RentStack by Zaratuk
RentStack guide

Last updated May 2026

Build a landlord dashboard that shows what needs attention.

Know what changed, what is at risk, and what to do next. This guide walks through the core workflows that power that view: properties, units, tenants, leases, rent collection, expenses, assets, reminders, Signal Desk, and the Dashboard.

Create account View quick start

Step 1 · ≈ 3 min

Add your first property

Start with the acquisition facts RentStack needs to understand the asset.

Try Properties · create account
  1. 1 Enter the property name, Canadian address, property type, purchase date, purchase price, down payment, estimated value, value-as-of date, and appreciation assumption.
  2. 2 For multiplexes, set the number of units and give each unit a useful label such as Main, Basement, Unit A, or 2F. Add bedroom counts during setup or later from the property edit view.
  3. 3 Add the property insurance renewal date if you want RentStack to remind you about 60 days before renewal to compare quotes and coverage.
  4. 4 Use the seasonal care starter plan during setup when you want RentStack to add routine property-level checks such as gutters, drainage, and winter preparation.
  5. 5 Update estimated value later when you receive a new assessment, appraisal, or market view. When a value-as-of date is set, appreciation projects forward from that estimate instead of the original purchase price.
  6. 6 Add mortgage details including balance, payment, term, status, and renewal date so reminders and cash flow are accurate.

Why it matters

This powers equity, mortgage exposure, property filters, renewal reminders, unit-level rent or expense tracking, and Market Position benchmarks.

Step 2 · ≈ 3 min

Add tenants, leases, and rent changes

Build the rent roll by connecting people, properties, units, and lease dates.

Try Tenants · create account
  1. 1 Create the tenant profile with the tenant name. Email and phone are optional if you do not want to store them.
  2. 2 Add a lease from the tenant page, choose the property and unit when applicable, then enter lease start, optional end date, and starting rent.
  3. 3 Use rent changes when rent increases or changes over time. Enter the new rent and effective date; RentStack treats it as applying until changed.

Why it matters

This lets the dashboard calculate rent income correctly, even when tenancy data is entered retroactively.

Step 3 · ≈ 2 min

Generate and confirm rent payments

Turn leases into monthly rent due records and confirm what was actually collected.

Try Rent tracking · create account
  1. 1 Use rent tracking on the tenant page to generate dues for the relevant months.
  2. 2 Review each generated due and mark it paid when rent is collected.
  3. 3 If the amount differs, update the payment before confirming so dashboard cash flow reflects reality.

Why it matters

Confirmed rent feeds monthly cash flow, property performance, and portfolio income.

Step 4 · ≈ 4 min

Log one-time and recurring expenses

Capture the costs that explain operating performance and support tax preparation.

Try Expenses · create account
  1. 1 Quick-add manual expenses with a clear title, property, optional unit, date, amount, category, vendor, and notes.
  2. 2 Create recurring templates for predictable costs such as mortgage, utilities, insurance, tax, and condo fees, including monthly, every-2-months, quarterly, semi-annual, and yearly schedules.
  3. 3 Generate recurring entries, confirm or update the amount for each instance, and use bulk status updates when several expense records need the same change.
  4. 4 Export the expense log to CSV when needed. The export includes expense title, category, type, source, vendor, status, and notes.

Why it matters

Expenses drive net cash flow, NOI, operating expense ratio, category mix, and T776-friendly reporting.

Step 5 · ≈ 3 min

Set up property reserves

Track each property’s liquidity cushion and see whether upcoming costs could create a shortfall.

Try Reserves · create account
  1. 1 Open Expenses, then use the Reserve fund button to enter the current reserve balance and the date that balance is effective as of.
  2. 2 RentStack rolls that balance forward to today by adding confirmed rent income and subtracting mortgage payments, recurring obligations, posted expenses, maintenance costs, capital costs, and manual adjustments.
  3. 3 Mortgage payments are deducted on the day of month from the mortgage start date. Recurring expenses are deducted on the day of month from each recurring template start date.
  4. 4 Add an optional monthly contribution if you regularly move money into the property reserve.
  5. 5 Use manual adjustments for money added or withdrawn outside RentStack, such as transfers from another account or owner contributions.
  6. 6 Review the current-month reserve history and the 12-month forecast to see what has already hit the reserve and what may affect future liquidity.

Why it matters

Reserve tracking helps answer whether a property has enough cash cushion for repairs, vacancies, insurance increases, taxes, and scheduled maintenance shocks.

Step 6 · ≈ 4 min

Track assets, lifecycle, and care history

Register major components once, then let RentStack create a practical owner-scale maintenance playbook.

Try Assets & Lifecycle · create account
  1. 1 Add assets such as roof, furnace, water heater, HVAC, and appliances with the required planning basics: property, asset type, install date, expected lifespan, and replacement cost estimate.
  2. 2 If a property has no assets yet, use guided setup to add common rental assets quickly, then refine install dates and costs from each asset profile.
  3. 3 Click any row in Assets & lifecycle to open the asset profile. The profile shows lifecycle status, asset health estimate, required-field completeness, care momentum, next actions, active care items, improve-plan suggestions, and service history.
  4. 4 RentStack automatically creates a maintenance playbook from the asset type. Short-cycle items under 3 months, such as lint trap or frequent filter reminders, are intentionally excluded.
  5. 5 Seasonal property care is tracked separately from asset lifecycle work. Seasonal items help keep the property current, while asset care can earn care confidence that temporarily adjusts asset health.
  6. 6 Use Complete care item when work is done. The completion workflow asks what happened, whether there was a cost, and what RentStack will update before saving.
  7. 7 Use advanced scheduling settings only when you need to override the calculated next due date, recurrence, schedule date, or status.
  8. 8 When maintenance is completed, RentStack stores it in service history with completion date, result, actual cost when relevant, vendor, status, and notes.

Why it matters

RentStack uses this to calculate the asset health estimate, top risk drivers, care reminders, upcoming capital expenses, and a durable record of past work.

Supported assets

RentStack can track these assets for lifecycle planning, asset health, replacement forecasting, and care recommendations. Use Other when you need a custom record that is not yet in the supported list.

Building systems

RoofFurnaceWater heaterSump pumpSewage ejector systemHVAC / A/CWindowsElectrical panelPlumbingSiding / ExteriorDriveway

Landlord-supplied appliances

RefrigeratorStove / RangeDishwasherWasherDryer

Custom tracking

Other

Step 7 · ≈ 2 min

Start from the Signal Desk

Use Signal Desk as the daily triage surface for what needs attention now.

Try Signal Desk · create account
  1. 1 Start here after logging in. Signal Desk ranks active operating signals from reminders, lease notice windows, maintenance, reserve pressure, mortgage renewal stress, rent benchmark gaps, asset risk, and cash flow.
  2. 2 Use the filters below the portfolio scan when you want to narrow the desk to attention items, risk, maintenance, or opportunities before reading each card.
  3. 3 Focus on the top signal first. RentStack shows practical inputs such as time pressure, dollar exposure, confidence, and signal source instead of asking you to interpret an opaque score.
  4. 4 Use the primary action on each card to go to the recommended workflow. Reserve signals open the property reserve fund; asset signals open the asset profile; maintenance signals open the care item workflow.
  5. 5 Use Snooze, Dismiss, or Mark resolved to keep the desk current. Snoozed signals return after the pause window; dismissed and resolved signals stay cleared once saved.
  6. 6 Treat compliance signals, such as lease notice windows, as high-priority operating work. They are ranked ahead of routine estimated capital items when they are urgent.
  7. 7 Use the portfolio-at-a-glance and recently handled sections to understand operating context and see what has been cleared this week.

Why it matters

Signal Desk answers the core daily question: what needs attention first, what can wait, and what has already been handled.

Step 8 · ≈ 4 min

Use the Dashboard

Use the dashboard for deeper portfolio analysis after triage is handled.

Try Dashboard · create account
  1. 1 Use the top filters to choose the property set, month, and whether shared properties should show full-property amounts or only your ownership share. This context powers every module on the page.
  2. 2 Read the alert bar first. It highlights the most important monthly operating condition, such as negative cash flow, renewal stress, or a stable carrying month, with a direct next action.
  3. 3 Open Monthly Operating Brief to see what changed this month: rent collected, expense movement, mortgage payments, maintenance spend, capital expenses, NOI, operating expense ratio, and expense mix.
  4. 4 Use Portfolio Drivers to see which properties are carrying or dragging performance across equity, rent collected, market position, expenses, mortgage payments, renewal stress, asset health, cash flow, and reserve coverage.
  5. 5 Use Care & Capital Queue to separate near-term maintenance work from longer-term capital replacement risk. It is powered by asset ages, lifespans, replacement costs, maintenance schedules, completed care history, and reminders.
  6. 6 Use Ownership Trajectory to understand how equity, leverage, mortgage balances, appreciation assumptions, and renewal-rate benchmarks are changing the ownership picture.
  7. 7 Read the helper text and empty states when a section looks quiet. RentStack explains what data powers each module, what “no items” means, and what to add next.

Why it matters

The dashboard explains what changed this month, which properties are carrying or dragging performance, where maintenance or capital risk is building, and how ownership value is changing.

Step 9 · ≈ 3 min

Manage operating reminders and calendar exports

Keep deadlines, maintenance decisions, and follow-ups in one actionable inbox.

Try Operating Reminders · create account
  1. 1 Use the reminder bell for a compact view of urgent items and Operating Reminders for the full source library.
  2. 2 Create user-defined tasks, review RentStack-created reminders from leases, mortgages, maintenance, reserves, month-end expense review, and insurance renewals, and filter by property, category, status, priority, or due date.
  3. 3 Open a reminder from Signal Desk when you need to quickly snooze, complete, dismiss, or edit the underlying task record.
  4. 4 Watch for reserve runway signals in Signal Desk when coverage falls below one month. Operating Reminders can also surface reserve alerts when coverage falls to 0.5 months of mortgage and current expenses or less.
  5. 5 Mark reminders completed, dismiss them, snooze them, or edit recurring reminder settings when the timing changes.
  6. 6 Use the calendar feed under Reminder settings when you want active dated tasks visible in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, or another calendar app.

Why it matters

Reminders connect leases, mortgages, maintenance, expenses, assets, and manual follow-ups so important work does not depend on memory.

Step 10 · ≈ 2 min

Share a property with a co-owner

Avoid duplicate property records when ownership is shared.

Try Sharing · create account
  1. 1 From the properties list, open the share controls for the property.
  2. 2 Invite the co-owner by email, assign Admin or Viewer access, and set ownership share.
  3. 3 Update or revoke access later if ownership or responsibilities change.

Why it matters

Ownership shares keep equity and financial calculations aligned with each user’s stake.

Before acquisition

Use the Toolbox for planning calculators

The Deal Analyzer under Toolbox helps estimate cash flow, hidden ownership costs, reserves, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, debt coverage, and deal health before a property is added to RentStack.

Toolbox results are planning estimates only. They are not financial, legal, tax, mortgage, or investment advice.

Try Deal Analyzer

A practical note

Start simple. Improve the picture as you go.

You do not need perfect history on day one. Add the current property, lease, rent, expense, and asset details first. Then backfill older entries where they materially change your decisions.

Try Signal Desk · create account