How This Real Estate Investor Achieves a ‘Set It and Forget It’ Approach with Azibo

Based in Chicago, Jua McMillan has been a real estate investor for almost three years who owns two properties in South Florida. He leases one as a short-term rental property, and the other as a long-term unit with a tenant he inherited when he purchased the property. 

While self-managing rental properties has its perks, it can be time-intensive. Jua has a full-time job on top of being a landlord — with the added difficulty of owning long-distance rental properties. Finding the time to track down rent payments each month was starting to get challenging, especially since he was using paper checks when he first started. 

And even after he switched to collecting rent through Venmo, Jua quickly got frustrated with the mobile payment app’s transaction limits and additional fees. Though he considered direct bank transfers, he had security concerns based on a past experience with a landlord who shared her bank routing and account numbers with him. “I personally did not want to go down that route,” says Jua.

Jua needed a solution that would let him easily and securely collect rent online from tenants who lived across the country. 

Streamlining long-distance property management with Azibo

After researching several rent collection and property management tools, Jua decided to sign up for Azibo. He liked that it was straightforward and the onboarding process was hassle-free. “I just like the simplicity,” Jua notes. “I was able to get started without a strenuous setup.” 

Jua was able to quickly link his external bank account to Azibo and start collecting rent right away. He enjoys the streamlined process, where Azibo sends automatic reminders to his tenants via email and text, rather than Jua doing that himself. “It's taken away the need to always have to reach out to my tenants to pay rent,” he says. Jua gets peace of mind when he receives an Azibo notification that his tenant made a rent payment. These automations also help increase transparency and accountability for both Jua and his tenants by documenting their communications. 

In addition to rent collection, Jua uses Azibo’s accounting tools for financial reporting and expense management. He tags transactions by property and Schedule E category, and when tax season comes around, he’s able to generate the reports he needs.

Jua also likes that Azibo gives him a big-picture view of his portfolio. “I’ve also used it to look broadly across both properties to see how I’m managing income and expenses,” he explains. 

Explore more financial reporting tips with our Cash Flow Calculator.

Achieving a ‘set it and forget it’ approach to real estate

Since signing up for Azibo, Jua has been able to spend less time managing his properties and have more free time to focus on other aspects of his life. By eliminating the need to coordinate with tenants, set up their payment methods, and track Venmo transactions, Jua estimates that Azibo saves him four hours/month. “I can't say anything but positive things about Azibo,” he notes. “It's been a lifesaver.” 

“I can't say anything but positive things about Azibo. It's been a lifesaver.” 

Importantly, Jua likes that Azibo provides a great user experience for his renters. “It’s very easy for tenants to manage and make payments with Azibo on a monthly basis,” he says. He also appreciates the ability to offer flexible payment methods, where tenants can choose whether to pay rent via ACH transfer, debit card, credit card, or paper check through Azibo. 

Overall, Azibo brings Jua some much-needed simplicity to rental property management, offering all the solutions he needs in one place, with one login. “Azibo helps me manage everything in one spot without having to go to multiple websites,” he explains.  

“I love the fact that it's automated. You can pretty much set it and forget it until it's time to renew the lease.”

Any real estate investor knows how challenging it is to balance rental property management with a full-time job. With Azibo, Jua is able to take a more hands-off approach to property management. “I love the fact that it's automated,” says Jua. “You can pretty much set it and forget it until it's time to renew the lease.”

Looking for a solution to simplify your rental property management? Try Azibo today.