All Forum Posts by: Jessica Sudyn

This is from an earlier post I made. I hope this helps. I have used TurboTenant successfully 4 times now.

I currently manage 4 SFH rentals in addition to having a very demanding full time job. There are many free resources out there for smaller investors. I am going to list them:

• TurboTenant
  • It is completely free to advertise your rental, screen your tenants.
  • You upload your pictures, write a description and it posts to 20+ websites for free
  • Takes about 24-48 hours for leads to come in.
  • Once you select a tenant, they pay for the background check, upload documents (paystubs, ID, W2) and it is all set to you.
  • It even helps you build a lease after you select a tenant (there is a $30+ fee for the lease)
  • My referral code .disclosure. I do not get any money from TurboTenant, nor am I an owner or investor in the company.
  • They have a referral program where they will send me a $25 home depot gift card for a referral - you don't have to use the referral code
  • I also use them for rent collection now since they do free credit reporting for tenants

• Stessa
  • Stessa is a website that I use to track all my expenses.
  • It is another free site and you can pull reports
  • You even can upload receipts.
  • Roofstock recently purchased Stessa
  • Completely free

• Zillow Rental Manager
  • I use this to collect rent.
  • Free for the landlord
  • Tenant only pays a fee if they use a credit card to pay rent. ACH is free
  • Takes about 5-7 days for the funds to hit your bank account
• Excel
  • I use an excel spreadsheet to track my check register. You can download a free template online

Other free websites I haven't used.

• Avail.co
• • This is another free website that I learned about this week listening to a podcast (may have been a BP podcast). I haven't used it and cannot speak to it.

• Zibo.com
  • This is another free website where you can collect rent electronically and have an interest checking account.
  • I am still looking at this, because not all my tenants pay electronically. 2 like to mail checks. I haven't looked at how to deposit those - I don't like mobile deposits.

There are many free resources to use before you start paying for services. Out of my 4 rentals, I have placed 2 tenants with TurboTenant - one tenant is on year 3 and the other tenant is on year 2. I listed the properties, took some pictures (they weren't the greatest pictures) and had it rented in a week. I was able to recycle the leases upon renewal and didn't pay any commissions for the rental, which is a savings of over $4,000 if you consider the rental commission to be 1 month rent. I highly recommend it.

Here are some threads you may want to take a read of:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:

1. Most investors don't need software until they have 5-10 rentals. All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and a few other things. You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than it would to find and learn a new software. If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.
2. Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports. But do you really need that for your one rental?
3. There's no perfect software out there. Every system you try will have flaws or you'll salivate over a feature that shows up in other software.

Some common names you'll see thrown around a lot: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.

I recommend you search for each of those apps online and see what they offer, how much they charge, etc. Make a simple spreadsheet or written list with the features of each and see which ones appeal to you most. Try to narrow it down to your top 3-4. Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function. Do one task at a time in each app so you can compare apples to apples.

• Load a property with pictures and details.
• Market that property.
• See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.
• Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.
• Run a credit/screening report on yourself.
• Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, attach a fake invoice.
• Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.
• Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.
• Sign documents electronically.
• Run owner reports.

After testing a few apps, one of them should stand out for you. Choose that one and use it. No system is perfect, so don't waste your time chasing after the next shiny object. You should only have to change when your current software has a flaw or lacking feature that is causing you to spend too much work on a work-around. Then you can consider researching and finding something that meets your needs better.

Hey there! I use PayRent and RentRedi (all in one), Appfolio (all in one) is also very popular and tenant portal friendly (I've heard mixed reviews on the owner portal side). Feel free to reach out with any questions on the software that I utilize.

Artfully,

Lorien

Take a look at the below post where I share the multiple free systems that are available for property management, rent collection and expense tracking. 

Good Spreadsheet for Tracking Rental Properties? (biggerpockets.com)

@Jessica Sudyn software depends on how many units you have.

Buildium isn't for free - which many DIY'ers seem to want.

Have only heard good things about Doorloop so far.

Sorry I've never heard of that one.  We use buildium and are happy with it.  

@Jessica Sudyn

Well, i wouldn't use the 1% rule.  Its just a rule of thumb.  I would directly calculate it.  For properties under serious consideration, take a look at the age of the major stuff to gage when you may have capex.

It depends on what you are doing and how, but try to get find a "good" neighorhood to attract "good" tenants.  You won't cashflow if your tenants don't or can't pay you, or you are in an area which you have a difficulty finding "qualified" tenants.

Run a parallel "what-if" scenarios perhaps, such as if you couldn't get that "top" rental amount, etc.

Hope this helps.  Good luck.

@Jessica Sudyn

Hi Jessica, I'm currently house hacking right now with an FHA loan and David is 100% correct in my experience. The common misunderstanding between an FHA loan and conventional loan with less than 20% down is FHA loans have a Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) whereas conventional loans have Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). MIP lasts the life of the loan unless you refinance out or if you put 10% down and reach 11 years of payments.

I think it's a great idea to house hack! I went the same route as what you are thinking where I found a duplex that needed some work. I wanted to do all the work myself so I went with a standard FHA loan instead of a FHA 203k loan. With a 203k loan, you'll need a licensed contractor to complete the work. With just 3.5% down, I was able to use the bulk of my savings for the renovation costs.

Either way, house hacking is a great strategy and has allowed me to cash flow $100 more than my mortgage! I definitely recommend it!

Thanks,

Andrew