Chat Session with Rent Right Software's Jill Shaffer

Check out more about Rent Right Software here
[20:55:41] Rent-Right I am Jill Shaffer the president of RentRight Inc. We develop and sell our property management software.
[20:56:14] joel So how did Rent Right get started.
[20:56:19] jfmlv1950 hi jill
[20:57:01] jfmlv1950 i think there are more people coming, just not on the chat room yet
[20:57:21] Rent-Right Hi. Myself and the other owner of the company owned rental properties and we needed a solution to get our properties organized. [20:57:59] joel What kind of properties do you own?
[20:58:38] Rent-Right I no longer own any rental properties myself. RentRight became such a sucess I had no more time for my own properties.
[20:59:17] jfmlv1950 nice to fill a needed niche with success
[20:59:43] jfmlv1950 hi $cash$
[20:59:49] joel Hey john
[21:00:33] johnlocke Howdy everyone is it Jill from Rent Right
[21:00:48] Rent-Right Yes
[21:01:11] johnlocke It is my pleasure
[21:01:23] jfmlv1950 nice red
[21:01:47] johnlocke Thank You
[21:02:33] jfmlv1950 Jill you were saying...
[21:02:33] Rent-Right Do any of you use RentRight software?
[21:02:37] joel What problems can Rent-Right solve for the average Landlord?
[21:02:40] johnlocke Jill to start things off what is Rent Right?
[21:03:20] joel I have been using an Access database that I built myself
[21:03:22] Rent-Right Our software will organize about anything you can think of about your rental properties
[21:03:58] Rent-Right What things do you track in your access database?
[21:04:06] johnlocke Like repairs vacancy's etc.
[21:04:42] joel It does basic reports etc. I built it before I got into the Open Source Movement
[21:04:50] Rent-Right RentRight has an extensive work order feature so you can track repairs. It is not an add on module to the software.
[21:05:13] joel Now I think if I had to rebuild it, I would use SQL to do the backend.
[21:05:59] Rent-Right Currently RentRight is an Access database, our next version will be SQL.
[21:06:11] jfmlv1950 what's SQL
[21:06:11] johnlocke Joel don't start with the SQL stuff speak in layman please
[21:06:29] joel SQL is what TheCreativeInvestor is built on
[21:06:33] joel MySQL
[21:06:49] johnlocke I understand access database
[21:06:49] joel SQL is fast and more robust than Access
[21:07:01] jfmlv1950 ok
[21:07:06] johnlocke Just a different name ok
[21:07:20] Rent-Right We will use MSDE which is Microsofts free runtime version of MS-SQL
[21:08:12] joel Jill. I like the ability of your software to be able to have mulitple people using the database.
[21:08:21] johnlocke Jill who is using your program small companys individuals?
[21:09:08] Rent-Right With our current version you can network it, but you can not have multiple people at different sites using the same data which is why we are moving to SQL
[21:09:51] Rent-Right Our users range from those with 1-2 rentals to over a thousand rentals. Our typical user has 50-100 rental properties.
[21:10:28] Rent-Right Our price is based on the total number of rental units and the features are the same, so it works well for anyone with rental units.
[21:10:38] joel What can the beginner investor use to help them manage their units?
[21:10:50] johnlocke So someone starting out in the rental game would do well to invest in your software for the future
[21:11:35] Rent-Right Yes, because you can get a credit for your previous purchase to buy the next biggest package, and you do not lose any of your data when you get more units.
[21:12:18] Rent-Right The beginning rental user can get a reminder system to tell them who is late with rent and which leases are expiring.
[21:12:28] joel What feature have your users liked the most??
[21:12:47] Rent-Right It will also give them sample forms and letters to merge with their tenant list.
[21:13:18] Rent-Right I think the users like the reminder system the most. Also everyone tells us RentRight is very easy to learn and use.
[21:13:48] jfmlv1950 is it just fill in the blanks??
[21:13:52] johnlocke If I were just starting out with rentals what would you suggest for a begining program
[21:14:25] joel I like the color chart of how many days late a tenant has been.
[21:14:46] Rent-Right Kind of. Everything is in folders you just click to open. For example on the tenant form you will see the tenant's name and all of their folders below.
[21:15:51] Rent-Right Yes, with a glance you can see by the colors if a tenant usually pays late or on time.
[21:16:59] jfmlv1950 can you give us a run down when a new tenant rents a unit
[21:17:24] Rent-Right If you were just starting out with rentals, our RentRight 10 for up to 10 rental units is the base product. It retails for $79.99.
[21:17:42] joel What is the most usual compliment that new Rent-Right users say?
[21:17:51] johnlocke Is it set up for any kind of you are late letters
[21:18:37] johnlocke or will it flag the tenant for you to take action
[21:18:48] Rent-Right When a new tenant rents a unit, just type in their name. Then choose their address, and set their rent amount. Then you are ready to collect the rent. You can also do a credit check within the software for a prospective tenant.
[21:19:40] Rent-Right The reminder will tell you who is late. To send late letters, just choose the letter and it will automatically print one for each of the late tenants.
[21:20:08] johnlocke Excellent this is really an important feature
[21:20:42] Rent-Right Right, not only that it will keep a record of which letter you sent on which date to the tenant.
[21:21:05] johnlocke do the letters get stronger the later they get
[21:21:50] Rent-Right We have 3 sample letters in the program- getting stronger and stronger. You can also add your own if you want.
[21:22:39] johnlocke Would break your legs be to strong?
[21:23:17] johnlocke welcom pat
[21:23:19] Rent-Right Yes, it depends upon the state you live in what you are allowed to say.
[21:23:44] pat thanks john!
[21:23:58] jfmlv1950 can you customize or get one customized?
[21:24:03] johnlocke Just a small amount of humor, in Nevada Vito handles evictions
[21:24:08] slushy Hey guys
[21:24:21] pat hello
[21:24:28] johnlocke Hello slushy
[21:24:30] jfmlv1950 hi pat and slushy
[21:25:07] pat sorry so late, but how's the topic going?
[21:25:19] slushy Does Rent Right handle trouble tickets??
[21:25:20] johnlocke The features on Rent Right are were being discussed
[21:25:35] pat it is a software package?
[21:25:49] jfmlv1950 sounds like pretty good software
[21:26:03] Rent-Right We were just talking about trouble tenants.
[21:26:29] pat oh...they are very prevalent!!
[21:27:13] Rent-Right The lease reminder also helps with trouble tenants because you always know who is late.
[21:27:35] johnlocke So you would have an end of month and year analysis
[21:27:47] pat Does it keep track of lease renewal dates as well?
[21:28:10] Rent-Right All reports can be run on any date range, so you can run them for a month or the whole year if you want.
[21:28:28] Rent-Right Yes, the reminder will tell you whose leases are about to expire also.
[21:28:35] pat is rent-right considered a database with queries or something more?
[21:28:42] slushy How does it handle Sec 8 tenants?
[21:29:29] Rent-Right You can set up 2 recurring charges for a tenant. One for their rent and one for their section 8.
[21:29:46] johnlocke Jill is this your design
[21:29:53] Rent-Right Then collect the payments as they come in and apply them to the charges.
[21:29:58] pat Is there a maximum number of tenants that can be entered in the software?
[21:30:08] Rent-Right I helped design the software.
[21:30:20] pat So, what is the most number of units you've heard someone m anage using this software?
[21:30:24] Rent-Right The maximum would be about 2 thousand with our current version.
[21:30:34] slushy wow
[21:30:37] pat wow!! amazing
[21:31:19] johnlocke So you built in what a lanlord looks for and needs
[21:31:34] joel I guess that is a limitation of Access, correct??
[21:31:38] Rent-Right Yes based on what I needed.
[21:32:05] Rent-Right Yes, the number of units is a limitation of Access which is why the newer version will not be in Access.
[21:32:20] johnlocke From you description it sounds like you have been thee and done that
[21:32:53] pat most definitely..i wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't already over the 2 thousand limit!
[21:33:21] Rent-Right Actually I only had 4 rental units myself.
[21:33:24] joel What can you suggest to the beginning user investing in Real Estate
[21:33:25] johnlocke That's why the newer version?
[21:33:55] Rent-Right The newer version is just to stay current with new developments.
[21:34:02] pat i am very interested in this software...will check it out further...thanks for your info
[21:34:25] Rent-Right You can download a free demo of our software from our site
[21:34:50] pat oh great! that will be helpful to actually "see" it!
[21:35:13] Rent-Right Our demo is fully functioning which means that you can actually enter your actual data into it and your data will not be lost if you buy it later.
[21:35:17] pat Have a great night everyone...will see you next time..
[21:35:36] johnlocke Only 79.99 to start that seems more than fair
[21:35:57] jfmlv1950 see ya pat
[21:35:58] joel How long does the demo version last?
[21:36:21] Rent-Right The demo will last for 30 days. We can extend it for you longer if needed by a phone call.
[21:37:03] Rent-Right We do not sell the $79.99 version directly, it is only sold in some stores and web sites such as this one.
[21:37:13] joel How are upgrades handled??
[21:38:00] Rent-Right If you get more rental units, you just pay for the difference in price and we give you a code to type into the software that gives you immediate access to more unit space.
[21:38:24] joel No, upgrades in the software
[21:38:35] joel When do updates come out?
[21:38:53] johnlocke How about revisions
[21:39:14] Rent-Right You can download free updates about 1-4 times a month. A totally new version will be an additional charge if a user decides to upgrade to it.
[21:40:19] Rent-Right Any other questions?
[21:40:19] johnlocke Just curious Jill where are you based
[21:40:29] Rent-Right We are in Dayton Ohio
[21:41:04] johnlocke Great Greek foof in Dayton, I have purchased several properties there.
[21:41:27] johnlocke food
[21:41:38] Rent-Right It sounds like RentRight was meant for you.
[21:42:01] jfmlv1950 got to go gang. Thank you Jill. See you all later
[21:42:17] slushy See you jfmlv1950
[21:42:23] joel See you
[21:42:28] johnlocke Not much of a landlord type person but seeing what you have to offer may change my mine
[21:42:40] johnlocke mind
[21:42:53] joel How does the financing features work in Rent-Right?
[21:43:07] Rent-Right We have had many users who have told us that because of our software they were able to reduce their staff and puchase more properties.
[21:44:04] joel Thanks everybody for coming.
[21:44:10] slushy Thanks for having this
[21:44:25] Rent-Right Thank you Joel for inviting me.
[21:44:39] joel If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask them in the Forum area.
[21:44:45] joel Thanks again guys.