All Forum Posts by: Jason Bowles

The TenantCloud platform gets an A+ from us (so far). They’ve thought of nearly everything we might need to manage and document our activities  

Gregg. My wife and I agreed to start this as a solo operation and keep it that way until at least 10 properties. At that time, we would re-evaluate. The plan would be for me to incrementally hire out lawn maintenance, routine house maintenance and repairs, then property rehabs. I enjoy doing all of it and will continue as long as I can handle it well. 

I spent hours reviewing online platforms yesterday. I’ve decided TenantCloud offers the best combination of services for us. After I get it fully set up and use it for a couple months, I’ll try to remember to follow up here soon with my feedback about it. Seems promising. 

Following is the email I sent to my wife (she was at work) about it:

I think this is the one. Have a look at this page:

https://www.tenantcloud.com/pricing (this page is shows lots of information about what we can do with this platform)

We'll want the standard plan for $90 per year, but we'll use the free version for a bit while we become accustomed to it.

They have an app for the iphone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tenantcloud/id773281018

Every plan includes the following:

Accounting & Payments:

Tenant accounting

Expense accounting

Automatic late fees

Management fees

Owner distributions

Owner contributions

Recurring invoicing

Partial payments

Joint & split rent payments

Deposits & credits

Invoice printing

Accounting export

Credit card payments

Contacts:

Unlimited tenants, owners, professionals

Tenant notices

Owner approvals

Contacts management

Roommate settings

Owner portal

TC messenger

Property:

Property specs

Property gallery

Keys & locks management

Equipment & service reminders

Maintenance request management

Property import/export

Loan & insurance tracking

Property owner settings

Owner reports

Rental applications:

Customizable rental applications

Online application fee

Tenant screening

Online applications

Property marketing:

Marketing website

Listing portal

ILS syndication

Message/tour inquiries

Documents & information:

Online leases

Agreement template builder

Account data export

Cloud files storage

Email & feed notifications

Calendar & automatic reminders

To do list

Timeline & notes

On-demand reports

Amortization/depreciation trackers

Other features:

Customizable dashboard

Easy navigation

Verification process

ios & android apps

Online support

Below is an independent review of this platform I found on the web...

TenantCloud

With a robust suite of financial features plus an app that makes it easy for landlords to collect rent payments and manage tenants, TenantCloud offers a lot of features that make it stand out from other rental property management software platforms. You can try it , which makes it easy to see if TenantCloud is right for you without committing to a paid plan.

When it’s time for taxes or to check in with your accountant, you can simply send all of your financials to your accountant. Premium packages integrate with QuickBooks. All packages allow you to download your “books” as an Excel file, PDF, file, CSV file, or Numbers file.

TenantCloud is a winner in our Best Ways to Advertise Property for Rent

Expenses

TenantCloud provides easy end-to-end accounting and will help keep track of all your finances. Once your lease is set up in TenantCloud, the software will handle the rest, including automating invoices, late fees, and receipts. You’ll have access to all of your financials within the platform.

From the TenantCloud dashboard, it is easy to add income and expense transactions. You can also assign transactions as general or property-related income or expenses. Select a payer or payee, enter dates and amounts and categorize transactions from a list of common categories or create your own. You can also upload and store documents, receipts and photos.

Score: 9.5/10

Bank Account Integration

Landlords can link a bank account with TenantCloud to receive payments. With any paid subscription package, you can set up TCPayments.

Powered by Dwolla, this is a payments platform that securely connects to bank or credit union accounts to enable the transfer of money. Though there are no convenience fees, landlords still get unlimited transactions and payments to/from tenants, owners and vendors. You can also link up to 6 bank accounts.

Landlords can also connect with QuickBooks and sync TenantCloud transactions. This is included in the Advanced pricing plan.

Score: 7/10

Reports

TenantCloud includes a comprehensive selection of on-demand printable reports. These financial and rental reports provide you with the most relevant data quickly and easily for you and your clients. You can also review the report summary or apply filtering, sorting, totaling, and grouping criteria to generate the report you need. Finally, print or export reports to PDF/Excel files.

Reports include:

• Property marketing
• Tenant Screening
• Tenant Statement
• Rent Roll
• Contacts Information
• Maintenance requests
• Operating Statement
• Online Payments
• Property expenses
• Provider statement
• Lease Statements
• General Income
• General expenses
• Property statement
• Deposits summary
• Amortization tracker
• Depreciation tracker

Score: 10/10

Taxes

TenantCloud also helps with tax preparation. All you need to do is select Tax Preparation report, choose the date range, the property data, and accounting type. The system will then automatically do all the calculations for you. Because TenantCloud has categorized all your expenses to match the IRS Schedule E categories, running the report is all you need to do.

Landlords can also download all transactions paid to individual providers to help with 1099 preparation.

Score: 9/10

For the most part, I’m a one guy operation with 7 SFHs just south of Nashville, TN. I buy, rehab, rent, repair, manage, and mow my properties. Within the next 12 months, it’s my goal to add a small (10 or fewer doors) apartment complex to my portfolio. Before I do so, I want to get rolling with an online portal for all bookkeeping, property management, tenant management, and online rent payments. My accountant mentioned that many of her RE buy & hold clients use NestEgg. I’m looking for feedback and/or suggestions

 on this and other options. 

@Bill Goodland

I’ll revisit Cozy. Thanks. I thought I had reviewed it already and found it to require manual late fees. 

Many of the online rent payment services do not automatically apply late fees to monthly rents. Because of that, one-time payment requests for the late fee must be manually added once the grace period has ended. Now there’s two separate payments due from the tenant from which they can select only the rent and skip the late fee.

My questions:

1) are there comparable low/no cost services that include the ability to schedule late fees when applicable also requiring the fee to be paid simultaneously with the rent?

2) if on a brief vacation (or otherwise distracted from rental business) when the late fee becomes due, how do you get your late fee when you’re unable to quickly create a one-time payment so the tenant has both rent and fees due in their online account? My attorney has advised me to never accept anything resembling a partial payment including due late fees (he says the state of Tennessee is odd about partial payments). I’ve gone so far as to return money orders to tenants who do not include their late fees (only in the rare case they are uncooperative about quickly paying the fee). I’d rather have the option to reduce or otherwise modify an automatically required fee than to manually create one when it’s due.

Hope that makes sense

Regards,

Jason

Many of these services do not automatically apply late fees to monthly rents. Because of that, one-time payment requests for the late must be manually added once the grace period has ended. Now there’s two separate payments due from the tenant from which they can select only the rent and skip the late fee.

My questions: 

1) are there comparable low/no cost services that include the ability to schedule late fees when applicable also requiring the fee to be paid simultaneously with the rent?

2) if I’m on a brief vacation (or otherwise distracted from rental business) when the late fee becomes due, how do you get your late fee when you’re unable to quickly create a one-time payment so the tenant has both rent and fees due in their online account? My attorney has advised me to never accept anything resembling a partial payment including due late fees (he says the state of Tennessee is odd about partial payments). I’ve gone so far as to return money orders to tenants who do not include their late fees (only in the rare case they are uncooperative about quickly paying the fee). I’d rather have the option to reduce or otherwise modify an automatically required fee than to manually create one when it’s due. 

Hope that makes sense

Regards,
Jason

I’m suddenly struck with the motivation to get a tablet to leave in my truck at all times. This tablet would be used for various mobile administrative needs such as keeping receipts, tracking mileage, storing property information, mobile banking, etc. I currently own 6 SFHs with plans to acquire, rehab, and rent 2 more each year for several years. For now, I do everything from scouting and buying properties and all leasing matters to rehabbing properties and mowing the lawns. 

I’m also considering a move to quickbooks online for accounting and exporting for annual tax preparation. So, all apps should be compatible with online quickbooks. 

This may be a “duh” moment for me, so go easy on me. Maybe quickbooks has options available for all of this. 

What’s your experience and/or advice with Android tablets, quickbooks, and the various apps to make all this happen?

If I do quickbooks, can you direct me to resources for setting up specifically for RE investment and operations? Or, am I better to pay my accountant to help with set up and to provide useful instruction?

Thanks,

Jason

Firing the PM is a knee jerk reaction. It’s your money and I would respect a PM who asked for help making the decision for long term tenants. If the tenant is new (less than 12 months) or has been a poor steward of the home, I suggest giving them the options of removing the animal from the home or voluntarily terminatingvthe lease per the lease termination terms. If the tenant has a respectable history of tenancy with you and you’re willing to consider allowing the pet, I like the idea of a prepaid pet cleaning fee of $250 and additional $250 refundable  (motivation for the tenant to manage their pet’s behavior) deposit.

However, none of this matters if you can’t be comfortable with pets in the home. Always allow an option for the tenant to voluntarily terminate the lease without an eviction judgement on their record. Don’t be the investor known to the local courts  

All my rentals are SFH. I do not allow any indoor pets. If the tenant wishes to keep any outdoor pets, I require (with an addendum to the lease) that they be kenneled at the tenant's expense and that they obtain (and show it to me...I already have my own copies on record) a printed copy of and follow all local laws (for feeding, watering, leashing, and sheltering the pet) and ordinances pertaining to pet ownership. Other existing terms of my lease make clear that community nuisances (excessive barking, scaring the neighbors, etc) on my properties are a terminatable violation.

Know that whatever decision you make should be based on documented facts about your lease terms and tenant policies and the tenant’s history with you. If you can’t document it, you can’t lean on it in court. 

I can't find details but I've twice heard that investors are entitled to TVA energy credits when certain items such as water heaters, HVAC units, or windows are replaced with qualifying units. Does anyone have direct experience with this? If so, where can I learn more?