How to Add a Rental Property in Estavo
Setting up a rental property in Estavo takes about 5 minutes per property. You’ll create the property record, add each rentable unit, set the lease type (short-term or long-term), and optionally configure recurring obligations (mortgage, insurance, utilities). This guide covers the full process including how to migrate data from a Google Sheets or Excel rental spreadsheet.
Understanding Estavo’s Rental Property Hierarchy
Every entity in Estavo sits in a hierarchy. Understanding this hierarchy prevents confusion about where to record what.
- Transactions — income and unit-level expenses
- Obligations — mortgage, insurance, HOA, utilities
The two rules that matter most:
- Rent and booking income attach to the unit — not the property. A duplex has two units; each gets its own rent credits.
- Shared costs attach to the property — mortgage, property insurance, HOA fees are property-level, not split across units automatically.
This structure keeps per-unit P&L accurate without spreadsheet formulas.
Create the owner entity first
Every property in Estavo belongs to an owner — the legal entity (person or LLC) that holds it.
Go to Portfolio → Owners → Add owner.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Your legal name, your LLC name, or trust name |
| Type | Individual, LLC, Trust, or Partnership |
Examples for real estate investors:
- You personally: “Jane Smith”
- Your rental LLC: “Coastal Rentals LLC”
- A land trust: “Smith Family Revocable Trust”
- A separate LLC per property: Add one owner per LLC
If you hold properties in multiple legal entities — which many real estate investors do for liability separation — create one owner per entity. Then assign each property to its correct owner.
Add the rental property
Go to Portfolio → Add property.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Property name | Short label used throughout the app: “Beach House”, “123 Oak St”, “Duplex – Main St” |
| Address | Full street address including city, state, ZIP |
| Owner | Select the owner that legally holds this property |
| Status | Active, Under renovation, Off market, or Sold |
| Purchase price | Optional — feeds your cost basis for depreciation reporting |
| Notes | Internal notes: HOA contact, utility account numbers, anything useful |
Property status — what each means for landlords:
| Status | When to use | Units count toward billing? |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Currently rented or available to rent | Yes |
| Under renovation | Not rentable; you’re still tracking rehab costs | Yes |
| Off market | You own it but it’s not listed — between tenants, seasonal | No |
| Sold | Out of your portfolio | No |
Only Active and Under renovation units count toward your plan’s unit limit. Marking a property Off Market or Sold frees those slots immediately — without deleting any historical data.
Add rental units
After saving the property, click Add units on the property detail page.
How many units to add per property type:
| Property type | Units to add |
|---|---|
| Single-family rental home | 1 |
| Condo or townhouse | 1 |
| Duplex | 2 |
| Triplex | 3 |
| 10-unit apartment building | 10 |
| Vacation cabin with separate guest cottage | 2 |
| Vacation rental community with 8 cabins | 8 |
For each unit:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Unit name | ”Unit 1”, “Front Apt”, “Ocean View Suite”, “Apt 2B” — whatever makes sense to you |
| Lease type | Short-term or Long-term (see below) |
| Bedrooms / bathrooms | Optional — for your records |
| Square footage | Optional — appears in reports |
Choosing short-term vs. long-term:
| Short-term lease type | Long-term lease type |
|---|---|
| Airbnb, VRBO, direct vacation rentals | Annual or month-to-month leases |
| Nightly or weekly stays | Monthly rent |
| Enables: booking platform, check-in/out dates, guest name, Guest Welcome packet | Enables: tenant name, lease dates, invoice generation (Phase 2) |
You can change a unit’s lease type at any time. Existing transactions are not affected.
Set up recurring obligations
Obligations are the recurring financial commitments tied to this property — mortgage, insurance, utilities, HOA. Set them up once and Estavo generates draft transactions on schedule.
From the property page: Obligations → Add obligation
Add one obligation per recurring bill:
| Bill | Type | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly mortgage payment | Mortgage | Monthly |
| Annual property insurance premium | Insurance | Annual |
| Monthly electric bill | Utility | Monthly |
| Monthly HOA fee | HOA | Monthly |
| Annual home warranty | Warranty | Annual |
For insurance and warranty, set the policy end date — this is what drives urgency alerts in the Today view when renewal approaches.
Migrating from a Google Sheets or Excel Rental Tracker
Setting up properties and units first (steps 1–3 above) is required before importing transaction history. Once your properties and units exist, import your historical data:
- Go to Money → Import → Download template (choose the Transactions template)
- Map your spreadsheet columns to the template’s columns
- Upload the CSV file
- Review and confirm the import
See Import from Spreadsheet for the field-by-field column guide and category slugs.
White-glove migration available: If you’d rather not map columns yourself, email support@estavo.net. For new subscribers, we’ll review your spreadsheet and load your data for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have multiple owners (LLCs) in one Estavo account?
Yes. You can create as many owner entities as you have legal entities. Each property is assigned to one owner. Reports can be filtered by owner so you can see the P&L for each entity separately.
What if I have a vacation rental and a long-term rental on the same property?
If you have a duplex where one side is an Airbnb and the other side has an annual tenant, add two units: set one to short-term and the other to long-term. Each unit tracks its own income and lease type independently.
How do I handle properties I no longer own?
Mark the property status as Sold. All historical transactions, maintenance records, and reports remain intact. The units no longer count toward your billing plan. You can filter “Sold” properties out of Portfolio view or include them for historical reference.
Do I have to set up obligations for it to work?
No. Obligations are optional. You can record all expenses manually in the Money view. Obligations just save time for recurring bills you’d otherwise enter every month.
Can one property have different units in different states or cities?
In Estavo, a property represents a single physical address. If you have rentals in different locations, each address is a separate property record. They all live within the same organization (your portfolio).