All Forum Posts by: Evan Tuuk

@Steve T. First of all, congrats on the obvious success! 

Of course I'm biased since I am a bookkeeper, but it's not a bad idea to outsource the bookkeeping and then you don't have to spend hours and hours simply learning how to use a new software. One of the great things about having a bookkeeper is you get the results of organized finances that help you optimize your business and rentals, as well as freeing up your time to manage your assets, buy more assets, or simply spend more time doing exactly what you want to be doing.

Stessa.com is a fairly easy to use online property management software that has basic accounting built into it that is pretty much set up for you, but I wouldn't necessarily say that it's super great. There are other property management softwares with accounting built in (RentRedi, Buildium, Yardi, etc.) but I personally haven't used them so I can't really give a good answer.

I love YNAB (You Need A Budget) for my personal budgeting and even business budgeting. While you can use it to keep your books, it is designed more for budgeting and cash flow management vs. bookkeeping/accounting. It's fairly simple to get the hang of and has some resources on YouTube and their website.

Of course Quickbooks Online is what you're always going to hear about, and while it's simple to use as long as you do everything right, there is definitely some nuance to figuring it out and learning all the ins and outs of how it works. This is what I use.

With 14 properties and doing it all on paper I'm sure you are very organized so best thing to do is to try and take the organization you already have and translate it into a software. Happy to help in whatever way I can.

@Matthew Banks, I don't have much flipping/rehab experience but I thought I'd add my two cents where I can.

For receipts and invoices, you could consider a Dropbox/Google Drive folder for each properties invoices/receipts and collect any electronically collected invoices there. Then I would recommend using Hubdoc connected to Quickbooks Online to upload and match all your invoices/receipts. Hubdoc can then be used the take pictures of the receipts on your phone where they then get processed: automatically finds the date, amount, and vendor, matches it to Quickbooks Online, and you can go receipt by receipt and categorize and double check and post it directly to Quickbooks and it attaches the receipt to the transaction so it's always in your records.

For all things bookkeeping and profitability, I would strongly advise getting organized right from the get-go. I don't know how you are keeping your books for your current projects and rehabs, but having clean books is going to be huge in analyzing your profitability, and help you track different KPIs to help you determine what's worth your time or not. If you do end up hiring a bookkeeper in the future, you will end up paying a lot of money to get things cleaned up and ready for them to take over.

Income Digs on YouTube has some good videos/resources for bookkeeping for real estate. May be helpful to you.

Profit First is also a great system for managing your business' finances. If you haven't heard of it, I would definitely recommend looking into it and maybe reading Profit First for Real Estate Investors. There are a ton of resources on here and Google explaining exactly how it works, but it really is a game changer to make sure that you are getting paid first, and you always know exactly how much money you have at all times.

I will look into the Starlink. I do know there is Wi-Fi available so that wouldn’t be an issue. I’m wondering if there’s a booster type of thing that can be used?

I have a SFH under contract right now in a more rural town and it is right in a dead spot for service (AT&T at least). I'm curious to know if I should be concerned about this? My main two questions would be: does anybody have any good solutions for bad service? Should I expect less rent from this house? Previous owner had it as a rental for many years so it can definitely be rented out. This is only my second deal. Thanks for any thoughts/advice!

@Nicholas Brumgard Thanks for the words of caution. I'll check out that area. 

@Matt Stricklen Good point. Contractors are to find here, too. 

@Shaun Witcher Thanks for the recommendation with the property managers. I will ask my realtor who he recommends. 

@Aaron Francl Thanks for the advice. I am undecided on whether to self-manage or not. I'm working for an investor here in town and helping him manage two commercial buildings (30 tenants between the two) which has given me some confidence to self-manage. And you basically summed up my idea for this "BRRRR." I remember hearing someone talk about why BRRRR wasn't a beginner strategy (I think Pace Morby?) and it made a lot of sense. I told my realtor what I'm looking for is a "medium" rehab. I'm not interested in a full gut rehab yet - not looking to do full HVAC or electrical work, or ripping things to the studs. I want something to get my feet wet in the rehab world first. My thought is, if I get everything done and refinanced and 10% of the ARV gets left in the deal, I'm still pulling out more capital than I would have if I bought turnkey at retail.

@Tanya Lechner Thanks! Yes, it's super competitive. I've been trying to buy a house hack and my last offer I was outbid by $25k, and I offered over asking. Seems to be the norm these days. Any specific spots west of downtown that you feel are up and coming?

@Daniel Wheeler Yes, the northwest side is definitely more that way. I feel like I'll be leaning more towards the due west side. Seems to have a lot of medical, military and industry from what I'm seeing. And a little lower price point. 

As to Fredericksburg, I am searching high and low for a house hack for my family. But definitely not looking to invest in an STR in Fredericksburg as there's a huge push for restricting STR's in residential neighborhoods right now. Very likely in the near future it will be much more difficult to have a non-owner occupied STR in the residential neighborhoods. And long-term rentals are going to be in the same boat as northwest SA - high price points, relatively low rents, and highly leveraged.

I need some help with the San Antonio neighborhoods! I live a little over an hour from SA in Fredericksburg and I'm getting myself set up to do my first BRRRR. I bought my first deal (four-plex) in TN last November, but I want to break into the TX market. I'm hoping to do a full day in SA in the next few weeks driving around and checking out different neighborhoods so I need some suggestions! I am most interested in staying in the West-North areas of SA simply because it's that much more accessible to me from Fredericksburg. 

My biggest hangup right now is the market research and niching down on a couple of areas to focus in on. I would like single family or small multifamily and preferably B- tenants or above. I would like to focus in on some nicer areas (maybe quality is a better word?), mainly going for that "worst house in the best area" mentality.

I'm okay with less cashflow because I want to play the long game and I think San Antonio is going to continue to be a great place to hold real estate. I have an agent that's helping me already, but I'm also undecided on whether I will self-manage or hire that out so any recommendations for property managers or any other BRRRR related team members in the area would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

I need some help with the San Antonio neighborhoods! I live a little over an hour from SA in Fredericksburg and I'm getting myself set up to do my first BRRRR. I bought my first deal (four-plex) in TN last November, but I want to break into the TX market. I'm hoping to do a full day in SA in the next few weeks driving around and checking out different neighborhoods so I need some suggestions!

My biggest hangup right now is the market research and niching down on a couple of areas to focus in on. I would like single family or small multifamily and preferably B- tenants or above. I would like to focus in on some nicer areas (maybe quality is a better word?), mainly going for that "worst house in the best area" mentality.

I'm okay with less cashflow because I want to play the long game and I think San Antonio is going to continue to be a great place to hold real estate. I have an agent that's helping me already, but I'm also undecided on whether I will self-manage or hire that out so any recommendations for property managers or any other BRRRR related team members in the area would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

I closed on a deal using Blake Murphy/Landshark Lending in November 2021 and it was great. We ran into a few issues with the property/sellers/numbers and he was super helpful in finding solutions and options and we got the deal and it's up and running.