All Forum Posts by: Michael Fucillo

Thank you for your reply @Nathan Gesner!

I have started the process you mentioned about comparing different software and that is how I landed on rentvine.  I just had a demo call with rentvine this morning and it seems mostly perfect for what I’m looking for.  I also did a trial of buildium and liked it, but I felt rentvine was a little more user friendly.  

Understandably, it probably appears that I am jumping the gun with only 16 units (maybe I am). However, we just started STR property management and it would be very helpful/look more professional to have the ability to esign contracts, autogenerate payout statements, direct deposit payouts, ect. Also, the current system I use for LTR won't be sustainable as we continue to purchase. We will likely have to make an adjustment at some point, and I would rather perfect our systems while we are small. Every property/venture we add to the portfolio forces me to reinvent the systems we use. I would like software that will grow with us.

If I do choose to move forward with Rentvine, I will report back here.

Hello!

As the title suggests I'm looking for feedback on Rentvine from someone who has or does use it.  I have seen a lot of discussions on other PM software (Buildium, Propertyware, Property Manager, Appfolio, Yardi).  The appeal of Rentvine is the customer service and help getting set up.  I am not an accountant, but need to start using more sophisticated accounting software.  Rentvine's claim is that they offer help getting set up with double entry accounting.  

Additional features I like are free esigning and document management, online payments, tenant screening, maintenance requests, vendor payments, owner payouts, owner statements, communications at the  property level and with tenants.

Portfolio currently consists of:

Owned

7 family long term 

5 family long term 

2 Short term SF

Managed 

2 Short term SF

Future plans for growth are to continue buying LTRs and managing additional STRs.  I know the portfolio isn't huge, but it's somewhat diverse. It would be helpful to have some software to stay organized.  Currently using Stessa for accounting, apartments.com for rent collection and document sharing.  Everything else is manual (email, writing checks from the bank, ect).

Also open to any suggestions if you are using something that you think would fit these needs.

Thank you in advance!

I have used hospitable for a few years and liked it a lot.  This PMS is inexpensive and consistently adding new features.  

However, I recently switched to Guesty for the following reasons:

Direct booking site is included and easy to use (hospitable was in beta when I switched).  Guesty also integrates with stripe so you can accept bookings on your site, no manual processes required.  Previously a guest would request to book, then I would have to email them back to accept, put the booking into the calendar, and determine how the payment would be made.  You can also creat discount codes ( I like to send these to my previous guests to encourage direct bookings)

In platform reporting (hospitable only allows you to download the data to a csv)

Integration with wheelhouse 

Create payout statements if you are managing properties for other owners.

In app cleaner/maintenance management.  Cleaners get access to a portal where they can follow your checklists, submit photos, and mark tasks complete.  I now get a notification when the cleaners and hot tub maintenance complete the post stay tasks (previously I would have to check the cameras).

This sounds like I didn’t like hospitable, which isn’t true.  There were just some features/integrations that I was longing for.  

@Nathan H. Curious what type of tenant you are targeting for this project once complete?  I have a similar opportunity and most of what I find is marketed towards low-income housing.  If your project is not for low-income housing, then I would love to talk more about the details!

Thank you all of you responses!  I thought it may be helpful to anyone else reading to follow up with where I landed.  

If you are a pro member, their is a bigger pockets form for adding someone to an existing lease.  I found this form to be perfect for addressing all of the issues mentioned above.  The lesson I learned on this one, was to give the form to the current and potential tenant and provide a deadline.  We are now past the move in date and I don't have the form back (no one has moved in yet).  Hope this helps someone!

@Matthew Paul, love this perspective.  I felt like I was being unfair, but was having trouble reframing the situation.  In this same scenario, if the boat was a home, I would be looking at it totally differently.  I know there are a lot of differences between buying a boat and a home, but ultimately that is none of my business.  What is my business, is if he can afford to pay rent.  

What do you guys require for a debt to income ratio?  In this example current debt plus 1/2 rent would be 39.6%

As far as the boat goes, maybe down the road we can let the boat in for a fee.  We just acquired the property and I want to understand the other tenants better before I start making a change like this.  Also, the property is in VT and this may cause an issue with plowing.

@Dave E. Can you elaborate on , "if you do let him move in, he must be added to the lease. Period."  I apologize if the answer should be obvious, but this is my first experience being a landlord. 

Thank you for the replies.  Scott, you are correct in terms of the relationships.  

I do plan to speak with the father/handyman/previous landlord.  This will weigh in heavily on my decision, as he is somewhat invested (Involves work and his daughter).  

The boat would be a no for any tenant.  

Chances are that I will allow him to move in, but I'm not sure of the best approach.  What are your thoughts on letting him move in, but not putting him on the lease?  Putting him on the lease, but having the current tenant be a co-signer (would this allow me to collect full rent even if he finds himself unable to pay?)

I didn’t want to create a novel in my original post, but I should have mentioned that the other tenants are using the storage under the same conditions.  I want to be careful and treat everyone the same, but I do get a sense that this could get out of hand.

Thank you about the boat, and that will definitely be added to my leases.

Hello BP!

I'm new to landlording and looking for some advice.  I have a good tenant that wants her boyfriend to move in.  

The good:

His credit report shows zero missed payments

His girlfriend's father is our handyman and one of his previous landlords

He has been at his job since 2006

The bad:

He already asked to use some of the storage space to store gear for his hobbies

He just took out a loan for 105k for a boat (also 10k owed on car, makes 50k/yr)

He asked to store the boat on the property

So far I have said ok to storing the gear, but need to establish some ground rules (looking for advice here too).  Also, advised that we do not know our plans for the space and he may have to move his stuff out at some point in the future.  I told him no to the boat.

Please let me know what you would do in this situation.  Any advice is helpful (whether or not he cam move in, terms, ect).

Thank you in advance!