Tenant File Software Questions and Answers
Ever since we started to do property management software reviews way back in January of this year we’ve 
been getting a ton of emails from readers asking specific questions about property management softwares… and even about specific softwares like Quicken Rental Property , Tenant File , Landlord Max , etc.
Anyhow, since I’m sure a lot of readers have these same questions… I thought I’d post some of the questions and answers from time to time. Sound good?
The Question…
Okay, last week I got a great email from Barb. Here’s her question:
Hi,
I have owned & leased apartments & houses to college students for the last 22 years. I do all of my bookkeeping on paper but would love to have software to replace it. I need software that allows multiple tenants in one unit but allows each tenant to have their own account & I also need to be able to set up individual payment schedules by specific dates as opposed to monthly or quarterly. Since you have reviewed various software packages, which one or one(s) would you recommend?Thanks,
Barb
The Answer…
Okay Barb… this is a great question and one that I can’t answer with 100% confidence… but I’m pretty darn sure I’ve got a great solution for you.
Okay, for your software requirements… I’m pretty darn sure that Tenant File is probably the way to go (from 
the one’s that I’ve personally reviewed).
I know that you can set payment due dates to be any date you want (or day of the month, etc.)… so that will
take care of that. You can have one tenants rent due on the 1st, another on the 5th, and another on the 15th… etc.
That’s just an example… you can set the custom due dates any way you want.
As for the multiple tenants in a unit… with each having their own account… I don’t think I’ve seen a property management software that will do this specifically (Tenant File and Landlord Max lets you have multiple tenants in a unit); however, I think a solution may be to do something like create units within
the units.
So, do something like:
- 111 Maple Street A – John Doe Tenant
- 111 Maple Street B – Jane Doe Tenant
Of course, you know what this is the same unit… but this way you have separate accounts for each tenant… and all of the costs still get applied to the entire building so it keeps your record keeping straight.
That’s the route I’d take.
The best thing to do is to download the free trial w/ the link below and take a look at the full review (video and written) on Tenant File a few weeks back.
If I were you, Tenant File would probably be the way to go.
You might download the free trial and try it out for a few days just to see.
Then, head back over to our site at:
http://www.thereibrain.com/tenant-file
… to purchase it at the discount (and fre.e shipping) that we negotiated w/ the manufacturer (fre.e shipping and an extra $20 off).
I hope that helped a bit! Let me know.
Chat w/ you soon! Let me know if you have any other questions and/or concerns.
- Trevor
——————-
That’s just one of the questions that we’ve got in the past few weeks (out of dozens!)… so I’ll be posting some of the other questions and answers from readers as I get to them.
A couple of the biggest questions I’ve been getting are:
- What’s the best property management software for a Mac?
- Are there any good online/web based property management solutions?
I’m reviewing two online based property management systems in the next few weeks… so that’ll give us a start on that question.
As for the Mac question… to tell you the truth… I haven’t found any Mac based property management software worth reviewing yet… the solution for Mac people is to maybe use one of the online based property management solutions that I’ll review next week.
Anyhow, sit tight and keep sending in your questions.
Just in case you haven’t seen them already… here’s a rundown on what we’ve reviewed so far:
1-20 Units:
- Quicken Rental Property Manager 2.5 – (Great for simplicity and very good price)
- Rent Tracker – (not recommended…)
20-100 Units:
- Landlord Max – Excellent software, easy to use, and great price. Has a few limitations… but I like it.
- Tenant File Software – Overall my highest rated software yet. Great features and great price.
- Real Tools – Decent software at a great price. However, I found it difficult to use and cumbersome.
100+ Units:
- Landlord Max and Tenant File will both do the job… but overall I think Tenant File is better suited to handle 100+ units with their professional version.
In the next few months we’ll be digging deeper into the world of property management software for landlords and property managers. So far we really haven’t touched the market that caters to people managing more than 100 units very well… so I want to get a few of the great programs for that purpose reviewed.
Also, there are some great online based programs… and there’s got to be a good Mac based software out there somewhere… I know I’ll find one.
Keep those questions coming and… if you like our reviews… return the favor and purchase the software through our links so we can continue to keep our lights on and Starbucks coffee loaded in my coffee cup!
—
Note: Here at The REI Brain dot com we are dedicated to providing you with great free content, resources, training, and product reviews. All of this is not cheap for us to do and we’ve got to pay the bills… so, if you find a product or recommendation or review of a product on our website or in our emails we likely do earn a revenue when our visitors purchase the product/service/program through the links on our website. That is a great way that we’ve found to help pay for our expenses and to continue providing you with great content for free. However, with that said… we are *never* going to sell out to make a quick buck and feel very strongly that every product we introduce you to or that we recommend in a review is truly a great product, at a great value, that we have personally reviewed prior to any recommendation or review. Out of every product we do recommend, there are over 20 that we look at that we feel are not worthy of our recommendation to our valued readers.
Here's A Few Related Articles...
- Buildium Review – Online Property Management Software Review
- Tenant File 6.0 Property Management Software Review – In Depth Video Review
- Property Management Software Reviews – In-Depth Unbiased Reviews
- Rent Tracker Property Management Software – In Depth Review…
- Irealtymanager.com Review Online Property Management Software
Hey, my name is Trevor and I'm the founder of The REI Brain and a real estate investor since the age of 21. Right now, my focus in real estate investing is multi-family income properties and I have plans on moving more into the commercial real estate investment world in 2008 and beyond. 
Trevor,
You spent entirely too much time at the beginning of your video on “nothing” — it would be great if you changed the sequence of your review videos to do a detailed review up front — give us the meat first. I find the length of your videos are excessive — I encourage a little planning to make the video more watchable, go thru the panels before you start the video, decide what you intend to say. And, finally — consider that specific pricing information like I save $1.99 by buying thru your website inconsequential when compared to the software’s ultimate usefullness — and that’s why I’m watching your video. We’re investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on houses, constantly referring to a minor savings in software costs are definately not an issue if it makes our day shorter.
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the comment. By the way… I totally agree w/ your points and have already begun to do many of the things you suggest with the reviews we’re doing from this point forward.
At first I was just going through the software to show the people every aspect of the software so they could see it’s full capabilities and drawbacks… and totally agree that people shouldn’t have to sit there for 30 minutes watching a review of a piece of software… very excessive and we’re changing that as we speak.
You see… it’s great when people give us good comments about our reviews… everyone likes good comments (and so far 99% of them have been extremely positive!)…
But, we can never improve unless we get critical comments from time to time… so I appreciate your honesty and the fact that you took that extra step to let us know we were doing something that is a pain in the @ss for the reader. That’s the only way we can improve.
Once again, agree w/ the fact that a discount usually isn’t a reason for people to buy (most discounts we get readers are at least $20 bucks… so it’s a bit more than $1.99, but I get your point)… but there are a lot of people that were watching our reviews (that we put our time and honesty into)… and then after watching our review (which is what helped them make their decision) they’d do some price shopping and purchase it through someone else at a bit cheaper price.
That’s fine… but… if we did a good job and helped someone find a solution to their problem… we’d like to get the credit for the sale… so hence the discounts we have negotiated w/ the software manufacturers… helps us stay competitive and keep the lights on in our office
.
Anyhow, I see I’m doing it again (being too long winded
… so I’ll cut it off and say thanks for the input and we’ll begin implementing them asap to give you and the rest of our readers a better overall user experience.
Quick question if you wouldn’t mind it (and any other readers out there):
– What elements would you like included in the video and written reviews… and how long would you like the video to be ideally???
Let me know and that’s what we’ll do from now on. Thanks!
Does this work for macbook
It seems an important part of time management for rentals is the paying of bills. Which programs will allow me to pay the bills and apply the expenses to each property so I have a profit/loss report for each property at tax time. I have about 40 units and really have no problems applying rents to a ledger sheet for each property. It seems the time to imput on the computer rents received would be about the same. The real problem for me is the invoices and statements that relate to each property and the checks to be written and recorded to apply to each property. Which program is the best and simplest for this purpose?
Ron