All Forum Posts by: Laura Mitteer-Peart

Hey Laura, 

I'm in the same boat. I've been looking at the app, "PayRent", to help manage the first rental. 

https://www.payrent.com/

Easy to use & Cost Effective. 

I am curious about the cyber security system they have in place? 

However, all in all a good place to start with your first unit. Congratulations btw. 

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

• 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/...

i use apartments.com thats good for having your tenants pay you there with history and reminder of leases. i use spreadsheet for my expenses as well and then just share that with my cpa at end of year. hope this helps

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