All Forum Posts by: Sergio Altomare

@Ray S.I can understand. I remember the upfront costs being too high for Appfolio, but there were some other features we felt were stronger with Property Ware. Who are you using now? Our negotiations with PW were tough and the upfront costs weren't trivial, but using them has been the best decision we've made so far. They also do a nice job with involving customers in their enhancements process. Their technical support has been great too.

BTW, they have QuickBooks integration, but it's only being able to import QB into PW, not the other way around. I may still explore that a bit more, since I understand QB accounting is pretty easy. I'll decide when I get my taxes done for the year. I have some catching up to do. We're on an extension now.

It really comes down to what you want in a PM Software package. We wanted to use our IT skills to find a robust product that will allow us to put in the time up front to create processes and then automate the heck out of things. A product like Buildium and many others will let you manage leases and event collect rent online, which is HUGE, but the advanced features of products like PropertyWare and Appfolio can turn you into a company that enables many more things than just the basics. For example, we use mail merges and templates to create leases, produce approval letters, inspection reports, move-out statements, respond to inquiries, etc. I can create a new lease for any given unit (and most other documents) in 30 seconds from my cell phone!

Another component to the decision is where you see yourself down the road. If you expect to manage more and more properties, then you are better off spending the money now to use a product that you can grow with. I personally couldn't imagine managing many units without having a tool that I know organizes every aspect of the business with the least amount of effort.

It sounds to me that you are getting two extremes of the condition, so 1) you need to validate what your contractor thinks is clean and acceptable condition, 2) be on the same page as him, and 3) see detailed pictures of the property or visit it yourself. 

My first reaction to your message is that your contractor is exaggerating the condition to make sure he still has a job, or he may be too busy with other work to want to address anything that is out of his expertise or too time consuming. Sorry, you said he is fabulous, but we've had a few of those that turned out to be far less. We rent to picky tenants on purpose. which allows us to price rents on the high end of the market, but also have the properties better maintained. We also put in the money to make sure the properties are better than the comps.

On the other hand, without seeing the list of repairs, I also agree that these tenants might turn out to be a PITA, so it might be worth terminating the lease. 

I would definitely address anything that could turn is or could turn into a health hazard.

Good luck

Hi @Ray S.

Our URL links to our site hosted by Go Daddy, and we just use the PW widgets for the tenant, owner portals and listings. We've abandoned Buildium altogether.

As for accounting, this is still a pain in my a$$. We didn't start using QB because PW only allows you to export data to it, which kind of defeats the purpose IMO. Neither Buildium or PW's accounting aspects are easy to use, as you have to enter or import the data manually. I wish they would catch up with the times and enable the direct import of bank and CC statements. Being that we are only managing our own properties, I have only been tracking rent, utility and some vendor expenses in PW, while tracking the rest of the accounting using You Need a Budget (YNAB), which is great (and cheap) for tracking the rest.

Let me know how you make out.

@Bill Gulley

Thanks for the reply Bill, but let me try and clear a couple of things up. First, we have a PM company, which serves properties that I own and don't own. For example, as I mentioned, one of the properties is totally in her name, but I help manage it. We are partners for now and not married, so we are filing separately. I am in a high enough tax bracket from my day job, so I need to minimize my extra income. And believe me, we are putting every penny of these investments back in the business. The purpose of us starting the PM company was more to protect ourselves than anything to do with bogus accounting. At the same time, owning a PM company should allow me to write off the business expenses associated myself, rather than only those expenses incurred as an owner. Keep in mind that we are not trying to use the investment arm to offset our day job income.

Thanks again

Hi Everyone,

Being that I have pushed the limits on time to do my taxes this year through an accountant, and being that I have been doing my own taxes for a long time, I am making an attempt to handle them again this year with rental properties now part of my life. I need some help/advice to get started. I searched the forums a bit, but didn't find any discussions directly related to our situation.

First, thank you to everyone on here to help open the world of real estate investing to so many people! And special thanks to Josh and Brandon for all their work on building such a wealth of knowledge!

Ok, first, my fiancé and I, who have full time day jobs have acquired and actively manage 3 properties. 2 triplexes and 1 twin home. We bought a new home in December and are renting out the one we left. The tenants there did not move in until the middle of January, so that income will be for next year. My fiancé owns one of the tri's in her name and both of our names are on the other, which we purchased this past May. She started an LLC in 2012 to manage that property, but we have since started a new LLC for the other property.

Here's my question, and possibly the start of many. We've invested a lot of time and money in the properties and the business, but have yet to charge or apply PM fees to ourselves. Although I would argue that we spend as much time on this business as our day jobs, my main goal is to minimize the taxes paid on the supposed income that we haven't yet realized. The repair fees that we've made will most likely exceed the income, but what is the best approach to maximize deductions and minimize taxes? I am thinking that we can either funnel more money through the LLC in the form of management fees and use the property management company expenses to offset it, or should we expect the repair and depreciation expenses to offset the rental income? Keep in mind that we are the owners and also the PM company.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Thanks for any help offered!

Sergio

@Mike Parks

Thanks a lot, I'll add him to the list!

@Steven Hamilton II

I meant in terms of helping with business and financial structuring. For example, they would need to know that in PA one would need to pay a transfer tax to move an investment property under an LLC. Of course anyone can research these things, but I don't want a researcher, I want someone with who knows where I'm working. Every area has nuances, but investing in Philly is its own animal. Local contacts and resource connections also come into play.

@Steven Hamilton II

Thanks a lot, Steve. That's great advice and a perspective that makes sense. Especially for a IT pros like us. I think our main concern that warrants the local perspective is with regard to local laws, beyond just tax prep.

I'll check out the resources you mentioned. Thanks again!

Hi everyone,

Being that we have grown beyond my time and expertise in managing our taxes and finances, I'm looking to find a local accountant that is strong in RE investing and property management.

Any recommendations?

Thanks much!