My wife and I have kicked off our dream of a vacation rental empire with one great property that is producing an excellent return.

You cannot catch everything and there are certainly uncontrollable events that happen, but being able to have this confidence will go a long way in your peace of mind as well as your operational success.Provide excellent tenant service that is fair and friendly.

I'm competent with Excel and occasionally build worksheets to model an investment, but the speed and simplicity of a basic financial calculator can't be beaten. 

Originally posted by @Lauren Kormylo:This book : https://store.biggerpockets.co...Excellent book.

I'd rather have an excellent tenant in there, than a mediocre one at a little higher rent. 

My performance reviews, particularly since I have moved over to finance, have been excellent. 

I have used excel spreadsheets to manage my budget for for primary and 3 investment properties. 

Thank you everyone for your excellent answers.

I have been using excel for my accounting for 6 years.

I do this and I try to structure it in a way that is simple and streamlined in accomplishing the goals of my partners and that is usually accomplished by running the numbers before the purchase with excellent, setting everyone's expectations on the returns they should expect, and then having a promissory note, lien, or Joint Venture agreement in place and running full speed ahead!