Perform the same task in each app to ensure a fair comparison.Load a property with pictures and details.Market that property.See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.Run a credit/screening report on yourself.Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, and attach a fake invoice.Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.Sign documents electronically.Run owner reports.After testing a few apps, one should clearly stand out.

The CRASH is for sure coming....Here's how to protect yourself:1) Only buy good deals below current market value2) Prudently escrow the money it takes to get them into service (in service = making money)3) Don't over-extend on the amount of projects you can do at one time (project = time between purchase and "in service")4) Continually build your skills in getting deals (sales/networking/marketing), building a better depth chart of vendors, project management, and writing strategic scopes of work for the properties you buy. 5) Put money aside after every successful project.

If you don't want to "get sold" by a PM when you're really looking for vendors, then talk to brokers on the buy/sell side instead.

I look for markets with a COC that fills my appetite and that has a critical number of vendors that can service me (eg: property managers and cleaners).

As you know, there are other communities that behave like investor clubs/networking groups that present themselves as educational platforms, yet they are either operated by deal sponsors/syndicators or have a number of deal sponsors/syndicators that sponsor the website (they may not call them sponsors but preferred vendors or similar).

When starting we relied 100% on B2B cleaning vendors. 

- Do you have an in-house maintenance team or do you use third-party vendors?

Without an integration for some of our vendors, we are considering halting RentVine onboarding and moving to Appfolio.Any advice or experience stories would be welcome here.

Hey David, as long as you flip the property it shouldn't affect your future purchase if for some reason you have to carry a loan on the property then that will affect your DTI which could potentially affect your future purchase.As for flipping, I think you are in a good spot because you and your Dad can do the work yourself, one of the hardest parts of investing in Real Estate is finding quality vendors and contractors.

I've used her for all of my rentals and typically recommend her if my clients don't have a preferred insurance vendor already.