's not too late for you to start implementing some policies right now.  Get an app, send the app to background, call previous landlords, verify income.  Make sure they don't sell crack on the side.  

As far as smoking goes, are you really going to take on the expense of kicking them out and re-renting the place because they smoked inside?  Put in your lease that smoking is prohibited and the next time you're at the house, take a picture of the dirty ashtray or one of them smoking in the house.  Then, without starting a confrontation, let them know they're not supposed to smoke in the house.  They know already, this is to CYOA.  Then, if they ever move out ( my tenants never do 8^) ) charge them to fumigate and repaint the ceilings.  If they stay =long enough to really smoke up the place, you'll have made a lot of money off of them.  That is as long as they aren't Cheech and Chonging all day.  Then you may have to charge them to clean up twice.  

Just my two cents. Worth what you just paid for it I suppose.

@Jim Tiernan

Your response rate sounds like it's similar.  Are you finding that most people who are calling have very little motivation?  The last place I bought from the free and clear letters had sellers that were tired of owning the place but they had a portfolio of around 8 houses.  They just wanted to scale down a little and keep the monthly incoming rolling instead of taking cash.  Every other person to whom I speak needs to be educated on that idea.  They still seem to think it's better to pay the taxes and take the cash.  Has that been your experience?  I'm considering adding no equity non occupied and chasing subject to deals.  At 100 owners per city, I'm running out of name to which I can mail.