All Forum Posts by: Jeff Blanchard

I use Paypal to request funds from tenants that do not already have their own ACH solution; some of them already have a pay-out service via Chase Quickpay, Capital One P2P, or old-school auto-ACH via their bank.

For tenants that setup their own ACH through their bank, they pay their normal rent; for those use Paypal for debit/credit card to pay rent, they get a processing fee added to their rent balance. Sending money to an individual via Paypal using a bank balance costs nothing, so if they use this method there is no cost to me or them.

For organizing information about rent, leases, repairs and everything else, I use a PM-specific web app in conjunction with Google Drive. Evernote is good too.

I'm trying to get a better understanding of what the most significant pain points are for DIY (do-it-yourself) property investors. That is, those of you who own rentals and manage them personally (as I do).

Some questions I have so far:

• why are you a DIY owner instead of using a PM company? Is it only because of cost savings?
• what is your method for keeping track of all of your asset/task information (buildings, tenants, leases, listings, repairs)? Excel? Paper files? Software X?
• how did you choose the method above? What do you value most about your particular choice?
• what other things do you have to keep track of regularly as it concerns your rental business?

Any other things I should consider? Thank you for sharing your insights.

@Account Closed I agree you don't want to give away the farm when margins are tight. And good software doesn't necessarily improve your bottom line.

You make a great point re: multi-user access to your data. I have two partners, and we still use Google Docs for some elements of the business that are highly custom because of our bylaws.

A lot of old-school investors don't want to rely on PM apps and tend to prefer hacking Excel or Quickbooks and making them into an approximation of a management app. That's fine if you have the patience and ability to create your own working model. However if you want to leverage the other abilities of a program designed specifically for the processes of management, and also the greater access of tenants & vendors via the web, there are good options out there now.

By BP terms of use I can't comment on specific products I favor (though you can read my profile if you're interested in what I'm doing).

Quicken of course is very financially heavy, but lacks on provisions for the processes & operations of your business. PM-specific apps -- and there are many -- include financials but also create a structure for applications, leasing, repairs, form letters, building information and online payments; things that make the day-to-day management easier. Some of them are quite affordable, or even free.

Agreed. Don't "lock down" your software on a specific machine or platform; run it on the web, and open up options to tie in to other apps and processes (online application & payments, for example).

That's pretty tall order, but a good one. I'll take some of these ideas into account that I haven't built yet. Thanks

This is because of the limits of what your website does. My website is the central point for all correspondence with my tenants. They check their balance, pay their rent & submit repair requests online. I do not accept cash and soon will not accept paper checks.

Some people do not want this level of automation in their business. I prefer to take as many physical steps out of the process, as that is my primary limitation (space & time).

With all due respect, there is a difference in being in touch with current technology vs observing trends and being prepared for market changes. I know quite a lot about my current real estate investments; I couldn't tell you anything about what to expect out of Phoenix in the next 5 years.

I used to build my own PC's in college as well -- and I'll never do this again. Why? Because the cost savings in that era are completely gone now; it's much wiser to go into an Apple store and buy a Macbook Air, and get back to work. The industry has evolved.

Likewise with PC's in general. "Desktop" software is nearing obsolescence, except in the professional grade (think advanced publishing, video production, web development, etc). The rest is rapidly moving to light apps and cloud-based services. Information has less value if not easily sharable and modifiable by all parties involved.

"Phablets" are globally bridging the gap between smart phones and tablets; soon (or already) they will be considered the same "small glass" format. People without a mobile-optimized website, again, will be at a competitive disadvantage as people place ever-greater importance on speed and accessibility of info.

I note that you have a website -- so you are engaging the mobile sphere whether you intend to or not. Chances are more than half of the traffic to your site will be mobile traffic this year. Will your visitors see what they want?

To take it a step further, are they being *served* by your website, or are they just getting some info? You have an operation that you are keeping track of in Excel, etc, and some of that operation is segmented from your web presence. This creates more work for you, and less accessibility for your customers (renters).

My overarching point is that everything is converging. Service, information, communication. If these pieces aren't tied together by you, they will be by your competition. PM software at best provides convergence for your efforts to work with your renters in the PM market; Excel is a desktop program for (time consumingly) organizing data for you only.

I think he means don't cheap out and use peel-&-stick vinyl, for example. "Real" materials mean better longevity, not to mean better rental rates and renter satisfaction.