Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here
Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties. Try BiggerPockets PRO.
x
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Jeff Blanchard

Jeff Blanchard has started 4 posts and replied 115 times.

Post: WilliamPaid shutting down

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

Venmo is free. The only time there is a charge is when (some) credit cards are used; any fees are paid by the payer.

They have a pretty good API and if I'm correct I'll be able to automate the entire process of 'billing' the tenants for rent, updating my ledger upon payment, as well as initiate a transfer to my bank.

I no longer accept paper forms of payment. I have a few tenants who use their own digital payment method (Person-to-Person, QuickPay, etc); everyone else uses Venmo.

Post: WilliamPaid shutting down

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

+1 for Venmo. Easy to use, fast, and new owned by Paypal, so unlikely to falter.

Can also be integrated with your website, so that the process is almost automatic (I'm working on this).

Post: Software for a Mac

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

I would only use platform-agnostic, ie, web-based apps. Using a Mac-specific or Windows-specific app is more likely to lock your data down to a specific machine, whereas a cloud-based application can be accessed from anywhere, and probably has tie-ins with other services/products you could use due to the nature of their design/environment.

Post: Suggestions for project and task management software

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

Several of the PM apps have this as a integral feature. Bonus: you can associate the projects/repairs/tasks with your actual building assets, along with many other data points (financial & otherwise).

Some are better than others of course.

Post: How do you keep track of your rental portfolio?

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

@Ben Bakhshi I'd be interested in seeing the formatting of your doc. I have a Google Sheet, but it could use more detail. Also I'd like to work such formulas into my PM app.

Post: SOFTWARE Tampa Bay Area

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

@Joseph Ball what don't you like about Buildium?

Post: Property Management / Accounting Software

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

The difficulty here is that your bank transactions are relatively unique -- at least on the income side. Meanwhile using a PM app to manage your property income (and other events) necessarily associates every transaction with an object, ie, a building or a tenant account.

Unless you had a standardized way of depositing your rent every month, there would not be a way to import these transactions without some human interaction, to confirm their association.

QB is owned by Intuit, a huge company, so they can work some additional magic re: bank linking. Most PM app companies simply don't have the manpower or clout for this.

Quickbooks is great software -- hence my interest in integrating it with my workflow. It is important to remember that QB is accounting software, not property management software; accounting is only one part of the management.

So, be sure to look at the value of including a PM app as a part of your process. If you do grow, you must have a connected application that can allow you, your staff, tenants and investors access to relevant information & communication, including but limited to finances.

Post: At what number of houses does management become more difficult?

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

Agreed. Spreadsheets are fine for a lot of things, but don't scale well when all of the facets are taking into account: financials, leases, repairs, communication. Actually spreadsheet aren't good for communication at all. But a web-based service built for property management has this and many other time savers, not to mention organizational tools.

Post: flooring choice over cement slab

Jeff BlanchardPosted
  • App Designer
  • Chicago, IL
  • Posts 124
  • Votes 31

I personally don't like laminates. The vinyl plank is the only option I would use in that category, and only in a case where the subflooring was super stable.

I have a similar situation, and am using treated 2x2's as a furring over the slab, with treated plywood and then bamboo flooring on top of that. Bamboo is water resistant and looks/feels great, in my opinion. Also not too expensive.

May be out of your budget, but possibly worth considering.