Review of Market: RentTracker Lite A Rental Property Management Program Date of review: February 05, 2005

Transcription

1 Review of Market: RentTracker Lite A Rental Property Management Program Date of review: February 05, 2005 RentTracker Lite v3.22 is software package for beginning investors. The program is used primarily among users new to the world of rental property management. Section 1: Menu Bar 1.1) The Main Menu Bar presents the basic environmental functions of this program. The user can open and backup their current building (File), set the program default views and open the different function windows (View), check for updates and upgrades as well as initiate the default database (Tools), view some basic information of the current version of the program and browse the help section (Help). Figure 1.1.1: Main Menu 1.2) File Menu presents the possible options of opening another set of building information (Open Another RentTracker Database Ctrl+O), backing up the users current building information with several different options (Backup Database), and closing the program. Figure 1.2.1: File Menu Figure 1.2.2: Submenu Backup Database The Backup Database submenu offers several different ways to backup the users current building and tenant information. It also provides a recovery interface to recover the users previously backed up files. 1.3) View Menu offers the user several options relating to the displayed data in the program such as the option to refresh the display (Refresh), the option to have the tip of the day open each time the user runs the program (Show Tip of the Day at Startup), the option to hide tenants that have moved out from the display (Hide Moved Out Tenants), the options to open the different data entry points in the program (Data Form submenu) (see section 2.2 for information on the data forms), and an option to show the status bar (Status Bar). Review of Market: RentTracker Lite Page 1of 15 Anund M c Kague

2 Figure 1.3.1: View Menu Figure 1.3.2: Submenu Data Form 1.4) Tools Menu presents many web based options that were either outdated or dropped by the company as the pages presented no longer existed. The working options were the ability set up the example database (Set up Default Database), and the upgrade and update options (Upgrade and Check for Newer Versions) which take the user to the companies main site. Section 2: Main Screen Area Figure 1.4.1: Tools Menu 2.1) ADD/EDIT Tool Bar presents the basic data forms related to the owner (Owner Records), the buildings the users currently runs (Building Records), the Review of Market: RentTracker Lite Page 2of 15 Anund M c Kague

3 expenses of the user (Expense Records), and the tenants that occupy the users buildings (Tenant Records). 2.2) Data Forms: these forms provide the user interface to manage this program. The Owner form provides the input for the user of the program and must be filled out first. The Buildings form provides for the input of location information and there needs to be at least one location in the program before any tenants can be added. The Expensed form allows for the tracking of the users expenses. The Tenants form allows for the user to keep track of all the tenants in their building. Figure 2.2.1: Buildings Form Figure 2.2.2: Owner Form Figure 2.2.3: Expenses Form Figure 2.2.4: Tenants Form Review of Market: RentTracker Lite Page 3of 15 Anund M c Kague

4 2.3) Building Owner Info panel presents the current users info at a glance, displays a list of tenants late on any bills, has a button to update the late tenant list, and a button to print mailing labels for all the tenants 2.4) Building Info panel presents the general info for a single building as well as providing a button to import a picture of the building and print out related reports. Figure 2.3.1: Owner Information Figure 2.4.1: Building Information Review of Market: RentTracker Lite Page 4of 15 Anund M c Kague

5 2.5) Tenant Info panel presents the basic information of any tenant selected from a drop down menu. It also presents buttons to print out receipts and labels relating to the selected tenant. Figure 2.5.1: Tenant Information Literature Cited Property Management: RentTracker Pro. (1996). Retrieved February 05, 2005 from the Internet: Review of Market: RentTracker Lite Page 5of 15 Anund M c Kague

6 Secondary Market Review: RentRight Pro A Rental Property Management Program Date of review: February 10, 2005 RentRight Pro v is software package to help investors track their rental properties. The program is used primarily among users involved in rental property management. Section 1: Icon Bar Figure 1: Icon Bar 1.1) The Icon Bar presents the user with all the form options for the program. Starting on the right and working left they are: the buildings form for keeping track of the users property; the tenants form to keep track of tenants; the income form; the expenses form; the cheque writing form; the work orders form to track work done to the users property; the contractor form to keep track of the contractors the user works with; an phone book form; the reports form; a form to set the checks at program startup; export to QuickBooks; and a reminders toggle. 1.2) The Buildings Form provides the user with all the necessary information about any of their selected buildings. Figure 1.2.1: Buildings Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 6of 15 Anund M c Kague

7 1.3) The Tenant Form provides the user with all the necessary information about any of their selected tenants. Figure 1.3.1: Tenant Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 7of 15 Anund M c Kague

8 1.4) The Income Form provides a summary of the income from a specific place or person. Figure 1.4.1: Income Information 1.5) The Expenses Form provides a simple cheque book function tracking the cheques the user has written. Figure 1.5.1: Expenses Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 8of 15 Anund M c Kague

9 1.6) The Work Order Form provides a method to track all work orders a user has implemented or is implementing. Figure 1.6.1: Work Order Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 9of 15 Anund M c Kague

10 1.7) The Contractor Form keeps track of the contractors the user has used in the past. Figure 1.7.1: Contractor Form 1.8) The Phone Book Form is a simple phone book that orders the users contact by relevant information. Figure 1.8.1: Phone Book Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 10of 15 Anund M c Kague

11 1.9) The Reports Form presents an area where the user can create several userdefined reports. Figure 1.9.1: Reports Form 1.10) The AutoLog to Incidents Form makes logging different instances in tenant, building, income, or expenses automatic. Figure : AutoLog Form Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 11of 15 Anund M c Kague

12 Literature Cited RentRight Inc (1996). RentRight Property Management Software. Retrieved February 01, 2005 from the Internet: Review of Market: RentRight Pro Page 12of 15 Anund M c Kague

13 Secondary Market Review: The Property Manager A Rental Property Management Program Date of review: February 10, 2005 RentRight Pro v is software package to help investors track their rental properties. The program is used primarily among users involved in rental property management. This program does not include any new features not already included in the previous programs. It did have several more fields that provide more information to the user when they come but no new features. Literature Cited Just So Software. (1998). The Property Manager Retreived February 06, 2005 from the Internet: Review of Market: The Property Manager Page 13of 15 Anund M c Kague

14 Secondary Market Review: Non-computerized Technique Date of review: February 10, 2005 RentRight Pro v is software package to help investors track their rental properties. The program is used primarily among users involved in rental property management. An inspection report is one example of a word-processed form that a property manager would use. The manager for their records and their taxes must keep many such records. Review of Market: Page 14of 15 Anund M c Kague Non-computerized Technique

15 This latter part of the same form involves a detailed analysis of the residence before a tenant moves in. This is kept to have an agreed upon record for any possible damages. Literature Cited Donaldson, G. (2005). Property Management. Review of Market: Page 15of 15 Anund M c Kague Non-computerized Technique