All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Shea, no other advice.   That will work !

Dan, I'm glad that my customization has pleased you.  I tell you.  It sure stopped all those debates about how much of a security deposit they paid and when, what and were.  You know what I mean?  Your acknowledgment made me very happy too, Dan.    

Nancy Neville

Khris I uploaded my Lease Agreement To BP.  Remember to check your state laws.  My Lease is just to be used as a reference.  

Go to File Place in Bigger Pockets.  I just uploaded it so it should pop up as a current upload.  If not, then it is filed under Other Documents by Nancy Neville 

The feature that I need to impress upon QuickBooks Users is the ability to CUSTOMIZE it to fit YOU and how YOU want things done.  Thus the reason I recommend QuickBooks Pro.  It has the ability to CUSTOMIZE. 

For example:  I've designed my billing invoices to show the Move In Date of my tenants, their Security Deposits, their Rental Amount and when their lease expires.    They receive this invoice every month prior to their rent being due.

Before I implemented this system, my tenants would always say their rent wasn't this much, or they paid more in a Security Deposit than what they did (it's because they paid first months rent and a security deposit, and therefore they think everything they paid was all Security Deposit....NOT)  So, this method, nips it in the bud pretty quickly.

Foot Note:  This is a demo, not a real tenant of mine.  

The Security Deposit for I also designed to show the same thing.  This is their Receipt and it shows exactly everything they need to see and know and me too, and let's not forget the COURT AND THE JUDGE !!!!  I have handled all my court cases myself and never lost a case. Why?  Because of these forms that I have designed and take with me to court when I need to go.  Evictions are tough, and Judges don't like he said, she said, scenarios.  Always have evidence and you will do well. 

THE FIXED ASSET ITEMS LIST is a real keeper.  It is here that you can program QuickBooks to do whatever you what it to do in regards to your property information.

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For example. I customized it to show one of my houses, when I purchased it, for how much, a description of the house, and the land description.  Gosh, how many times am I always hunting for this stuff, and I'm a good record keeper, but I hate going into a file and digging it up when I can click a button and it pops up right before my very eyes.    When I sell the house the right hand side of this form will be filled out.  (It's already been done.  I sold my properties in 2009).  

After you enter in all the data that you want to enter on the previous form, this  pops up and show you, at a glance what you have just typed in, but in a summary version of it. 

As I said, QuickBooks Online isn't as Robust as the Desktop version.  It can't do this for you.  

Keep in mind that hard money lenders want to see a professional print out, in great detail of your worth, and your assets, and what better place to store it all then in a software program that was designed to do just that.

Nancy Neville

You are the second person to tell me that their CPA recommended Premier.  It maybe because someone recommend Premier to them.  A lot of people don't know what each version has, and therefore they assume they know.  

Your accountant may be using Premier and needs your data to be through Premier in order to merge them.  However, most CPA have the ACCOUNTANT VERSION OF QUICKBOOKS, which allows them to use ALL VERSIONS OF QUICKBOOKS in one software program.  

That's the only reason I can think of that he would suggest that.  

I use QuickBooks Pro and Accountant software and Pro absolutely has Class Tracking.  

Nancy Neville

I recommend QuickBooks Pro.  It has class tracking.  QuickBooks Premier is more expensive and deals with Inventory and also has Class Tracking.  Since we don't have inventory, why pay more money for a software program that is more expensive because it has inventory capabilities?

Online version of Quickbooks is not for Landlords.  It doesn't have all the capabilities that the desktop version does.  Desktop version allows you to CUSTOMIZE almost everything you do.  You can tell QuickBooks to let you know when a lease is expiring.  You can enter data into QuickBooks regarding your property and program it to tell you how many square feet you have, when you purchased it, what your taxes are, and whatever you want to know about it with just the click of a button.

We deal with tens of thousands of dollars in our homes.  We need a robust software program.  Yep, it sounds so good to have everything online.  Heck, just take your IPAD or Surface pro 2 Computer with you and it's portable.  But I know what you mean.  You want to be able to access everything online, including letting other access it online too if you wanted them too.  But be careful for what you wish for.  Too many hands in the pot may be your undoing.

Nancy Neville

You are absolutely right Jeff, that is why QuickBooks does it for you behind the scenes.  

The only time you should actually do a Journal Entry is to do a correction, (and there's ways to get around that) and at the end of the year, but your CPA will help you adjust that figure.  

If you can type on a keyboard, you can use QuickBooks.

And you don't even have to use an Adding Machine to boot. 

Just type in your data and link it to an income account or an expense account, and QuickBooks will take care of all those Dastardly debits and credits for you.  Yep, you don't have to be an accountant or use an adding machine to use QuickBooks.

Nancy Neville

A Lecture for New Investors by Nancy Neville

Okay, I understand it.  I’ve been there. You’re tired of working for somebody else.You want to be your own boss.You want to make money. Houses are still selling rather cheap, depending on the area, and you think, now is the time to become a Landlord! Just buy a house, rent it out and money rolls in, just like that.

I’ve been on Bigger Pockets for several years and I cringe when I read that someone has just bought a house or a duplex, or a 4plex and they are soooooo excited, that they are about to burst, and then they ask the question.“WHAT DO I DO NOW”?

Oh my goodness! You mean they’re asking this question now, AFTER they purchased a home! Yikes!!!!

I see more and more people buying buildings for rentals and don’t have a clue what to do with them once they have them.

Being a Landlord is a very serious business!!!!I can’t stress this enough.The life of a landlord can be exciting and challenging, but it is 24/7 and it is a business of people management, and doing things legally and doing things right, and making decisions, bad or good.

This is a business of evictions, of fires, of break in’s, of damages, of being responsible for other people’s lives.What THEY (your tenants) do affects YOU!

There are laws to follow in order to make your building legally rentable.One is to have a C of A(Certificate of Acceptance) this is decided upon by the state, or county or city where you live.They have to approve this home to be a rental.Then you receive a C of O (Certificate of Acceptance) decided upon again by the local or state or county authorities. This states the home has been approved and available to be a rental.And some of these must be applied for every time a tenant moves.So check your state laws.

There are Landlord Tenant Laws, Building Codes, and laws that are not laws at all but based on a Judge’s opinion of whether or not a tenant did wrong or not.For instance, normal wear and tear.Judges have various opinions on what they deem normal wear and tear.

This is an Industry of thinking skills.This is an industry of holding your temper and implementing your lease agreement no matter what.You need to think like a Judge.You need to think reasonably.

You need to be a good listener.You need to be in control.

Once you buy a house you need to know how to keep that house and how to keep your tenants long term.

You need to know how to be all things in order to keep your tenants happy, yet make them know the rules of landlording and how to be good tenants.

I always say that one is only as good as the tools they have.You could be the greatest landlord in the world in mind and action, but if you don’t have the equipment, or the education, or the money to invest in the proper tools to make you successful, then you will never make it in this business.

It takes my breath away to read the stuff on here by new investors.And I understand that how can they know what they do not know?That is why I wish there was a Sticky Note on here for New Investors to post posts like mine (and maybe there is and I just don’t know it) that tells them to Read This First before Investing!!!

My husband and I were very successful in the business. (We are retired now due to his cancer). But we owned a huge house.And every time someone would come over and do work on something on the house, they would ask, “Wow are you a doctor?” and I would say no.And they would ask, “A lawyer?” And I would laugh and say no.I’m just a Landlord.And they would say, “Wow and that’s all that you do?”And I’d laugh again and say, “Yep that’s all that I do”.And they would reply.“Wow, I think I’ll become a landlord too”.

And that is the mindset of a new investor. When I say that’s all that I do, let me tell you what to expect in the life of a landlord and all that they do.

• 3 am Christmas Eve Tenants call-Furnace went out.I get up, phone calls made, emergency call, expensive triple overtime to the Heating Contractor, Tenant has heat. Tenant Happy.Landlord sleepy.
• 2 am Fire Dept. calls.Fire at such and such a place.We get dress. Blizzard outside.Drive to the home.Access the damages.Look at the big hole in the roof from the fire dept.Plan our strategy.Talk to tenants. Get our guys out to put a tarp over the roof.Meet in the morning with everyone to solve the problem, what to do with tenants, whose fault, where to go from here.
• You have tenants parking their cars on the lawn
• oHaving unauthorized guests
• oDoing Drugs
• oHaving a dog they shouldn’t have
• oHoarders
• oComplainers
• o(In my case…drive by shootings, bullet holes in rentals, thievery)
• oWater abuse
• oDish on roofs when forbidden to have one on the roof
• oAnd so much more
• On top of being ready to take care of emergencies any time night or day, and solving tenant issues. You need to also take care of the following.

• 1.Fixing up a vacant rental so it can be rented out again.
• a.We had handy men to do most of this, but with 40 rentals my husband and I had to pitch in a do the labor ourselves as well.
• b.I would paint the house and garages.
• c.Husband would fix the repairs inside
• 2.I would take care of the tenants.This entailed
• a.Taking care of advertising the homes (usually we had more than one vacancy at a time)
• b.Taking phone calls and screening tenants
• c.Scheduling open houses
• d.Staging the house
• e.Interviewing the applicants
• f.Making sure I double checked their application forms
• i.Criteria
• ii.Employers
• iii.Verifying funds and income
• 3.Typing up the lease and making sure they understood the lease
• 4.Then making sure the Tenants abided by the lease agreement
• 5.Paid their rent on time
• 6.And sent that Notice to Quit for Non Payment of Rent the very first day rent is late.

On top of that I did my own evictions and I never lost a case and I dealt with the 36th District Court in Detroit.I won because I covered my butt by having everything in writing.I documented everything.Every phone call I made to them and every phone call they made to me.

I never complained to a tenant because they called regarding a repair.I listened when they told me they couldn’t pay their rent, but even though I understood their problem, I made them pay their rent anyway.

Landlording is about making tough decision and doing things you don’t like to have to do.

Landlording is a Business.

You have to not LOVE YOUR HOUSE.I can’t stress this enough.If you don’t know or understand that this is a business of evictions, damages, and injustices, and fixing this house up over and over again, you aren’t going to be happy let alone successful.

How I wish I could be there for every new investor to help them understand what it’s like to be a landlord BEFORE YOU INVEST.But I can’t and that’s really a shame because it something every new investor should dig into before they invest.

One last thing. Yes you need to have an accountant to file your taxes for you at the end of the year. Our industry involves huge sums of money in our rentals and other people's money. An Accountant knows how to get you back more money at the end of the year because they know the tax laws, not you! So please don't be cheap and try doing it yourself.

Nancy Neville

You can once they have returned the keys to you, or you have evidence they have moved out. 

I can't count the times that tenants to not leave when they should.  

The only time you would need to evict someone on a Non-Renewal of a Lease, is if they don't move.  

Nancy Neville

My husband and I had 40 rental properties that ranged from apartments to multi-families to single family homes.   We allowed $100.00 per unit and building for repairs.  

Create an Escrow Account in your Chart of Accounts as an Other Current Liability Account and also make a sub account in your bank account called Escrow Repairs, and you will have a nice nest egg for those repairs.  (Treat it like you would your tenants Security Deposits) 

Therefore just move $100 per unit and/or building to the Escrow Repair Sub bank account (by choosing it in QuickBooks) when  you deposit your income into your business bank account) and then link it o your Other Current Escrow Repair Other Current Liability Account.  (Also done in QuickBooks).  So your bank shows you with the total income, but QuickBooks will break it down for you by money in your bank, and how much of that money is in an Escrow Repair Account.  

Some units don't need repairs at all, so that $100 is a part of the "nest egg" and will build up each month.  That's a good thing. 

Some units or buildings may need a new roof, and that blows that little "nest egg".  However, the units that don't need repairs verses the units that need repairs, off set each other.  You are building a nest egg each month with units and buildings that don't need repairs, and having to dig into it when big repairs are needed. (But those big repairs don't happen all the time, and most definitely not every month, so you are basically saving more than you are spending).

Your profit and loss report by class will give you your total income, minus expenses, giving you a net balance of your worth for each unit and each building.  

Making an Escrow Account as a sub account of your bank, will keep you from spending that money and is a way of physically keeping those funds from being spent. (Even though in your physical bank account it will show up)

Making it an Other Current Liability, shows QuickBooks that this money is allocated for repairs, or money to be paid out.  

You will link those repairs to the right house or unit or building, (The class feature of QuickBooks) which will show up on your Profit and Loss Report. 

Whew!  I hope I didn't make your eyes go glassy!   :)

Nancy Neville

Will your mortgage company allow YOU to make payments on your mortgage?  Can you split your car payments on the 1st or the 15th?  The answer is no. 

When I've been asked that question I tell my tenants to take the money they receive on the 15th (prior to the month their rent is due),  then take the money they receive on the first, combine the two together, and they will have the full amount of rent to send me on the first.  It's all about budgeting.  

The lease is a contract.   Rent is due when rent is due.  A contract is a contract!

The eviction process takes a long time.  You have to send out a Notice of Quit for Non-Payment of rent, therefore, you have to have a rental due date and you can't waiver, or be wishy washy regarding the due date, because you change the due date if you try to compromise with the Tenant.   The tenant than has 3 days or 7 days to pay, whatever your State law may be.  Then you usually have a scheduled court date of 10 days after you file for the eviction of non-payment of rent. So you see, time is of the essence. 

Tell them to budget their money accordingly, and they will be fine.

Nancy Neville