FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Tenant
Tracking
Investor
Books
using Intuit's Quickbooks Pro system requirements:
RECOMMENDED:
- At least an IBM Compatible 350 MHz Pentium II with 64MB of RAM
MINIMUM:
- IBM Compatible 200 MHz Pentium computer with 48MB of RAM
- Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, (SP3, 4, or 6a) 2000, XP
- 130MB of disk space for Quickbooks installation
MAC USERS: can use this system using the software
"Virtual PC" or a new MAC
Question: Why 2 Company Files? How Does Investor Books
and Tenant Tracking talk or communicate with other?
ANSWER: They do not talk or communicate
with each other.
Press The Play Button
Volume Control Slide Button
Why 2 Company Files?
QUESTION: I've been using "Brand X Property Management Software" for a couple years
and, while it's got some good features, it's very weak in some areas and also
doesn't interface with Quicken or QuickBooks which is a real drawback,
obviously.
That is exactly what I found over the years.... I would need 2 software
programs to to
achieve my needs and it was painful because it was still short of what I wanted.
QUESTION:
Section 8 - Can Tenant Tracking handle it?
Tenant Tracking does Section 8 the best. Your concern was one of my concerns in
my search for the perfect property management / landlording software.
The problem I discovered the hard way involves: If everybody was responsible and
did what they were supposed to do, our problems would be greatly reduced.
This statement applies to Section 8 (government agency) as well as our tenants
(we never make mistakes.. ha)
The software competition says "Section 8 is no problem, simply enter the payment
as you receive it", Well that is the OSTRICH Syndrome answer by sticking your
head in the sand.
In my system Mary and in the real world, Section 8 makes errors. Section 8
occasionally adjusts the family's income makeup resulting in changes to the
subsidy, along with annual adjustments in the rent amount itself.
I am not trying to make your question complicated. I am trying to share "real
world" events of landlording and set the stage for the answer to your question.
THE ANSWER:
with all of that mess above, here is why it is powerful for Section 8
Once you learn your monthly rent and the amount of the subsidy, the amounts are
set up in the tenant register to be charged to the tenant's account
automatically each month.
For example:
If the rent is 800 and Section 8 is "expected to pay 500" Tenant Tracking sets
it up exactly like this for you on a monthly basis.
Your Tenant will receive a bill this month for next month's rent detailing their
Rent is 800 (tenant is responsible)
Section 8 expected payment is -500
Therefore if Section 8 pays their part - YOU PAY 300
Now this is the simple way if everything was perfect; but,.... Section 8
occasionally screws up...
With Tenant Tracking, when you receive your Section 8 payment(s), simply
click a button to immediately display a report of all of the Section 8 subsidies
you are scheduled to receive.
You compare what you are holding in your hand from Section 8 to what you are
supposed to receive.
Sometimes they make adjustments that are correct, sometimes they overpay,
sometimes they miss payments, etc.
IT IS A GOOD Watch Dog SYSTEM FOR SECTION 8. You will also have a record of the
history of the subsidy for the Tenant,
I hope this helps, we have over 60 families on Section 8, in addition to tenants
not on Section 8.
QUESTION:
Are there screens to save detailed information on each property i.e., serial
numbers and model numbers for the appliances for each unit, the size of the
rooms, the type of paint used, etc?
This information that is property specific and not Tenant specific. The answer
is YES.
QUESTION:
Is there a way I can import the information I already have in Brand X
into your program?
ANSWER:
I won't BS you here. My answer is I do not know.
I can tell you I have not found
anyone who has successfully imported their info into QB.
I am not a transition expert.
The transition is the most challenging and painful. My guess is, at best, the
tenant information can probably be imported, but not their activity
(transactions) such as payments received, etc.
QUESTION:
Do you have any knowledge on the Brand X program and the difference between
the two programs?
ANSWER:
I
have viewed screenshots from demos briefly. I have not had "hands on"
experience driving it with real world day to day activity. My initial comments
about what I recall seeing on their screenshots.
I do not like the word "post" or "credit / debit" . I am not sure what they
mean.
I like words like:
"charge my tenant",
"bill my Tenant",
"received Tenant Payment"
also, involving bank accounts, i like words like
"pay a bill, write a check, make a payment"
Make a Bank Deposit
"increase or deposit"
and "spend or decrease".
QUESTION:
Can I use Tenant Tracking with Quicken Home & Business (which I have) instead
of QuickBooks (which I don't)?
ANSWER:
Yes, you can. but in a very limited fashion.
I still use Quicken Home and Business for my personal finances. The amortizing
loan feature of Quicken is awesome! (but Intuit will not put it in QB Pro)
You are very limited with Quicken and will not be able to produce the needed
reports and forms available in Tenant Tracking.
QB Pro is a real true blue accounting program allowing you to do direct entries.
Quicken, although user friendly, can be difficult to work with real estate on a
large scale.
Also, odds are, you will not be able to have all the detail about each Tenant,
each property or unit, and each vendor.
You will not be able to use the WORK
ORDER feature or the Eviction feature.
Don't get me wrong. Quicken is a powerful program for less than $100 bucks. If
you just want to keep names and dollar amounts, it will work great. If you need
a property management or landlording TOOL to crank additional income, you will
be disappointed with Quicken. QB Pro is well worth the cost for the results you
will receive.
QUESTION:
Does Tenant Tracking have a screen for details on the tenants when there are
incidents you want to track?
ANSWER: Yes, referred to as "private information" or "confidential Information"...
things you do NOT want exposed as "public record" or things that could show up
in court.
Here are a couple of examples.
A.) Let's say Tenant in the Apt 3A calls you and reports that Tenant in
3B is selling dope. You do not want to place this info into 3B register where a
report of 3B's activity would show this information. I have a section equivalent
to approx 6 index cards set aside for private or office only use. This would be
an example.
B.) a Tenant is delinquent. You listen to their boo-hoo story and you
verbally set up an arrangement or payment plan to get them on track to head off
the eviction process. In the real world, we continue with our eviction and only
terminate it when the tenant actually performs and makes their account current.
Many times you will hear the story, "I get my $$$ on next Friday". This again,
may be an example of something for "office use only."
QUESTION: Does
Tenant Tracking store records of letters you've sent re: incidents? Notices to Pay or
Vacate? Increases in rent, etc?
ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY!!!
QUESTION: How does it handle multiple tenants paying on the same unit? Does it 'share'
the payments for the rent and deposit between tenants or do you have to split
the cost up between each individual's record?
ANSWER:
Two questions here.
a.) Multiple Tenants paying on same unit. My answer to this one is "the
rent for this unit is X dollars. This is the amount to be paid." i do not get
involved in who owes what. If there are 3 responsible parties, they each are
responsible for the full amount. If it were to get to the ultimate ugly, with
eviction and collections, all three would be pursued for the full amount until
the full amount was satisfied. If party number 2 satisfied all of the debt, i
would stop the collection process. Party #2 would have to chase his buddies for
his share.
b) This second question is hairy. I am concerned about your local
Landlord Tenant laws, may be boarding rooms, colleges, etc. I am not sure about
how it is structured. Let's take it at face value. You WANT to separate and have
3 individual tenants in one unit.
(Disregard the laws for a moment, i am trying to answer your question.)
If this is your challenge, You would simply have 3 independent Tenant
accounts related to the same unit. No problem for Tenant Tracking. You can
separate and track their rent, security deposits, late charges, etc. and all.
Back to the law thing, I don't have a clue how you would pursue eviction if 1
party out of 3 responsible parties failed to pay their portion of the rent.
QUESTION: Does it interface with Microsoft Word? (and
excel)
ANSWER: Yes, it interfaces with Microsoft Word and Excel although I do not use the
interface feature of Microsoft Word. QB Pro actually creates all of my reports,
forms, notices, etc. in QB Pro. I could learn how to use this feature
and make it even better.
Also, You can take any report or form, including tenant phone
numbers, Vendor info, etc, --- any report --- and click on the Excel button and
QB Pro will put the report into Excel. This is great for Palm Pilot users who
can import this into their address book.
QUESTION:
Does Tenant Tracking have a merge feature for sending mass mailings to the tenants? (It
sounds like this is probably a basic feature).
ANSWER:
There again, I need to understand the question. There are two things you can do
here. I strive for efficiency. QB Pro allows me to "Bill my Tenants Monthly"
just like credit card companies or mortgage companies. With just a couple of
clicks, we prepare all of our monthly billing to tenants and place their bill
into a window envelope. This results in never having to touch an ink pen. No
addressing of envelopes needed. This is what we do.
Next, if you wanted to send something to all or part of your tenants,
QB Pro will allow you prepare "mailing labels" for various available labels you
can find at any office supply store. I have never used this for Tenants. FYI, I drive
our local real estate investment association and I use this feature to mail
correspondence, including newsletters, to
active members, etc.
QUESTION:
Do all screens have consistency in how they're set up and how they
handle the information?
ANSWER: Yes. Each window you are in should have the name
displayed in the blue bar of the name of the window.
Tenant Register, Work Orders, create statements, evictions, late notices, etc.
Remember, this is QB Pro, I have not changed the program. I have developed a
very investor friendly companyt file, set up ready to "turn on"
for investors today. The exact same system is used in my
business everyday.
