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Default Cash Account

The  Default Cash Account is a special  Account in the Real Estate Financial Planner™ software. Some fun facts: It can never be deleted. So, it always counts as one of your  Accounts on your plan. This is true even though many people hope to never use it. More on that in a bit. It is automatically included with every  Scenario you create and run. It always earns a return of 0%. It is the only  Account that can have a negative balance. You can use it just like any other  Account to add or subtract money from. But, why? The … Read more

How to Create a Copy of a Property

This post covers how to create a copy of a Property so you don’t have to start from scratch each time. Go To The Scenarios Page First, navigate to the Properties page. From there locate the Property you would like to make a copy of and click the button on the far right. The copied Property will automatically open. From here you can update the Address or Description and any other variables you wish to change. Once you have made all your changes scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Save button. Then, you will need … Read more

How to Link an Account to a Rule

Most of the Rules you will use in the Real Estate Financial Planner™ will be linked to an Account. If you do not specify an Account the Rule will be setup to use the Default Cash Account*. In the post below we will review how to switch the Account. Change the Account Open the Rule by clicking on its title or the button as shown below. You can do this from the Rules page or from the Rules section of a Scenario. Once the Rule is open find the field which asks you to specify an Account. You can see … Read more

How to Link an Account to a Property

All Properties in your Real Estate Financial Planner™ need you to specify which Account you want the down payment and closing costs to be withdrawn from and which Account to use for income and recurring expenses such as rent or mortgage payments. If you do not specify an Account the Property will be setup to use the Default Cash Account* for both of these. Change the Account To change the Account a Property is linked to go to the Properties page and click on the title of the Property you’d like to edit. Or you can click the button as … Read more

Dates, Months or Entire Scenario

One of the options you often have when configuring Rules on the Real Estate Financial Planner™ software is the ability to choose when the Rule will run. If you leave the Rule Start Date as blank (mm/dd/yyyy or 00/00/0000) the system assumes you mean to start it at the very beginning of the Scenario. Similarly, if you leave the Rule End Date blank (mm/dd/yyyy or 00/00/0000), the Rule will run through the end of the Scenario. You can set your Rule to end after a certain period of time. For example, if you know you’re going to have business income … Read more

How to Create a Copy of an Account

If you want to make changes to an Account without creating one from scratch you can make a copy of that Account. Go To The Accounts Page The Accounts page displays all the Accounts in your Planner™. To make a copy click on the button. The Account will open automatically and you can make changes to it. Then hit the Save button. Once the Account is setup you will need to add it to all appropriate Scenarios, Properties, Rules, and Goals. How To Add An Account to a Scenario How to Link An Account to a Property How to Link … Read more

How To Set Up Monte Carlo Runs

Using Monte Carlo simulations is an ideal way to model the unpredictable outcomes of different investment strategies. With regards to the Real Estate Financial Planner™ it allows us to study how a Scenario (collection of Accounts, Properties, Rules, and Goals) responds to randomly generated inputs for variables such as interest rate, appreciation, inflation, and rate of return for stocks, bonds, or other investments. IMPORTANT NOTE: Monte Carlo is only available to Copper Plan Members. Open The Scenario First, from the Scenarios page select the Scenario on which you want to run Monte Carlo. Click the title of the Scenario to … Read more

How To Create a Copy of a Scenario

There may be times when you want to know what impact changing one variable will have on a Scenario. This can be easily achieved by creating a copy of the Scenario in your Planner™. Go To The Scenarios Page On the Scenarios page locate the Scenario you want to make a copy of and click the Copy icon. The copied Scenario will automatically open. From here you can update the Scenario Name and any other variables you wish to change. Once you have made all your changes click the Save button below the Scenario Description. If the changes were successfully … Read more

How to Use The Chart Options

No Labels

In the Real Estate Financial Planner™ we use Charts to display the data for Scenarios. Through various Charts we can explore what is happening with a specific Property or Account during a Scenario or use them to summarize an entire Scenario. This post will take you through the different viewing and limiting options for the Charts in your Planner™. Go To The Charts Page To view your Charts, click on Charts from the drop down menu across the top under Planner™. You can also access them by clicking the Chart icon on the Scenarios page. You can zoom in on … Read more

How to Remove an Account from a Scenario

Remove Account from Scenario

In this section we will go over how to remove an Account from a Scenario. Login First, log in to your Real Estate Financial Planner™. Go To The Scenarios Page Once you log in, navigate to the Scenarios page. Hover over or click Planner™ on the menu across the top to expose the drop down menu. Click on Scenarios from the drop down menu. You can also use the menu on the right side of the page to locate the Scenarios page. Select the Scenario you want to edit by clicking the title or the button on the right side. … Read more