All Forum Posts by: Janel Page

I just found this thread with comments I missed responding to! We have moved to zoom meetings during COVID. 

I use Buildium for residential rentals, and own and manage a storage facility.  I've used Sitelink and ESS.  You should use ESS rather than Buildium for the storage units.  ESS will auto send emails and text notifications to the tenants, which is a big time saver.  ESS has an integrated website so people can rent online.  It's very easy to use, and it works good.  Also, check out DaVinci Locks.  They are combo locks & their app integrates with ESS, so the unlock code shows in ESS.  The unlock code can be automatically emailed and texted to a new tenant after they sign & pay online.  Tenant takes lock off, then drops in a drop box.

Happy New Year!  I hope to see a room full of folks :-). 

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest REIA (www.NorthwestREIA.com).

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. During July 2019, there are 8 events on the calendar available for you to attend (as of the date this was posted). There are usually at least 6 meetings every month.

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a LOCAL vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited local real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, contractors, investors, and others to present to our group. These folks may sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion.

Please do bring questions - and business cards to swap with others.

Create a FREE Northwest REIA User Account. This will add you to our mailing list to receive future event notifications: 

Create a FREE Account

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets - and that's why you decided to come - please let me know. 

@Devin Lembcke I have 140 units and am working through this myself.  I'm looking into several options.  I haven't used them, but I'm hearing over and over from different sources that Easy Storage Solutions (https://www.storageunitsoftware.com/) works well for smaller facilities.  So you may want to check them out.  Whatever software you use, get a website where tenants can pay and rent online.  Get a quote on adding the call center (ESS has one) to go with it, so they can handle payments, questions, and new online rentals. Good luck :-)

Nice job.  That's so interesting you found it on Facebook. 

@Scott Meyers

Thanks for weighing in.  It does seem like the website with online rental capability and smart phones is where things are heading.  Maybe I just need to install really good signage that tells people they can rent online, and also use a call center.  

However, I do need to figure out something much better than the Sitelink-provided website.  It seems like Easy Storage Solutions works well for smaller facilities because they offer a full-featured package and focus on what's helpful to small businesses.  So you don't get hung up on figuring out all the pieces. You can just set it up and get on with it.

I've read and watched videos that say Sitelink is good when you have a large facility or multiple facilities, because it has open API to integrate with other services.  But I have 1 facility with 140 units (to start with!).  It's overwhelming to select a bunch of different vendors to integrate with Sitelink for all the different things that make it possible to run most of your business online.  I'm also figuring out what the total cost will be for all these things.  I'm wondering if they are just too big for a small facility... 

Right now using the Sitelink-provided website is hurting my business.  The template is so restrictive.  It doesn't let me change some important things, some things don't line up very well, and it's not mobile-friendly.  I know it is important to have a blog so I can provide some helpful info to customers and to help with SEO, but a blog is absolutely not available unless I hire a 3rd party to host a website and integrate with Sitelink.  

Most importantly, Sitelink does not use my domain name.  What???  When customers navigate to my website domain name, they are immediately redirected to https://www (sitelink store domain) / (my facility name).  Google hates this. Three times in the past 18 months, Google has deleted my website link from GoogleMyBusiness listing.  One time it was early in the month when rents were coming in.  Customers were calling in their payments and saying they couldn't find the website.  It took 3 days for Google to accept the profile edit to add the website back to the listing.  Argh!  I know I rank lower in search results because of this, and because I can't post some blog articles, and do other things to help SEO.  

I'm reluctant to turn on or start online rentals until I address these concerns, which I'm working on.  For now, I have great street visibility and low vacancy while I figure it out! 

I've sent in emails to Sitelink tech support.  The response was polite, but they said what I want is not available from them.  Pay for and work with a 3rd party for a website. 

Since I'm starting to shop kiosks, other management software companies, and 3rd party vendors, I wanted to give Sitelink a chance to tell me what they offer.  So I sent another email to Sitelink Sales on 5/2 with these concerns / questions and more.  I'm still waiting to hear from them, and I hope they get back to me soon.  I may call them today to see what's up! 

@Wendy Carpenter 

Thank you so much for the feedback.  That's too bad you didn't get a helpful response.  What Easy Storage Solutions offers looks great on their website.  I used their online demo.  It seems easy enough to use, and the website template they provide is so much better than what Sitelink provides in their under 250 bundle.  I've had some great discussions with the ESS sales person.  

But before converting to a new management system, I'm proceeding cautiously.  I had a bad experience trying to convert from one online management accounting system to another for live-in rental properties.  I was VERY specific and direct about a few questions and how much of the data I could expect to carry over to the new system.  The sales person way, way over promised what they could deliver.  So I'm trying to be more careful before doing that again.

@Michael Wagner Thanks for your comments :-)  

I currently use SiteLink.  Have you used Sitelink?  Do you prefer Easy Storage Solutions to SiteLink? 

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest REIA (www.NorthwestREIA.com).

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. During May 2019, there are 8 events on the calendar available for you to attend (as of the date this was posted). There are usually at least 6 meetings every month.

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a LOCAL vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited local real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, and others to present to our group. These folks sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion. 

Please do bring questions - and business cards to swap with others.

Create a FREE Northwest REIA User Account. This will add you to our mailing list to receive future event notifications: 

Create a FREE Account

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets - and that's why you decided to come - please let me know.