Real Tools Property Management Software – In depth review…
Posted by admin under: Main Feb 13Okay, here we are again with another property management software review. As you know, this whole series was spurred on by a few readers who emailed me asking about property management software for their own real estate investing businesses.
This is our 4th review in the series. Up to this point we’ve reviewed:
- Quicken Rental Property Manager 2.5 (good for 20 or less units)
- LandlordMax Property Management Software (good for 10-100 units, great value)
- Rent Tracker (in my opinion, good for only 10 units or less… if that)
If you haven’t checked out those reviews, check them out after you take a look at this one so you can find the one that’s right for you.
In this weeks review we have a rental software that I’ve never heard of until a reader asked me about it. But, I’m extremely pleased at the overall functionality and value of this software.
The software is called Real Tools property management software.
Real Tools Property Management Software – Is it Any Good???
Okay, if I were to lump Real Tools with another property rental management software that I’ve reviewed so far it would be with LandlordMax. Both softwares have similar functionality (both have features I like and don’t like), both are mid-level softwares, and both are for probably 10-100 units in my opinion.
On the Real Tools website, the software is selling for $129, which is about $20 less than LandlordMax. However, both software packages are well worth the investment. But, I was able to work out a deal for my readers for a bit of a discount… so you can actually purchase Real Tools through the links in this article for $119… a $10 discount if you like this software.
As always, if you purchase through this article and send me the receipt, I’ll send you my personal stockpile of property management forms that I use in my own real estate investing business (value about $97).
So, here is my video review of the Real Tools property management software package as I see it.
As you’ll notice, this software has a lot of features and I really enjoy it… so the video ran a little long (a full 30 minutes). But, I go in huge detail on exactly what the software does and doesn’t do… and give you my honest opinion on it.
If you don’t have the patience to watch, check out the written review and ratings below the video… and download Real Tools yourself for a free 30 day trial from the links below (but remember to purchase it through our links for the $10 discount and property management forms package)
Click the play button on the video to start
*If you’re having trouble viewing the video above, follow the link below to watch it directly at the video hosting site:
Click Here To View Video If You Can’t View It Above <<
“Cliff Notes” Version of My Review on Real Tools:
Okay, overall, I really like the Real Tools software. It has a lot of cool funcationality, looks nice, is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, and it’s priced right.
As I mentioned, the closest software I can compare this to is LandlordMax… and both programs have features I like and don’t like. If I could take features from both and meld them into one program… it would be heaven.
The Pros:
- A ton of features… Real Tools has a lot of features that I really like. Really, I think it has most of the features I’d like to see in a property management software package that would help me manage 20-100 units. I think this is because the software developers are actually real estate investors themselves and built it to meet their needs. Great job.
- Reporting is excellent… Once again, as you saw in the video, Real Tools has a ton of advanced reporting features. The number of reports is pretty comparable to LandlordMax, however, I like the way Real Tools has them organized a bit better. It’s easier to find the reports you’re looking for a bit more quickly on Real Tools. I can’t think of a report that I need that Real Tools doesn’t have.
- Store images galore… Pretty much the same as LandlordMax; however, I think Real Tools actually lets you store images and documents in more different placed. For instance, Real Tools has different document and image storage areas for tenants, buildings, units, vendors, owners, etc. So, each separate area and record can have images and documents tied directly to it. I really like this feature.
- A great alerts and overview page… One thing I didn’t like about LandlordMax as much is that it doesn’t have a central at a glance overview area that shows you the current position of your financials. Quicken has probably the best overview page of all of the software’s I’ve looked at… next to Quicken I like the Real Tools overview area a lot too. In addition, the alerts page shows you immediately who hasn’t paid rent, whether you need to take action on things (evict someone, make a repair, pay a bill, etc.). It takes a bit of setting up at the start, but after the initial set up of everything… it’s pretty automatic as far as being alerted about things.
- Color coded alerts and accounting… pretty self-explanatory. You can see at a glance the status of something (once you learn what the colors mean).
- Track late rents… self-explanatory once again.
- Tie your custom documents to files and have semi-automatically generated documents… This is probably my favorite feature about Real Tools. This is one area that LandlordMax lacks in. You can upload your custom docs (lease templates, eviction notices, late rent notice, etc.) into the system, insert the custom field codes where you want the document to insert custom properties like names, addresses, etc. Then, you can have these documents automatically filled in with the tenants information with a couple clicks of the mouse… and print it off right there. This is a hugely convenient feature that I love a lot. Take a look at my video to see this feature in action.
- Very detailed data records… You can save just about any information on tenants, buildings, vendors, owners, mortgages, etc. that you want. Very detailed. You can even tie a specific mortgage to a building and have real time reporting on the mortgage.
- Comes with an investment analyzer… Real Tools comes with a nifty little rental property analyzer so you can plug in some info… and have it spit out some buying criteria for you. This is a useful tool for quick calculations. I could take it or leave it because I have other tools I like better… but it’s a nifty little bonus.
- Free 30 Trial… Their website doesn’t say it, but you can download the software and it is fully functional for 30 days. After the 30 days it requires a license key, which if you like the software you can get on this page for a $10 discount.
The Cons:
- Not an intuitive software that you pick up right away… I like simplicity. I am a pretty techno savvy guy and if I can’t immediately pick something up I’d hate to see what other less techno inclined people do. Anyhow, after using this software for a couple hours, I feel like I was pretty proficient at it… but still had to hunt around for what I was looking for sometimes. Note, they do have a help guide… which I of course didn’t bother to read… so, that is there to help clear things up for you. LandlordMax was pretty easy to pick up… Quicken is ridiculously easy to pick up within 10 minutes… and Real Tools for me is more like the work with it for a week or two and you’ll get it down pat. It would be nice if there were big buttons on the main screen that said, “Enter Rent“, and “Enter Expenses“… but it doesn’t.
- This is nitpicky, but the running financial summary in the left sidebar doesn’t automatically update in real time. Each time a transaction is entered, you have to click the “refresh” button to see the updated numbers. Not a big deal, but I like to see things be automatic and hands off as much as possible.
- I found myself hunting for what I was looking for multiple times… This is something that would go away with more practice with the software; however, I don’t like having to click through several areas to enter a payment, new information, etc. For the most part, the essential areas are quick and easy to get to… but there were a few areas that I kept forgetting where I needed to go to enter in specific information.
Really, I enjoyed the Real Tools software package and I would have no problem at all using it everyday for my properties. The biggest drawback for me was that it wasn’t as easy to pick up for me as the other softwares I’ve used. That could be because I’m a bit slow on the uptake… but, in todays day and age people like things to be easy the first time.
I’m sure a ton of people will download this for the 30 day trial and think I’m an idiot and pick up the software quickly… excellent, I hope you do! But, there’s just something about it for me that makes this software just one step away from being intuitive… I can’t pinpoint it other than having big “Enter Rent” and “Enter Expense” buttons on the home page.
My Overall Impression of the Real Tools Property Management Software Package??
Overall, I like the software and would definitely recommend it to someone with 10-100 units who has a couple weeks to get used to the software. The functions this software has rivals LandlordMax… and in a few places exceeds LandlordMax (like the semi-automatic document generation) and greater record detail.
Once again, this is a good hybrid between the lower level softwares such as Quicken and the higher level softwares that run $200 and up.
How Do I Grade It??
Design: (and a half) 4.5
Affordability: 4
Features: 5
Ease of Use : (and a half) 3.5
Overall (10-100+ units): (and a half) 4.5
For me, Real Tools is almost a toss up with LandlordMax. I’m personally using LandlordMax and really enjoy it. I don’t see myself switching over to Real Tools because at this point, Real Tools doesn’t have enough extra outstanding features that warrant me moving all of my data over to it.
If Real Tools was a bit more intuitive and had better “at a glance” reporting/summary areas, it would be probably the go to software for the mid-level price range (so far).
For people looking for property rental management software to handle between 10 and 100 units, my advice is to take both companies up on their FREE 30 day trials. Download both programs free, use them yourself for up to 30 days… and decide which one you like the best.
Then, make sure you come back and buy the software through the links on our website to get the discounts and the $97 property management document package that I use in my REI business.
I’m sure a lot of people will pick LandlordMax… and a lot will pick Real Tools. It will just be personal preference. If LandlordMax comes out with the semi-automatic document generation feature that Real Tools has… it would be the almost perfect software for the mid-level price range.
Well… that’s the review for Real Tools.
Here’s a recap of the reviews so far:
Our first review was for:
- Quicken Rental Property Management 2.5 <== Check out the video review
If you are interested in taking LandlordMax up on their Free 30 Day Trial, click the link below and download the Free Trial (fully functional software).
- Get the Free 30 Day Trial of LandlordMax <==
Here’s the link to get the Free 30 day trial of Real Tools (their site doesn’t say there is a free 30 day trial… but believe me, you can download the fully functional software and use it for 30 days before it says you need a License Key). Then, come back over here to buy the software License Key for a $10 discount and my documents package.
- Get the Real Tools Free 30 Day Trial <==
If you’re ready to buy your License Key for Real Tools at a $10 discount, here are the PayPal links below to use (the software developer created these links just for our website w/ the $10 discount included).
For the Downloadable Software Copy – $119 for the downloadable software
If you want a hard copy CD shipped it’s a bit extra. Get the CD shipped to you w/ this license key purchase link – $130 for a CD of the software shipped to you
Well, there you have it. Don’t hesitate to contact me through the contact page w/ any questions! Cheers!
Source: Real Tools Property Management Software – In depth review…
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.