Jump Into Property Management
I have been working almost exclusively with investors and parents (who are basically investors - buying rental units for their children), and most are from the Atlanta area, forcing most to look for a property management company. I was looking to expand the brokerage I am in into property managment, but I was wondering if there was a good resource to give me the nitty-gritty on the business. I am familar with all of the basics as my father has a fair amount of rental units in Columbus, GA, but his are all personally owned. Are there any regulations regarding managing properties of others? Do I need certification? How would operating that arm of the business in my real estate brokerage be handled? (I am not the broker, so I am looking at liability issues, additional insurance coverage, commission splits, etc.)
Thanks in advance,
This might vary from State to State, but I believe you need to have a Realtors license if you are managing properties owned by others. Look into it.
Thanks,
JS.
My vote is for REALTOOLS! I bought it, but have not had the time to really get into it, but what I have used is GREAT. Remember, REALTOOLS has unlimited properties, updates
for a year, online support forums, and the authors of the software are RE investors. Does Dr. Landlord have that?
I used RealTools and had a few problems. Sometimes it just shuts down without giving an error message. I just became annoyed and stopped using it. I have not tried anything else.
Kristy Woodyard
cincyinvestor-
Go to the REALTOOLS support forum (link below). If you post your problem the author of the software will give you some answers to fix it.
http://www.nichesw.com/forum/index.php
Quote:
On 2005-09-14 15:34, cincyinvestor wrote:
I used RealTools and had a few problems. Sometimes it just shuts down without giving an error message. I just became annoyed and stopped using it. I have not tried anything else.
Kristy Woodyard
Here is a comparison I found in another forum between Dr. Landlord vs. Realtools:
Hello, I was asked to write a product comparison of RealTools vs Dr. Landlord (Gold Edition, referred to as DL from here on). After using both products I must say that would be difficult as there really is no comparison. RealTools has a professional look and feel and has real functionality, DL is more like several spreadsheets with very little added value. More specifically:
1. RealTools has flexibility and makes data entry easier. Enter an account or tenant once and you just refer to them over and over without re-entering the same data again. DL does not offer much in the way of details or data re-use.
2. Document fill out: RealTools plugs data into your customized documents, DL does not.
3. Picture and File storage: RealTools allows you to relate as many pictures AND FILES to a property, tenant, etc. You can view these right from the same screen. DL only allows has limited use of pictures.
4. Accounting: again, FLEXIBILITY! Transactions can be related and reported many different ways with RealTools. DL has very little accounting functionality.
5. Lease management: RealTools calculates rent payments (like adds appropriate late charges) and alerts you when rent is due. DL does not.
I could go on and on but will stop with this and just say if you have a question about either one then post it here or email me. I highly recommend this software!![ Edited by d_random on Date 09/28/2005 ]
Just do a search for Real Tools on Ebay. They sell it there cheaper than buying it from their website. About $70.
How about landlord max? Has anyone tested or tried that one?