"Property Management for the 21st Century"
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RenTec Direct FAQ

Here you will find a list of commonly asked questions about Rentec products.

How come it's free?
Why is this an online application and not a program that runs on my computer, such as Quickbooks would?
How do I signup?
Is my data safe on your servers? Can I back it up?
When will the Pro version be available?

Question: How come it's free?

We get asked this the most, so this question is right up top. This application was initially developed for a small group of realestate investors who needed a tool specifically designed for managing rentals, without the bloat of programs such as Quickbooks, or many other accounting programs. The majority of the development costs were paid for by us, for us. Now that it is done, we want to share with the community and we also want to continue adding features to this software. From time to time, we may add a feature (such as credit card payments, or ACH payments) which cost us, and therefore we'll pass on subscription programs to pay for these.

Question: Why is this an online application and not a program that runs on my computer, such as Quickbooks would?

Simple, an online application can be accessed from anywhere in the world at any time while a standalone application can only be accessed from the single computer it's installed on. By being an online application, you, or any of your employees or business partners can at any time from their own location login to view the status of properties and tenants. Additionally, standalone applications only come up with updates periodically, usually less than once per year. With an online application, when our developers enhance something it is available instantly to everyone without having to buy a new version of the software. Also, one major issue with standalone applications is that they store the data locally. This means if your computer crashes, you lose all your data which can be absolutely vital to your business. With an online application the data is automatically backed up and worst case if your workstation crashed, you could get a new one or use a different one and still login to the Rentec site and all your data remains intact.

Question: How do I signup?

Visit our products page and click 'Signup Now'. We'll instantly setup an account for you.

Question: Is my data safe on your servers? Can I back it up?

The short answer is Yes and Yes. Statistically your data is far safer being housed on our secure servers than it would be on any workstation. Our software runs on high reliability servers, while applications that run on your local workstation are much more susceptible to data loss and intrusion by hackers. There are many reasons for this.

  • Our servers are routinely and randomly scanned by a third party security vendor to ensure they are safe from both hackers and virus's.
  • Our servers are frequently backed up. On top of the many layers of redundancy we incorporate to ensure 100% uptime, we also backup frequently both on-site as well as off-site to ensure maximum reliability in the event of a catastrophic failure.
  • We use high-reliability enterprise grade hardware and software. Enterprise grade hardware and software provide a higher level of reliability than typical workstation class hardware. This keeps our systems online and running error free. We also employ technologies such as RAID (hard drive mirroring), replication, load balancing, and other high tech methods to ensure 100% uptime.

In contrast, when you run an application on your workstation you run the following risks. You do not have the following risks when using Rentec Direct.

  • Malicious software such as virus's and other malware are written for workstations. Thousands of computers every minute are infected with virus's without their owners ever knowing about it causing all their local data to be accessible to a nefarious 3rd party.
  • Workstation backups are often incomplete, or do not exist at all. A small user error, or a hardware failure can cause a complete loss of data if it is not backed up elsewhere. Hard drives crash all the time taking all their owner's precious data with them.
  • Workstation class hardware is inferior to enterprise grade hardware. PCs and Mac's die all the time causing loss of data and interruption of work. Rentec is online, therefore if your PC ever crashes, your back online and working with your data as quickly as you can scoot over to a different PC.

With Rentec Direct, you can also backup your data anytime. All your tenant, property, and bank account ledgers can be downloaded with a single click of your mouse.

Question: When will the Pro version be available?

Rentec Pro is available now! If you are already using Rentec Basic, simply visit the Settings tab, and click Your Account & Subscription, and there is a link to upgrade to Rentec Pro. New users can signup and receive a free demo of all the Rentec Pro features immediately.

 

If you have a question that is not answered here, please email info@rentecdirect.com with your question and we will get back to you promptly.