All Forum Posts by: Jeff Blanchard

A decent PM app should have the ability to keep repair logs for turnover, including PO's, assignments, etc.

The project management challenge is getting everyone involved to commit to the same app and processes. A good way to do this may be to say: no process, no payment.

I have buildings in Old Louisville & Shelby Park; I still have a residence in the former. Mixed-use residential/commercial, $450-$700 /mo

If I were to buy now it would be 3- or 4-unit multi-family.

@Rob Cee I've owned these for 10 years. Really not much has changed in the last year I've lived out of state -- with the exception that I absolutely have to have local people I can trust who can check in on things and let me know when something is wrong.

Fortunately my tenants are great. Most have been with me for years. I keep rents low, provide free wifi and cable, and so turnover is very low. I think turnover is the most difficult aspect of remote management. The e-locks will help this a bit, but nothing compares to being on site to show your own unit.

@Jay Hinrichs I would say I have B-level rentals; modestly updated, but in 'transitional' neighborhoods, and old buildings. The tenant checking accounts are essential. If you can't write me a check for a deposit+rent, then I don't trust you're financially stable enough to rent from me. I do not accept cash at all, and will only accept M.O. or check on a limited basis (I can deposit these with a cellphone photo if absolutely necessary). Ultimately everyone pays electronically.

I understand if you're doing HUD housing this may not be as easy, but in my experience spending 15 minutes with a tenant and showing them how the app works saves everyone time in the long run.

Definitely use some form of (cloud-based) app to keep track of your properties, in a way that the financial and operational in's and out's are transparent to you and your partners.

To that end Quickbooks Online has come a long way for financials. And there several good, affordable options in web-based PMS to help with logistics (leases, repairs, tenant notes, etc)

I use Venmo for rent collection -- it's free for the payee (and the payer if funding w/ ACH or debit) and the app is easy to use.

No. This is why phones have options including: silent, airplane or off.

My rentals are all in Louisville, but I live in Chicago now. Long term, I still consider Louisville to be 'home,' so I have no intention to sell.

It's not without its complications. But after a year I've made some choices (and had some things in place already) that have helped:

• have a few go-to handy men/women who can check out things and let you know just what's up; trustworthy people are probably the best thing you can have
• selecting tenants who aren't 'helpless': I lean toward signing with tenants who aren't afraid to look under a sink or even make a small repair on their own if necessary
• electronic locks: these have gotten pretty affordable, and being able to give someone a code to enter a unit when a key isn't at hand is very useful. Eventually I want to have wifi-enabled locks on all doors, so I can rotate the codes online, see who entered when, etc
• electronic payments: any tenant who doesn't have their own eACH solution from their bank I now require to use Venmo to pay rent. You can quickly send out 'charges' at the beginning of the month (I'm working on automating this), and they can easily pay from a smartphone or laptop. Free for you and free for them if they don't use a credit card as funding source
• web-based management software: I also have two partners, neither of whom live in Louisville as well (we all used to). Being able to share information with them in a central place -- as well as communicate with vendors and tenants -- is crucial

Good luck! Jeff

I've been using Venmo for a few months now. I've found it very easy to set up, and most of my tenants haven't had a problem using it. It's free for the party being paid (you) and only charges a fee to the payer if they use a credit card (no fee if via ACH or debit). Pretty great.

They also have an API for integrating with your website, etc; I'm investigating this now.

Ditto Google Apps. I've also recently started using the Venmo app to collect rent, and it's working pretty great.

I haven't fully test-driven the pages included with a Buildium account, but from their screenshots I can say we put more effort into good presentation.

Having said that we are working on a more-refined website template for free accounts that is mobile optimized; should be ready next month.