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New Syndication Partners

Released on March 22nd, 2019

NowRenting is already an amazingly effective tool for acquiring high-quality leads for your properties. But we’re always working to make it more effective.

That includes recent efforts to expand our syndication network—which have begun to pay off! We now include 5 new sites among our syndication partners:

That means that, in addition to our current syndication partners, NowRenting will send your Listings to these new sites as well. Be sure to turn on syndication to take advantage of the additional Leads that exposure is sure to generate.

Our efforts to add new syndication partners are ongoing. We expect to add even more in upcoming weeks.

If you haven’t signed up for NowRenting yet, now is a great time! Our new signup promotion is giving deep discounts for signing up, but only for a limited time. Expand the reach of your property Listings by signing up for NowRenting today!

NowRenting's Syndication Partners

Recent Release Notes:

5/10/2019 Security and Encryption
5/3/2019 Invoice Preview and Pop-Up Notes
4/5/2019 No Fee Listings and New Mobile App Styles
3/22/2019 New Syndication Partners
3/15/2019 New Signup Promotion: 70% Off

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Back

New Syndication Partners

Released on March 22nd, 2019

NowRenting is already an amazingly effective tool for acquiring high-quality leads for your properties. But we’re always working to make it more effective.

That includes recent efforts to expand our syndication network—which have begun to pay off! We now include 5 new sites among our syndication partners:

That means that, in addition to our current syndication partners, NowRenting will send your Listings to these new sites as well. Be sure to turn on syndication to take advantage of the additional Leads that exposure is sure to generate.

Our efforts to add new syndication partners are ongoing. We expect to add even more in upcoming weeks.

If you haven’t signed up for NowRenting yet, now is a great time! Our new signup promotion is giving deep discounts for signing up, but only for a limited time. Expand the reach of your property Listings by signing up for NowRenting today!

NowRenting's Syndication Partners

Showing Scheduler Walkthrough

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Monday, February 4th, 2019

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    > Showing Scheduler Walkthrough

Showing Scheduler Walkthrough

What Millennials Look for in Rental Properties

Published by Guest Contributor in on Monday, January 7th, 2019

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    > What Millennials Look for in Rental Properties

What Millennials Look for in Rental Properties

With more than 80 million members in the United States, the millennial generation is easily one of the largest portions of the rental market. And according to some studies, many millennials plan to continue renting late into life.

The rental market can be competitive for both tenants and landlords. But the good news is that millennials tend to look for just a few key things in a potential rental. Check out this list of necessities to help make your property more desirable.

Location

As the old saying goes, the top 3 most important factors that attract potential tenants and buyers
are:

  • Location
  • Location
  • Location

For many millennials, the allure of nearby bars, restaurants, shopping, and other entertainment options can be worth a higher cost. This is the result of the increasing popularity of the desire to sacrifice in order to increase overall quality of life.

Of course, as a generation that prides itself on loving the environment, proximity to parks, trails, and other public open spaces are another drawing factor for millennials. Living in an area lush with greenery or natural habitat can coax even the most adamant city dwellers to their pioneer roots.

Commute

As wages remain stagnant and living costs continue to skyrocket, many millennials look for ways to save on their living costs. This could means a heavier focus on lowering commuting costs.

Similar to their desire for a more cultural location, many tenants look for rental properties close to public transportation. They may also look for properties close to major business centers to cut back on commuting by car.

Amenities

Another key factor that millennials search for in a rental property are included amenities. In an age of convenience, little perks can be a make-or-break for those choosing between two seemingly identical properties.

Some of the top amenities tenants look for in rental properties include:

  • Free Wifi
  • On-site or in-unit laundry
  • Security
  • Access to compost and recycling
  • Covered parking for large cars
  • Storage unit

Millennials like things to be easy and streamlined. The more landlords can include in rental properties, the more likely tenants will find the property appealing.

Pets Allowed

It’s nearly impossible to find affordable, pet-friendly rental units in large cities. Nearly 73% of all millennials own a pet and struggle to find housing. And with an increasing attitude of “I work hard so my pet can have a better life,” more and more millennials are forced to buy homes to accommodate pets.

For tenants interested in capturing this portion of the rental market, consider setting up a half-refundable pet deposit for families with furry members. Also consider allowing a wider array of pet types – many rental properties do not allow certain animal breeds, such as terriers and chows, which forces pet owner to find much more expensive home options.

If you are looking to fill your rental property, be sure to check out NowRenting. This rental management software takes the pain out of finding, screening, signing, and managing tenants with a streamlined, affordable process. Sign up for a 7-day trial today.

Export Leads

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Thursday, December 20th, 2018

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    > Export Leads

Export Leads

NowRenting uses the industry-standard Real Estate Lead Metadata format to export Leads for use in other tools.

Navigate to the Leads dashboard by clicking the Leads link in the top navigation bar, then click the Export leads… link.

NowRenting -- Export Leads -- Link

Enter the email address provided by the other tool you want to export your Leads to. New text input fields will appear to accommodate as many email addresses as you need. Click the checkbox if you want to send all of your current leads to the addresses immediately. Then click Done.

NowRenting -- Export Leads -- Window

The Show replies in NowRenting checkbox controls whether NowRenting will continue to manage communication with the exported leads or not.

  • If you leave the box checked, the leads will be exported with a special email address that will route future communication through NowRenting. When NowRenting receives an email at that address, it will pass it on to the lead and show it in the Messages dashboard.
  • If you uncheck the box, the exported lead data will include the actual email address of the lead. NowRenting may not be able to keep track of future communication with this lead.

Every time you get a new Lead, NowRenting will send an email to the addresses specified. These emails are formatted to be read by people as well as online real estate tools.

NowRenting -- Export Leads -- Email

The code of the email will contain special tags designed to be read by online real estate software.

NowRenting -- Export Leads -- Meta Tags

Follow Up Boss

Follow Up Boss assigns each user a unique email address. (Agents can find this under Admin > API > Lead Email Address.) This is the address you should enter into NowRenting’s Export Leads window.

For more details, see the Follow Up Boss documentation here.

Sync Expenses

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Wednesday, December 19th, 2018

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    > Sync Expenses

Sync Expenses

Before you can sync your expenses to NowRenting, you’ll need to connect to your bank account via Plaid, and create a new Property. Read about connecting to Plaid here and about creating a Property here.

Navigate to the Expenses page by clicking Leases on the top navigation bar and then the See Details link under the Property Expenses section.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Navigate

The Needs Attention pill shows a table of expenses that NowRenting has imported from your bank account, but have not yet been added to NowRenting’s financial data.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Needs Attention

Importing Older Expenses

The expenses NowRenting imports from your bank account when you first connect cover a certain time period. However, you can import older expenses. Just click the Imported from [date] link. Pick a start date and click Import Expenses, and NowRenting will import all expenses going back to that date.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Import Older Expenses Link

Syncing Expenses

An expense cannot by synced until you choose which Lease or Property it’s associated with, as well as a category. Select a Lease or Property from the Lease / Property drop-down menu.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Choose Lease or Property

Then select a category from the Category drop-down. You can also create a new category by typing into the input field and clicking the Create Category option. (NowRenting will also suggest new categories you could add, based on the expense’s description. These are labeled Suggestion and are optional.)

See the Manage Categories section below for more information about how to manage your categories.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Choose Category

Click the checkboxes to the left to select which expenses you want to sync with NowRenting, then click Import Selected. If the button is grayed out, you may need to select a Lease / Property or a category for some expense.

You can also choose not to sync an expense with NowRenting. To do that, select it and click the Skip Selected button.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Import Selected

Splitting Expenses

If an expense needs to be split between multiple leases, properties or categories, you can click the Split… button to the right.

Each row in the Split Import window will be entered in NowRenting’s system as a separate expense. Use the Add Another Row link to divide the expense into as many parts as you need. Click the Import button to finalize the expense.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Split Import Window

Imported Expenses

The Imported pill shows expenses that have been synced into NowRenting’s system. The Skipped pill shows those that have not.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Imported

You can manually add an expense. Just click the Add Expense button. A new row will appear. Fill in the date, Lease or Property, category, amount and description, then click Save. The expense will be synced into NowRenting’s system just as if it had come from your bank.

To see only the expenses belonging to a particular Lease or Property, use the filter. Click Filter Expenses and then select the Lease or Property you want to see.

NowRenting -- Sync Expenses -- Filter

Manage Categories

To manage your expense categories in NowRenting, select Property Expense from the main settings drop-down menu, then click the Categories tab.

NowRenting -- Manage Categories -- Navigate

You can Add, Edit or Delete categories by clicking the appropriate button.

It is also possible to import expense categories from QuickBooks. QuickBooks calls these Expense Accounts. Read about how to connect NowRenting to your QuickBooks Desktop account here, and QuickBooks Online here. To import categories from a QuickBooks account, click the arrow to the right of the Add Category button and select Import from QuickBooks.

NowRenting -- Manage Categories -- Import from QuickBooks

If you have not connected your QuickBooks account, you’ll be prompted to do so in the window that comes up.

If your QuickBooks account uses nested categories, the hierarchy will be shown with a colon, like: “parent:child”.

Connect to Plaid

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Tuesday, December 18th, 2018

Welcome to the NowRenting Help Center

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    > Connect to Plaid

Connect to Plaid

(Note: This article is about connecting NowRenting to a bank account for the purpose of syncing financial data. To read about connecting NowRenting to a bank account so you can accept rent payments, see here.)

NowRenting can automatically import expenses from your bank account and associate them with a Property. To import expenses, first you have to connect NowRenting to your bank account. NowRenting uses Plaid, a national leader in financial connectivity technology, to facilitate this connection.

First, navigate to the Property Expenses settings page by clicking the link in the main settings drop-down menu. Then click the Connect a Bank Account link.

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Navigate

Click Continue to agree to the Plaid Privacy Policy.

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Agree

Then select your bank. If your bank is not pictured, use the search bar to locate it. Plaid supports thousands of institutions!

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Choose Bank

Enter the credentials you use to access your bank account online. For your privacy and security, this information goes directly to Plaid; NowRenting’s servers never touch it.

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Enter Credentials

Select the account you want NowRenting to connect to.

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Select Account

Congratulations! You’ve connected your bank account to NowRenting.

NowRenting Connect a Bank Account Success

Once you’ve connected to Plaid, you’ll want to create a Property to manage the imported data. Read about how to create a new Property here, and about how to sync expenses here.

Create a Property

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Tuesday, December 18th, 2018

Welcome to the NowRenting Help Center

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    > Create a Property

Create a Property

A Property is a way for you to keep track of expenses and earnings for a real estate property that may involve multiple Leases, such as a duplex or apartment building. A Property is different from a Lease or a Listing: A Lease is about the relationship between you and a tenant. A Listing is about advertising a vacancy to potential tenants. A Property, however, is about expenses and earnings for a group of Leases.

First, hover your mouse over the Leases link in the top navigation bar, then click on Add Property.

NowRenting Add Property Navigate

In the window that comes up, enter the address of the Property. Then use the drop-down menu to select the Leases that belong to this Property. When you’re done, click Add Property. (If you don’t have any Leases, learn how to create them here.)

NowRenting Add Property Window

Manage Your Properties

You can view and manage your Properties by clicking the Leases link in the top navigation bar, then clicking the See Property Performance link.

NowRenting Property Performance Navigate

The Property Performance Summary section shows a graphical summary of the financial performance of all the Properties you have set up. A table of individual Properties can be found under the Properties heading. If you need to add or remove a Lease from a Property, click the Edit link. The window that comes up will also allow you to delete the Property.

NowRenting Property Performance Summary

Once you have created a Property, you can configure NowRenting to sync expense data from your bank account with it. Read about how to connect with Plaid here, then how to sync your expenses here.

Get Organized with NowRenting

Published by Ellen in on Thursday, October 25th, 2018

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    > Get Organized with NowRenting

Get Organized with NowRenting

property management software

Are you a rental property manager? Do you feel overwhelmed with your current tenants while trying to follow quality leads? Running a property means staying on top of things, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have any help. Property management software will help you get organized and stay on top of things. Being in charge of a property means not only taking care of your current tenants, but growing your rental business. With the right property management software, you can make renting easy. Here are a few of the many ways that you can get organized with a property management software like NowRenting.

Online Paperwork

Writing up leases and collecting rent can take up a lot of your time when managing properties. Along with having to do all of the work, you also have to keep track of the paperwork and checks. NowRenting helps you spend less time managing your tenants or coming up with new rental lease agreements. NowRenting’s property management software takes care of new rental lease agreements while properly organizing and saving them in case they are needed later on. You also give tenants the option to pay rent online giving both you and them a whole new level of convenience.

Streamline Communication

Proper communication is essential between property management and tenants. Not being able to get in contact with your property manager or not being able to get in contact with your tenants can cause unnecessary stress and problems. With NowRenting, there is no need to worry about communication. All business communication is streamlined through a single inbox. This gives property managers a way to collect all leads and communication with tenants into one easily managed inbox, eliminating the need to give out your personal phone number or email.

Run Efficient Tenant Screening

When you’re unorganized, tenant screenings are the last task you want to tackle. Sifting through hundreds of leads can eat up a lot of your time and still leave you without a quality tenant. NowRenting does the grunt work for you by running background checks and screening hundreds of potential quality tenants. The property management software then selects the best of the best for you to choose from. This way you are able to find the best tenant in less time than trying to do everything yourself.

Being a landlord, leasing agent, or rental management professional doesn’t have to be overwhelming and stressful. NowRenting helps you to stay organized by taking over tedious paperwork online, streamlining communication through a single inbox. With NowRenting, you can meet your tenants’ needs and free up yourself to focus on high-quality leads. If you are ready to take control of your rental business, contact Now Renting today.

Avoid Serious Misunderstandings With Houses For Rent By Owner

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

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    > Avoid Serious Misunderstandings With Houses For Rent By Owner

Avoid Serious Misunderstandings With Houses For Rent By Owner

There are many advantages to houses for rent by owner, but there can be a lot of issues and serious misunderstandings when an agreement is not in writing. It is not all about paying somebody else’s mortgage or throwing money away. You do have a responsibility to ensure that the lease agreement is in place and that you make regular payments.

Explore the new neighborhood and make good use of the opportunity to save money on a monthly basis. Advantages of renting a house by owner include:

  • One can live in a better neighborhood. Some houses for rent by owners include water, and you can save money.
  • You are not responsible for maintenance. Plumbing, elimination of termites and paint can be expensive. You save all these costs by renting.
  • One can experience a lot of unforeseen costs when owning a home. Large repairs such as a leaking roof can cost one a lot of money.
  • Pools cost money to maintain. There are great public pools available, and all one has to pay is the membership.
  • When you have to change location, renting makes moving much easier.
  • If for some reason, you can no longer afford the more expensive rental, you can give notice and move to a cheaper rental.

Rental Agreements

There are lease clauses that are legal, but turn out to be very unfair. Courts have the power to change any lease provisions if the tenant can show it is unjust to one party. If you are planning on renting, it is advisable to seek legal advice to help you understand all the terms and clauses of the agreement. There are important factors in a rental agreement:

  • When is the monthly rent due and the amount of the rent? If it is not stated in the agreement, the law requires rent to be paid on the first day of the month/week;
  • Most leases provide a three or five-day grace period for rent payments. The contract should state what the charges for late payments are;
  • Utilities and appliances: Who is responsible for the utilities?
  • Are pets allowed?

Illegal Lease Provisions

Once you are ready to sign the lease agreement, take note that there are clauses that are against the law:

  • A clause that allows the landlord to change the property’s locks and deny the tenant access to the property if there is outstanding rent;
  • A clause stating that the tenant does not get a refund of a deposit or prepaid rent;
  • A provision stating that the tenant cannot defend himself or herself in court if the landlord should file a lawsuit against the tenant for damages or seeks to evict the tenant;
  • A provision that says a late fee of more than ten percent of the monthly rent is required;
  • A clause that permits the landlord to hold the tenant’s personal property after an eviction;
  • A provision that states the tenant must give up the right to take the landlord to court.

Serious Misunderstandings

There can be a lot of issues and serious misunderstandings when an agreement with houses for rent by owner is not in writing. A rental can be given to a tenant on a month to the month basis. The tenant can insist on a six-month term, and the landlord agrees. If these agreements are not in writing it can be very difficult to prove in court that the term was six months. Oral agreements are often enforceable, but agreements such as where the landlord accepts to make repairs to the property, should be in writing.

Things Can Go Wrong Even Before You Move In

You have signed a written agreement to rent, and you have paid the deposit. What if you lost your job and cannot afford to rent the home? The landlords have the right to retain the deposit. The landlord may also be entitled to some rent or other damages for having to advertise the apartment.

What if you have signed the agreement, and you are not able to move in on the consented upon date as the home is not ready? In this case, you can give written notice to the landlord to terminate the rental agreement. You are entitled to the return of all prepaid rent and deposits.

If you do not wish to terminate the agreement, you may demand that the landlord make the rental unit available immediately. You can bring this action to court, and you can ask for damages as well as for possession in the lawsuit. Damages can include alternative housing, storage for your possessions and costs for searching for another rental.

Strange Landlords

When you consider houses for rent by owner, keep in mind that there can be strange people out there. Some landlords can insist on cash. Make sure you keep all the receipts. A landlord can promise to make repairs, but never turns up for making those repairs or the landlord can be unavailable when needed for an emergency such as a leaking water pipe.

You can run into difficult landlords. It is advisable that you put the dispute you have with the landlord in writing and take pictures of what is broken. Where the landlord promised to fix it by a certain date and time, document this conversation in writing. Send a copy of this letter by certified mail with a follow-up letter describing your conversation you had with the landlord. You can file a complaint at the Fair Housing Act if your landlord is not keeping up the promises.

Purchasing a Property versus Renting

An adjunct professor in personal finance at the University of California at Berkeley, found that “100 percent of the time it was better to rent, rather to own.” He added that he knew he is taking a constraint point of view to conventional wisdom.

Greg McBride, a senior analyst, said that “Home ownership is a store of wealth. The promise of home ownership is that over the long haul, it can result into a rebate of many or perhaps all of your costs, unlike rent, which does not give you any rebate.” Mr. McBride said there is no sense in buying a home if it is going to deplete your emergency or retirement savings.

A new academic article in Real Estate Economics used data from 1979 to 2009 and demonstrated that renting was the superior investment for most of the past 30 years. The article found that unless someone possesses the cash necessary to buy a residence, he or she will be renting one way or another.

The article states: “The choice is between renting the property directly or rent the capital necessary to buy the property. The amount of capital to be rented is a function of house prices, while the bulk of a mortgage payment is in interest, which is the rental payment on this capital.

After 2 years, the typical 30-year amortizing mortgage balance has been reduced by less than 3%. This means that a household that took out a $300,000 mortgage with a 5% interest rate to buy a home has only reduced its mortgage balance by $8,600 after two years despite spending nearly $39,000 in total over this period.”

There are many advantages to houses for rent by owner. It remains your responsibility to ensure that the lease agreement is in place in order to avoid issues and serious misunderstandings and that you make regular payments in a timely manner.

New Year, New Rental Tools

Published by Matthew Talamini in on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

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    > New Year, New Rental Tools

New Year, New Rental Tools


The new year means new real estate market trends and opportunities! In honor of the new year, we’ve researched some of the most significant projected real estate rental market trends for 2018.

According to Forbes, the renter demographic is changing. In previous years, the renter market comprised of young people with lower incomes. Considering that last year, 3.3 million renters had over $100,000 in income. Forbes predicts this trend will only skyrocket in 2018.

ThisDay.com predicts that the demand for lower rents and more units finally be met. After years of fighting for more affordable rents and more housing options, it looks like things are looking up. This trend means more business for realtors, especially in overpopulated areas.

Speaking of more housing options, national Real Estate Investor states that developers project to finish 100,000 rental units per quarter. This growth is a 33% increase in the national average of rental units developed per year!

Forbes projects that landlords will be expanding their rental property portfolios throughout 2018 and new landlords will be entering the market due to new tax reform that favors real estate investors.

Zillow predicts a sharp decrease in home sales due to new tax reform as it will lower the amount of interest one can deduct from their mortgage. This change will increase the number of people opting to rent which means rental real estate will be a hot market in 2018!
It’s safe to say that 2018 will be a big year for tenants and landlords! Manage your business and rental needs with NowRenting! Spend less time dealing with landlords, listings, and leads, and spend more time growing your business!