Introduction

     1.1) What is Property Master™, and what is it good for?
     1.2) How is it different from other property-management software?
     1.3) Do you guys really know anything about real estate or landlording?
     1.4) What questions does this FAQ answer?

Getting Started

     2.1) How hard is it to get started?
     2.2) How hard is it to use?
     2.3) How much help will you give me?
     2.4) What kind of computer do I need to have?
     2.5) What if I have an older computer?
     2.6) Will it work with my number of units?
     2.7) How can I try out Property Master™?
     2.8) Is there an easier way to see it at work?

What it Costs

     3.1) What will it cost me?
     3.2) What does that price include?
     3.3) How does your cost compare to your competitors?
     3.4) Can you load my existing records for me? How much will that cost?

Safety and Security

     4.1) Where do you keep my data?
     4.2) How often do you do backups?
     4.3) How safe and secure is it...
       4.3.1) ... at the hosting site?
       4.3.2) ... traveling through the Internet?
       4.3.3) ... from someone else who might use my computer?
     4.4) What about hackers?
     4.5) I'd stll rather keep my data local.

Nuts and Bolts of Using Property Master™

     5.1) Can I use it from my work computer and home computer?
     5.2) Can I get a site license to use Property Master™?
     5.3) How does Owner Access work?
     5.4) How will I get updates?
     5.5) What if there's a bug?
     5.6) What kind of customer service do you have?

Property Master™ Compared

     6.1) What makes Property Master™ better than other programs?
     6.2) Is there anything Property Master™ can't do?

Current Features

     7.1) Does it have every feature I need?
     7.2) Does Property Master™ work outside the United States?
     7.3) Does it have check writing?
     7.4) Can I use Property Master™ for managing or investing in...
       7.4.1) ... commercial space?
       7.4.2) ... student housing?
       7.4.3) ... vacation rentals?
       7.4.4) ... storage space?
       7.4.5) ... homeowners' associations?
       7.4.6) ... land development?
       7.4.7) ... equipment leasing?
     7.5) I have a specific feature in mind, and need to know if it's in Property Master™.

Future Features

     8.1) Are you planning to add features?
     8.2) I wish it had...
       8.2.1) ... state-specific forms
       8.2.2) ... state-specific forms I can edit
       8.2.3) ... more reports
       8.2.4) ... export to QuickBooks
     8.3) I have a specific feature in mind, and want to suggest it for a future version.

Introduction

What is Property Master™, and what is it good for?

Property Master™ software lets owners or managers manage their rental properties from any computer, anywhere, anytime, over the Internet.

How is it different from other property-management software?

Property Master™ offers tremendous flexibility and power as an Internet-enabled property management program. It includes a full accounting package, alerts, forms and reports and many other benefits, with new improvements added automatically, almost every week. We have features no one else has, like the Property Modeler. We also offer real human tech support by Internet chat, email or telephone. Our real humans are at our offices in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and have direct access to the designers and developers of Property Master.

Learn more about some of our features here.

Do you guys really know anything about real estate or landlording?

Yes! We're not only landlords ourselves, we designed Property Master™ with a team of 26 real estate experts. However, no group of real estate investors can understand every aspect of the business -- that's why we rely on you, the customer, to help us continue to improve Property Master™ so that it fits your needs.

What questions does this FAQ answer?

We answer the questions people have been asking us, and the questions that we anticipate people asking (so some of them are "frequently anticipated questions").

Have a different question? Click the button below to talk to a representative between 9 AM and 7:30 PM (Eastern Time) Monday to Friday, or

Getting Started

How hard is it to get started?

It's easy! Just click here to register and login to Property Master™.

Then create Properties, Owners, Units, Tenants, and any other elements you need by using the software "wizards" you can activate from the program's menus. Or use the dynamic new QuickStart option on the Tools menu to add enough data to get up and running right away.

How hard is it to use?

It's as easy as we could make it. But remember, our software is very powerful and capable. We could never make it as simple as, say, Google™. Property Master™ is designed to be as logical and clear as possible.

There are a couple of things you can do to make Property Master™ as easy as possible. First, recognize that you probably don't have to use every feature right away. You can concentrate first on managing your basic, most important records. Also, take advantage of our training. We offer web-based training that helps you explore and understand the system. Finally, stay in touch through technical support. Every page in Property Master™ has a link to Help; if your question isn't answered in Help, click the Live Chat button in Help to talk to a representative (9 AM to 7:30 PM Eastern time, Monday through Friday).

How much help will you give me?

As much as you need, for free, forever. Support and training in Property Master™ are always free. Soon we will begin sending a series of training emails to new subscribers; one per day for the first fourteen days. In the meantime, you can arrange a training session by calling, emailing, or opening a Live Chat with us. We may not be able to schedule telephone/Internet training for the exact time you wish, but we'll hold your session within three business days. We will also perform in-person training, but we do have to charge extra for that; $500 per day plus travel expenses from our office in Portsmouth, NH.

What kind of computer do I need to have?

Property Master™ works with any computer that can access the Internet. We've fully tested it with recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Not all features nay work with other browsers, but the only problem we've documented so far is that pictures can only be uploaded using Internet Explorer. This is due to a bug in a development tool from Microsoft. We've been able to do everything else, including look at the pictures once they're loaded, using Mozilla.

What if I have an older computer?

As long as you have an Internet connection to that computer and a relatively modern browser, you will be fine. You don't even need a very fast connection, although a dial-up connection may be too slow. Older browsers are a problem because they don't support many of the modern Web tools we use in Property Master™. Fortunately, you can get the latest browser for free from Microsoft for Windows, Apple for Macs, or Firefox for all users.

Will it work with my number of units?

Yes, no matter how many you have. We can support anything from a sole proprietor with one single-family house for rent, to a property manager with dozens of interlocking owners, hundreds of multi-building properties, and thousands of units.

The software was designed from the beginning to scale up smoothly. Under the interface is a powerful SQL Server database. Other developers have used it for far more demanding projects than this, so there's plenty of overhead.

How can I try out Property Master™?

You can register and start using Property Master™ (including its support) right away. Use it for free for the first month. If you decide it's right for you, you start paying from that point forward. If you decide it isn't, you haven't spent any money on it.

Click here to try Property Master™!

Is there an easier way to see it at work?

Sure! Go right here to tour the live Property Master™ system which contains sample data. Log in under "I'm a member!" with user name "General" and password "Properties". You won't be able to add, delete, or change data in this tour, but you can see how the system works.

What it Costs

What will it cost me?

Property Master™ is sold as a monthly subscription service. Unlike other high-end property management software, there are no up-front charges; even more important, you're not out all that money if it doesn't work for you. You pay as you go.

How much do you pay as you go? If you're a small user, 10 units or fewer, you pay $19.95 a month. For larger customers, we calculate your payment on a sliding scale, based on your number of units. And unlike some of our competitors, we don't make you suffer through the whole sales pitch -- you can calculate the base cost of Property Master™ right here. This is valid for any user who doesn't need to give property owners their own access to the system. If you are a property manager and do want to give your owners read-only access to their data on-line, add $8 per month for each such owner. Our customers who do this typically roll the $8 per month charge into their monthly management fees. Owners don't mind paying because this feature is so convenient for them.

Of course, you can try Property Master™ for one month free (see the question right above this one or click right here).

I am a property manager for many owners... what if I want to give them access?

If you manage properties for other owners, and want to give them access to the system to monitor their own properties, there is an additional monthly fee of $8 per other owner. Our property manager customers typically roll this charge into the monthly fee they charge each owner. Owners don't mind paying because they love the convenience.

Learn how to give your owners read-only access to their information.

Your monthly fee sounds expensive compared to your competitors' one-time charge.

Aside from the technical advantages of our hosted software, it will save you money in the long run. Our competitors typically charge extra for technical support; with Property Master™, it's included in the monthly fee. Also, in a couple of years you'll have to pay for a software upgrade (and go through the hassle of switching systems). Our upgrades are always included. What's more, we do them for you -- so you not only save the dollar cost, but the cost in downtime and IT technician hours that upgrading regular systems costs. (You also save the hassle, but we're strictly talking about money here).

Learn more about saving money with Property Master™ here.

Can you load my existing records for me? How much will that cost?

We do offer data entry services for a fee. That fee will depend on whether your data is in electronic format (such as Excel or QuickBooks files) or on paper. We charge $50 per hour to load electronic data and $30 per hour to load files on paper. Electronic data loading is more expensive because the people doing the work are highly trained (and therefore more expensive to pay), but usually takes less time.

For example, a typical data load of 100 units and tenants and 500 financial transactions might take 10 hours to load from paper, at a total charge of $300, but only four hours to load from electronic files, at a total charge of $200.

Before we sign a contract to perform your data load, we'll consult with you to get a sense of how much work is required, and provide a written estimate. After we get the files, we'll review them and provide a guaranteed quote.

Safety and Security

Where do you keep my data?

All client data is stored in a SQL database at a major hosting provider. The facility is secured and manned around the clock, and has backup power.

The servers are on a preventive maintenance schedule and are always kept up to date, especially with security patches.

How often do you do backups?

The system actually "backs up" each record as you enter or change it. Each change is posted to two different storage devices at the same time. Even if one fails, the other will maintain your data. Once per day, the system makes a complete backup copy to a storage device in an entirely different building. Even if the building with the server was completely destroyed, you would only have to enter one day's worth of changes.

How safe and secure is it...

	... at the hosting site?
	It is safe from destruction or corruption for the reasons described in the question on backups above. The data center further protects against criminal theft or negligence by doing criminal background checks on all employees with access to the servers, and restricting access to authorized and cleared people.

	... traveling through the internet?
	We use industry-standard strong encryption with the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) network protocol. These are the same technologies that giant companies like Amazon.com and Bank of America use to keep your credit-card data secure.

	... from someone who might use my computer?
	Since the data is not on your computer, nobody can access it directly from there. You will have a username and a password you use to access the system. It is your responsibility to keep the username and password a secret. If someone else discovered your username and password, he or she could certainly access your data. When you log out of Property Master™, you should also close any open web browser windows. Otherwise, it might be possible for a malicious user to access your data by just hitting the back button until he was back at the Property Master™ site. You should log out of Property Master™ any time you will be away from your computer and someone else might get access to it. Finally, your system will likely ask you if you want to save your username and password. You do not want it to do this in this case.

What about hackers?

Hackers attack the data center every day -- just like they attack most servers and even home PCs. They don't get in because of the security precautions there. (If, somehow, they did, the data center has backup servers and backups of the data). Your data is much less at risk than it is on a home PC, where a hacker, a virus, a mechanical hard-disk failure, or even a spilled cup of coffee can erase it forever.

I'd still rather keep my data local.

We can put Property Master™ on your private network, but we recommend against it for several reasons. One is that we cannot provide upgrades as automatically as we can with the regular Web application. Another is that your data will be less secure than if we host it. If you want to hear more about local hosting, contact us by mail, instant online help, or phone. Finally, you will have to buy additional software (notably Microsoft SQL Server) and possibly upgrade your servers to run Property Master™.

Nuts and Bolts of Using Property Master

Can I use it from my work computer and home computer?

Oh, yes you can! That is one of the key features of Property Master™. You can use it from any machine on the Internet... just like you can use Google or Amazon. All your data is safely kept on the server. You can use it from your desktop, your laptop, an Internet café in Timbuktu.

Can I get a site license to use Property Master™?

You always have a site license to Property Master™. We sell you the subscription to use our service, and we price that subscription according to what you manage with it. Unless you want to give other entities access to partial sets of your data (for example, let an owner see the data for his own properties), you can have as many users you want, in as many places as you need. No site license is necessary. If you add PCs, or locations, or employees, it doesn't matter; we charge you by the number of units you manage, and how you manage them is your business.

I'm a property manager for several owners. Can I give access to one owner for just that owner's properties?

Absolutely! This is one of our most popular features. As a subscriber, you can set up "sub-subscriptions" for each owner who should have access. They will have their own usernames and passwords to access all details about their own properties.

Our property management customers love this because they can provide better customer service and run a more efficient office at the same time. While their owners get instant, 24/7 access to info about their properties, the managers spend less time answering questions and tracking down details.

Learn more about using Owner Access with Property Master™ here.

How will I get updates?

Instantly, with zero effort or additional expense on your part. Because all our programming is on the server, we can add new features very easily.

The next time you log on the new features are right there waiting for you to try them out.

What if there's a bug?

We've worked hard to beat the bugs out of Property Master™, but we can't guarantee we got 'em all. Although our own engineers will continue to test the system, we'd also like your help. If you find a bug, let us know right away by sending an email, or use the "Report a Problem" link in the Tools menu in Property Master™.

Remember that the unique "hosted" nature of Property Master™ means that we can fix those bugs faster and with no cost to you. Stand-alone property management tools can't do this, but we can.

What kind of customer service do you have?

We provide live customer service by real humans in our own offices, during business hours (Monday to Friday 9 AM to 7:30 PM Eastern Time). You can get help by phone: (603)474-1520, email or by internet chat anywhere you see this button (which is on almost every web page, and in the application itself on the help pages):

After our normal service hours, leave a message on any of those media, telling us what time zone you're in and what time is good to contact you. We'll call you back!

Property Master™ Compared

What makes Property Master™ better than other programs?

We have a lot of competitors, and we know them. (Before developing our own product, we tried many of them). Some of them are terrible, and some of them are pretty good. But we think we have advantages over all of them.

Property Master™ has major advantages over all of our stand-alone, desktop competitors. Many of their products can't be run on more than one computer, and don't include regular upgrades and updates, or live-human customer service.

We also have advantages over all competitors, even those available as web applications. One of the largest is our continuing development of new capabilities, like our Property Modeler evaluation tools.

Finally, when compared directly to other web applications, we're an unbeatable value.

Is there anything Property Master™ can't do?

There are a number of features we're planning to add in the near future (read on!), and obviously we can't do those things now. But beyond that, there are others that we don't even know yet that you, landlords and property managers, want or need.

Learn more about the features in Property Master™ here.

Current and Future Features

Does it have every feature I need?

Well, that depends on what you need, of course. To see the current list of features, click here. There are many more, and we're adding features all the time. We list the latest updates on the Property Master™ Web login page.

Important note: just because you don't see a feature or capability that you need, don't be alarmed. We don't have time here to list everything that Property Master™ can do. In addition, our support techs can often figure out a way to work around a technical problem, or substitute for a missing feature, while our engineers craft a permanent solution.

Does Property Master™ work outside the United States?

That's up to you to decide. We initally designed Property Master™ for use only by US landlords and property managers. That's why such features as depreciation charts, accounting calculations, forms and reports, and so on are US-centric. As a non-US investor, you're welcome to use Property Master™, but we can't be responsible for any issues that result from differences between your laws and US laws.

In the future, we plan to add international versions of Property Master™, beginning with the other English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom.

Does it have check writing?

You can write checks with Property Master™! We recommend you use the check formats BC301 or BC301II, available from RelyCo of Dover, NH. RelyCo was our partner in developing check printing technology and makes an outstanding product. Checks from other vendors will also probably work, but we guarantee success with Relyco BC301 checks.

Caution: Banks typically require that checks be printed using special magnetic ink (available from a variety of sources) on laser printers.

RelyCo will also custom-print checks for you using your bank account number and other crucial details. Using Relyco's custom printed checks will eliminate the need for a laser printer and magnetic ink cartridge; you'll be able to print checks using any printer with existing ink. Just check the "Printed Check" button when using printed checks. If you do not do so, your printer will print over the area already printed by RelyCo and your checks will not look right.

To see what a check looks like when it is printed in Property Master™, click here.

Can I use Property Master™ for managing or investing in...

	... commercial space?
	Absolutely. We have a couple of features that make Property Master™ a natural fit for commercial rentals. Our software includes leases where the tenant pays for different items, such as taxes, insurance and common-area maintenance, all the way up to an NNN lease. We can also calculate pro-rated charges for you.

	... student housing?
	The big question appears to be multiple tenants in a single unit. We do indeed support that. If you have other issues related to student housing, let us know and we'll see if we can address them.

	... vacation rentals?
	You can record a lease of a rental unit for as short a time as you like, and we do include vacation-rental agreement forms (which you should clear with a local real-estate attorney). We do not have, yet, a scheduler for vacation rental availability.

	... storage space?
	Our software does include rental agreements for storage space (check them with a local real-estate attorney before using them). We do not have a scheduler, yet. It will be introduced at the same time as the scheduler for vacation rentals.

	... homeowners' associations?
	You can use Property Master™ to handle many of the tasks of homeowners' association management, including managing accounts, organizing maintenance, and pro-rating charges.

	... land development?
	We have property analysis tools (Property Modeler) that will help you figure out if the land you're interested in developing makes financial sense. You can also track supplies and expenses as your project moves forward.

	... equipment leasing?
	Our software is not specifically designed for leasing tools or other equipment. That doesn't mean you can't use it for that purpose! Give it a try, and let us know what you'd like us to add.

I have a specific feature in mind, and need to know if it's in Property Master™ or suggest it for a future version.

We try to answer a lot of questions here, but we know we can't answer every question. So...

Future Features

Are you planning to add features?

You bet! We brought Property Master™ to the market when we were convinced that it was a great product and value with sophistication, flexibility, power and ease-of-use. And it does have all of that. But the Web nature of the product makes it easier for us to roll out interface improvements and new features, most of which will be provided at no extra cost to our existing customers.

While Property Master™ is ready to use, that doesn't mean we're done with it! We still have a full-time team of ace developers working to make it better.

I wish it had...

There are some features in the pipeline that we can't talk about... and some that we can. If you don't see what you need here, you can always ask us for it! Here are some of the most requested enhancements that we're working on today.

	... state-specific forms
	No, and neither do any of our competitors. Our program does include more than 100 non-state-specific forms. Most of them don't have legal language that could get you in trouble with your state or local government. Some of them, though, are leases, eviction notices and rental applications. If you choose to use these documents, please clear the language with a real-estate attorney in your area. We are not responsible for legal issues caused by using our forms. There are outside firms that make state-specific forms. We recommend EZ Landlord Forms for this purpose. However, even if you create or purchase a form through them or another state-specific forms provider, we recommend that you clear your language with a real estate attorney in your area. It may cost money to hire an attorney to review forms, but it can cost a lot more not to do so.

	... state-specific forms I can edit
	People do ask for this, but we believe that this is not ever going to be feasible, because if you have the ability to edit the forms and reports, you might wind up erasing the language that makes them state-specific. So this one doesn't really look practical and we're not working on it at this time.

	... more reports
	Property Master™ launches with nearly 50 reports, and more are coming; eventually, we plan at least 60. If you're interested in a particular report, contact us and we'll let you know if it's in the system; if not, how close we are to adding it. Remember, there's never an additional charge or hassle to use a new feature or upgrade.

	... export to QuickBooks
	We're developing this capability for release in the next three months. Of course, like all new features, as soon as it goes live all existing and future Property Master™ customers will have immediate access to it.

I have a specific feature in mind, and I want to suggest it for a future version.

That's great! Some of our best ideas come from our customers, who have been exposed to an even broader range of landlording and real estate investment than we have. Please with your suggestion. Thanks!