Spreadsheets

[Maggiem]

I tend to manage our apartment by using a spreadsheet to record all incomings/outgoings etc., and a small database with other relevant details. However, I have now decided that I am, basically, intelligent, so will try to refine this a little! I don't want something that is so sophisticated it becomes a chore to use, and tend towards the belief that, 'if it ain't broke' etc. I would like something a little more sophisticated than my very basic attempt at a spreadsheet - I'm sure it could do more for me, if only I knew what!
Any ideas/suggestions will be most welcome.
Maggie

[Alison]

I just started trying an online property management software at www.rentalbot.com

They have a free two month trial offer when you add a free basic listing. Here's what they say they do (copied from their website):

As I said, I just signed up so I don't have any pros or cons to offer. It was recommended to me by a few other vacation owners who were tired of a combo spreadsheet/word processor route.

Good luck!
Alison

Property Management Features


RentalBot offer vacation rental property owners an unparalleled array of Property Management features including detailed availability calendar, renter contact lists, payment tracking, reminders, and much more.

Listed below are the services RentalBot provides to owners:

Payment Tracking
Keeps up with who has rented, for what amount, and when they paid you
Lets you enter in payments such as "Deposit" & "Remaining Balance" along with the date they are due, and automatically sends you an email to remind you to make sure they've paid you what they're supposed to have paid you by that date

Reservation & Confirmation Management
Record inquiries along with "inquiry source" (e.g. Newspaper, Friend, VRUL.com, MyWebsite, etc.)
Automatically convert inquiries to reservations
Send renters an optional confirmation email that automatically includes their reservation details along with your standard reservation-confirmation text

Renter/Inquirer Contact Management
Your own private contact list of everyone that's ever inquired or rented from you
Send everyone an email by filling out one form
Recipients are sent individual emails so they don't see it as a mass-mailing
Choose to send to "Everyone", "Inquirers Only", "Renters Only", "Past Renters", or "Future Renters"

Availability Calendar
Shows prospective renters the dates that are still available
The internet's only embeddable calendar you can display on any other webpage in the world as an embeddable inline availability calendar image
Shows you the actual name of who has it rented, along with the total rental amount and payment breakdown
Color-coded so you can see at a glance who's paid some, who's paid all, and who's not paid at all
For rentors.org users, bi-directional integration with your rentors.org calendar so you don't have to maintain availability in two places

Owner's Dashboard
Lets you see all relevant statistics related to your property to answer the questions:
What are my revenues? For the year? By month?
What is my % occupancy? For the year? By month?
On average, how many days in advance are people booking?
Where are my inquiries coming from?
Where are my rentals coming from?
Where sources are most effective at turning inquiries into rentals?

[debk]

Hi. I'm a huge Rentalbot fan. I've set aside all of my spreadsheets except one and now just let Rentalbot email me reminders for each step of my rental process. I also like to look regularly at my main Rentalbot screen with its graphs of my average occupancy, daily rates and details on which sources (Holiday-Rentals, VRBO, etc) are generating the most income. Rentalbot is web-based, so you don't have to worry about not having the info you need while are on the road. Only $60 a year. Hope that helps.

[Linda Freese]

Hi. I'm a huge Rentalbot fan. I've set aside all of my spreadsheets except one and now just let Rentalbot email me reminders for each step of my rental process.

Hi Debk

I have just listed my properties on rentalbot but can´t work out how to update the property management site! I have looked at all the pages but can´t figure it out! Can you help me? I have sent an email to them but not sure how long they will take to respond - thought it might be easier if I asked you! How do I enter the details on all the bookings I have already made?

Thanks for your help

Linda

[debk]

Hey, Linda -
Rentalbot often replies personally with in hours... although sometimes they can take a day or two. If you PM me I'll be happy to help as best I can.

[DivineMrsM]

Thanks for this suggestion - I will go and check it out.

By the way Deb, if I were you I would take your email address out of the previous post. It makes you a prime target for spam spiders - something you definitely don't want! People can contact you using the PM system.

[debk]

Point well taken. Thanks!

(I saw and used the PM earlier this week to contact someone else. Works great.)

Paolo... can you edit out my email? Very sorry for the hassle.
debk

[paolo]

Tis done.

You should be able to edit your own posts by clicking on the 'edit' button in the message.

A safe way to post an email address is to break up the address and point it out, for instance:

deb @ laymyhat.com (remove the spaces)