All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

The Setup process takes time when using an Excel Spreadsheet, or an Online program, or a Desktop Version.

It takes time to setup a business, and that includes entering in all your data into a Software Program PERIOD!

Quickbooks Online is not a good program for Landlords.  We have tons of money invested into our business and we have lots of houses.  If we only have one house at this time, you still need a good software program that will grow with you as you grow. The purchase of our houses are in the tens of thousands of dollars, so why do we think all we need is some inky dinky software program.  A money lender wants to see PROFESSIONALISM, so we need to think outside the box called "Cheap" and invest in other things other than houses. 

QuickBooks Pro Desktop has everything we need as landlords.  It allows us to Customize QuickBooks to fit what we want to see and know as landlords.

It contains a Fixed Asset Items List which allows YOU to enter in everything you need to know about each and every property you have.  Square feet, purchase date, land description, when it was sold, type of house, etc., etc., You tell QuickBooks what you want to see and know, and QuickBooks will do it for you. 

You will have one Business Checking Account

You will have a Security Deposit Trust Fund Bank Account 

You will Bill your tenants and receive payments for rents, late fees, and service you provide to them via an Invoice and then a Deposit slip to the Bank.

You will link every transaction you do to each individual property, which includes your Office.  This will keep a running total of how much money you spent on each property, each building (including your office) and how much income you made per property, giving you your bottom line. 

Once the setup process is done, it only takes minutes to keep track of your income and expenses.  

With one press of a key  you can run a Profit and Loss Report to see your bottom line, and you can run a Profit and Loss Report per class to see how much money each property made you or cost you.  You can run a Balance sheet any time to see what you are worth today, or yesterday, or last year.  

It just doesn't get any better than this.

Nancy Neville

Yes, QuickBooks Pro Desktop Version is what you need. 

The Class feature will keep tract of all your properties, buildings, units, Etc. 

Use sub classes, sub accounts, fixed asset manager, and sub jobs, to keep track of all that you need.

Every software program comes with instructions. Every software program you purchase, you will need to learn how to use it, whether it is QuickBooks or a Spreadsheet, or a pencil and paper.   

You just have to have help knowing how to customize it.  How to write it down.  How to enter it in.  How to get it all to link with each other, whether on paper or in a computer.

Yes, there are lots of tips to give you, and I have listed many on here as my blog and in the Market Place.

Do a Search on here and I think you will find a lot of things that I've written that  may help you out.

Nancy Neville

I did some research for you because I had remembered a long time ago a scanner that would scan all your checks into QuickBooks.  It is called scansnap ix500 fujitsu and has been out since 2010.  I watched the video and it looks pretty good.  Amazon usually sells stuff cheaper so you can check it out there.  I think this may really solve your problem.  

Nancy Neville

Yes.  Setup your property as a class in addition to it being a fixed asset in your chart of accounts.

Now, whenever you write a check to purchase anything for this property, except mowing the grass or cleaning the place, then link that expense to the property located in the Class feature.

So you will have for example:

1628 North Highway as a Class and then 

1628 North Highway as a Fixed Asset Account in your Chart of Accounts.

When you write a check to Home Depot for $300.00 for a new water heater,  type in the account column of the check, (or select it from the drop down list) 1628 North Highway (WIP) 

and in the Class column of the check,  you will choose 1628 North Highway.  

When you run a Profit and Loss Report by Class you will see the expenses pertaining to 1628 North Highway. 

Nancy Neville

You would need to set your properties up as a Fixed Asset in your Chart of Accounts as well as in the Class feature of QuickBooks as a class.

You will list all expenses pertaining to each property  as a sub account called WIP (Work in Progress)  of the property in the fixed asset account.  

When it comes time to flip your property you will change the fixed asset  (WIP Account) to a Cost of Good Sold  account, which will deduct the cost to fix up the property from the price the house sold for.  (General Journal entry)

BTW QuickBooks Online is not good for Landlords.  QuickBooks Pro Desktop version is what you need. 

Nancy Neville

Well you bill them for the damages, (send them a bill to their last known address which is your rental unit), you deduct the damages from their security deposit.  (make sure you send them an itemized bill and it must be within 30 days or 35 days or whatever your state law says you must send them an Itemized statement). 

Foot Note:  The bill should show the security deposit deduction, showing the balance due that the security deposit didn't cover.

If they don't pay, send the balance owed to a Collection Agency (Find one in your city) and if they collect good.   If not you write off the amount that you couldn't collect as a write off (Expense Account).  You can also put a lien on their property, e.g, car, income tax refund, etc. 

I always had good luck with the Collection Agency.  One time they collected on a tenant of mine that moved out of state, they came back 11 years later, and they got her.  The collection agency took their commission and I got the rest.  (This agency was like COLUMBO.  They were and still are like a pit bull.  They never let go.  

Nancy Neville

Assign it to an Office Expense.  

A lot of people don't think of creating an Office Expense as a Class in  the class feature of QuickBooks.  (The class feature is used for many things.  You can put anything you want into the class feature in order to see exactly what you spend per year on this particular item.  Anything that doesn't belong to a specific property is considered an Office Expense. 

When you write a check or use your business charge card for business purposes, you will link it to an OFFICE EXPENSE Account in your Chart of Accounts, and link it to your Office Expenses in your Class Column of the check.  UNLESS, that charge is actually related to your property.  Then it would be linked to that particular property.  But a snowblower will be used for every place.  Even you office driveway. 

Now you can run a Profit and Loss Report by Class to see exactly what you spent your money on in regards to Office Expenses (Business Expenses) It just doesn't get any better than that. 

FOOT NOTE:  It will be listed as a Fixed Asset, because it is a big item.  You will depreciate it each year.  I don't know what the going percentage rate is  right now so ask your Accountant. 

Nancy Neville

Stay away from all the above cities you mentioned.  Westland is okay, Garden City, Canton,

Ann Arbor.  I highly recommend Waterford, White Lake.  Stay away from Pontiac, and some parts of Flint.  Mostly inner cities stay away from.  Livonia I think is still ok.  Stay away from Detroit.  

Nancy Neville

Part II of my answer:

Not only is it important to ask the right questions, but being able to read their “body language” is also important and listening to their words and tone of voice.

SCREENING YOUR TENANTS

When they come to the Open House I screen them further, and here is where I really focus on body language.

The Open House

The screening process begins the moment you answer the phone and it’s someone interested in your rentals. (This would be before you put your ads on your voice mail, and you are answering the phone physically).

It is at this time that I get a “sense” of that person. They will either come across as a professional, and ask logical questions, or they will talk fast and ask silly questions. Or they will be quiet and YOU will have to do the asking to see what they want, or they may just be rude and demanding. Plus, there will be times when they want to tell you their entire life story as to why they are looking to rent and why they need YOUR rental unit. And even though you may roll your eyes and get tired of hearing the same old things day after day, you must remember that this is a business of people management, and you will meet many types of personalities along the way.

Curb Appeal

It’s not enough to fix up the inside of the house. That’s important but the outside is what draws the applicants!

If the outside looks like a dump, guess who’s going to apply? Most likely only those that don’t pay their rent, and are on the run from a previous landlord. You have a lot of competition out there. You want your place to look inviting, well-kept up, lawn well groomed, shrubs taken care of and looking sweet and neat. Otherwise, you will be sitting there for a long time waiting for people to show up and no one will.

STAGING & GIMMICKS

Once you have grabbed the eye of the “people driving by” you want to make them want your home by making it look like a “home”.

I really like doing an Open House and seeing the types of people who apply. I like to see how different people dress, notice their attitudes, and see the way the children behave.

One incident I will always remember when I was doing an open house, was a little girl coming up to me, and noticing that there wasn’t a refrigerator or stove in the kitchen and asked, “Lady, don’t you have any food?” I burst out laughing and so did her parents as they told her that I didn’t live in the house and that it was for rent.

Then there are the people who will try to bring food and drinks into the home, despite the notices I put on the front screen door saying, “NO FOOD OR DRINKS ALLOWED”. When I see someone coming in with these items anyway, I confront them at the door and tell them to leave it outside. Little do they know they have just been disqualified? I feel anyone who does not have the common sense to leave their food or drinks, outside while touring a home will not have the common sense to take care of the home. This goes for smoking as well!

As I have already mentioned I enjoy seeing how some people dress. Some people dress in fine leathers and suits, while others will come looking like vagrants just off of the streets and perhaps they are. But no matter what they look like I greet everyone as though they are the most important person in the world, and to me they are. But not everyone will be nice and there will come a time when you will have to be assertive and firm and will have to ask them to leave, and that is with applicants who wonder why you charge so much for rent and move in fees. And…. no matter what you answer or what you say to them, they will have a tendency to argue.

With these types of people, I usually tell them that $700 a month isn’t really very much at all to pay for a three-bedroom home with a full basement, fenced in backyard and a garage. I tell them that a one-bedroom apartment rents for that amount alone. Here you have an entire home, privacy, your own parking space and a fenced in backyard all to yourself. I tell them that $700 a month is quite a good deal and if they want to argue some more I just say apologetically, “I’m sorry I don’t have anything that is suitable to your needs, but I do appreciate you coming.” What can they say to that? There really isn’t much they can do.

MEETING PEOPLE AT THE DOOR

When I do an open house I have a folding table set up next to the window in the Kitchen. I have a nice table cloth on it and a small decoration of flowers or some type of Knick knacks. I also have application forms, and pens, and other handouts for the people who stop by. (We will get into that in a few minutes).

By having the table next to the window in the kitchen it enables me to see and know when someone has arrived at the open house. But it also allows me to see the type of person they are by them just pulling up into the driveway. It is surprising what you can gain by watching people.

Most people will pull up into the right driveway. Others will pull up into the neighbor’s driveway (a real no-no). And some will park in the street in front of the house.

Some will have an overload of people in the car. (Like they were going to win a contest for how many people they can stuff in a car). And some will have nice cars and some will have cars that aren’t so nice.

Some will get out of their cars smoking, and some drinking pop or something else. Some will have a lot of kids who get out of the car drinking red pop and eating chips. And sometimes I will see them toss the empty bag on the lawn.

And then there are the ones that are on their cell phones, and you think they are talking to you when they are really talking to someone else. They are the ones that have that little earpiece in their ear and the cell phone is nowhere in sight. Naturally, you think they are talking to you, and when you ask them “What?” they walk away from you annoyed, leaving you to walk away feeling foolish because you just realized they were talking to someone on the phone and not you. Yet at the same time, left you disgusted and not liking that person very much.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Do you think I’d rent to some of these people? Even though I may not rent to these people, I cannot discriminate against them because they don’t have well-behaved children, or they don’t have commons sense. But, you see, I never have to worry about discrimination because these types of people disqualify themselves. When people don’t act responsible, it shows up on their credit report, references, employment, etc. And even though I know 99% of the time they will never qualify to be my tenants, I will treat them with respect and welcome them into my home and offer them the option to look around.  

This is enough to get you started, but believe me there is lots more to know.

Nancy Neville

The very first thing you need to make sure of, is that they are COLLECTIBLE!

Not only do you want to know if your new tenants will be decent people, but you need them to be ‘COLLECTIBLE’. This means you want someone you can sue in case they do damages or don't pay their rent.  

if they don’t make much money and are on  Section 8, they are not collectible.

If a tenant has been employed for more than a year, they most likely won’t leave their jobs, and their credit may be okay.  If that is the case, then they most likely are “collectible”.

Keep this in mind; you are entrusting your home, worth thousands of dollars to a stranger. So screen thoroughly and make sure your tenants are collectible. You can sue them by putting a Judgment on their income tax returns, and their properties, (according to your State Laws).

By having every single adult listed on the application and on the lease it also assures your chances of getting money owed to you. The more people held responsible for back rent or damages,  the more chances you have of collecting your money through garnishments, or collection agencies, etc.

Also make sure you get a Co-Signer whenever possible.  

This is just a start of what you need to know.

Nancy Neville