Frequently asked questions.

Estavo is property operations software for self-managing landlords and real estate investors. It replaces disconnected spreadsheets with a single platform that tracks income, expenses, recurring obligations, maintenance, vendor contacts, and tax reporting — across your entire portfolio.

Owners who manage their own rentals — vacation rental hosts, long-term landlords, and real estate investors. If you're running a portfolio with a spreadsheet and a pile of email threads, Estavo was built for you. Most users manage between 2 and 50 units without a property management firm.

No. Estavo is software — not a service. We don't manage your properties, collect rent, or communicate with tenants on your behalf. Estavo is the tool that helps you do it yourself, more reliably and with full visibility.

Buildium and AppFolio were built for professional property management firms — businesses that manage properties on behalf of absent owners. Their software is designed for a property manager who has dozens of clients. Estavo is built for the owner who is the operator. The design assumption is different at every level. You can't replicate Estavo's approach by adding a feature to Buildium — it would require rebuilding from scratch.

Estavo generates draft transactions from recurring bills automatically so you don't re-enter your mortgage every month. It alerts you before insurance renewals expire. It produces an IRS Schedule E summary at tax time. It gives your accountant the right level of access without sharing your WiFi passwords. A spreadsheet can't do any of that.

No. The free tier is permanent for 1 active unit — no credit card, no trial period, no expiry. Just sign up and start. It's not a trial. It's the free plan.

Add your first property in under 2 minutes. After that, add a unit, enter a few transactions, and set up your recurring obligations. Most users have their first month of data in on day one. For complex portfolios, we offer free white-glove migration for the first 50 subscribers.

A unit is a rentable space — one vacation rental, one apartment, one room you rent out. A duplex counts as 2 units. A 10-unit building counts as 10 units. A single-family home counts as 1 unit. Pricing is based on active units, not the number of properties in your account.

A property is the physical building or parcel of land. A unit is the rentable space within it. Shared costs like mortgage payments and insurance premiums attach to the property (because they cover the whole building). Booking income and unit-specific expenses attach to the unit. This separation is what makes per-unit P&L possible.

Yes. Each unit has a lease type — short-term or long-term. Short-term units show booking platform tracking, check-in/check-out views, and guest welcome packet features. Long-term units show monthly rent tracking and tenant notification tools. You can have a mix in one portfolio.

You can record bookings from Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, Booking.com, direct bookings, or any other source. The platform field on each transaction lets you see which channels generate the most income.

Yes, on Host plans and above. We provide downloadable CSV templates for properties, units, and transactions. Map your columns once, upload, and review. For complex situations — multiple properties with years of history — we offer free white-glove migration for the first 50 subscribers. After that, it's a one-time $79–$149 migration fee.

Each property stores address, owner entity (individual, LLC, trust), purchase date, purchase price, loan balance, access notes (WiFi network, door codes, lockbox info), and a full list of associated vendors, obligations, transactions, and maintenance requests. Everything in one place.

Total Income is the sum of all confirmed credit transactions in the selected period. This includes STR booking payouts, monthly rent received, and any other money that came in. Draft transactions (auto-generated from scheduled bills, not yet confirmed) are excluded until you review and confirm them.

Total Expenses is the sum of all confirmed debit transactions in the selected period — mortgage payments, insurance premiums, utility bills, pool service, repairs, property taxes, and everything else you've recorded as a cost. Both property-level costs (mortgage, insurance) and unit-level costs (cleaning, repairs) are included.

Net P&L is Total Income minus Total Expenses for the period. A positive number means you're cash-flow positive. A negative number is common in off-season months for STR portfolios when expenses continue but bookings are sparse. Depreciation is a non-cash expense not included unless you enter it as a manual transaction.

The dashboard shows the current calendar month compared to the prior calendar month. The percentage change (↑ or ↓) is calculated as: ((this month − last month) / last month) × 100. If last month was $0, no percentage is shown.

YTD (year to date) sums all confirmed transactions from January 1 of the current year through today. This is the number your CPA needs for Schedule E reporting. Estavo breaks it down by IRS category so you can hand the export directly to your accountant.

Several reasons: (1) You may have transactions in your bank that haven't been entered in Estavo yet. (2) Estavo tracks income on the transaction date — not the date funds actually settle. (3) Mortgage payments include principal reduction, which is not an expense (it builds equity); Estavo should record only the interest portion under mortgage_interest if you want accurate expense reporting. (4) Security deposits, if held in a separate account, are liabilities, not income.

An obligation is what you expect to pay on a schedule — the Selene mortgage at $3,051.49/month, the Spectrum bill at $253.73/month. Estavo generates draft transactions from these schedules automatically. An actual expense is a confirmed transaction: what you actually paid, on the date it came out. If the actual amount differs from the estimate (escrow adjustment, rate change), you update it when you confirm. Only confirmed transactions count in totals.

A unit is 'occupied today' if there's a confirmed booking transaction whose check-in date is on or before today and check-out date is on or after today. The KPI card shows occupied units divided by total active units. This is pulled in real time from your transaction records — no manual occupancy tracking needed.

An obligation is any recurring financial commitment: a mortgage, insurance premium, utility bill, HOA fee, or warranty. In Estavo, obligations are defined as templates that generate draft transactions on a schedule. They also track renewal dates, autopay status, and policy details — all in one place.

You set up an obligation template for each recurring commitment — provider name, amount, frequency (monthly, annual), and property. On the due date, Estavo generates a draft transaction. You review it, adjust the amount if the actual differed, and confirm. Confirmed transactions flow into your ledger and financial totals.

Edit the amount when you confirm the draft. Estavo doesn't lock you into the estimated amount — the template is a starting point. If your Spectrum bill changed from $253.73 to $259.43, confirm it at $259.43 and update the template so future drafts reflect the new amount.

Estavo computes urgency from your obligation's renewal date — no manual flagging needed. If a policy renews within 30 days, it shows as 'Action Needed' in amber. Within 7 days, it's 'Urgent' in red and surfaced at the top of the Today view. These alerts are computed every time you load the page — never a stale cached value.

Insurance (homeowners, flood, wind/hail, liability, umbrella), mortgages (any servicer), utilities (internet, propane, electric, water, trash), HOA fees, and home warranties. Each type has fields specific to it — insurance has a policy number and renewal date; mortgages have a servicer and loan balance; utilities have autopay status.

Yes. Each utility obligation has an autopay status: Active, Not Set Up, or Split. Not Set Up flags show in the Today view as action items — so you always know which accounts need attention before a bill is missed. The autopay status is informational; Estavo doesn't process the payment.

Urgent: renewal date is within 7 days, or autopay is not set up on a bill that's due. Action Needed: renewal date is within 8–30 days, or there are unconfirmed draft transactions older than their due date. These thresholds are applied at query time — if you renew a policy today, the alert disappears immediately.

Schedule E (Supplemental Income and Loss) is the IRS form self-managing landlords file to report rental income and expenses. It has 15 expense categories: advertising, auto and travel, cleaning and maintenance, commissions, insurance, legal and professional, management fees, mortgage interest, other interest, repairs, supplies, taxes, utilities, depreciation, and other. Estavo's financial ledger is built around these exact categories.

Every transaction you enter (or import) is assigned a Schedule E category. Estavo shows the category when you enter or edit a transaction. You can also define Level 2 subcategories for your own tracking — Pool/Spa under Cleaning & Maintenance, Propane under Utilities, HVAC under Repairs — without adding new Schedule E lines.

Run the Schedule E report from the Reports view. It shows every category with YTD totals, broken down by property if needed. Export it as a CSV. Hand the file to your CPA — no more spreadsheet reconciliation, no more hunting through email receipts.

No. Depreciation (Schedule E Line 18) is a non-cash deduction that requires a cost basis calculation specific to each property — this is your CPA's job. Estavo provides a place to record the depreciation figure your CPA calculates, so it flows into your P&L and Schedule E total correctly.

When you make a mortgage payment, only the interest portion is a deductible expense (Schedule E Line 12). The principal portion reduces your loan balance — it's equity building, not an expense. Your mortgage servicer sends a year-end Form 1098 showing how much was interest. In Estavo, record only the interest portion under the mortgage_interest category for accurate reporting.

No. Estavo organizes and exports your financial data for tax purposes — it does not file returns or generate tax forms. 1099 issuance for contractors is handled by your accountant. Airbnb and VRBO issue 1099-K forms directly to hosts who meet the threshold.

Yes. Each unit has a lease type — short-term or long-term. The features available for that unit change based on which type it is. You can manage both in the same account with full visibility into each in the Money view.

Short-term units track bookings with check-in and check-out dates, platform (Airbnb, VRBO, direct, etc.), guest name, and nights. The Today view shows upcoming check-ins and check-outs. You can generate a Guest Welcome packet with WiFi credentials and door code. Obligation alerts are especially important for STR units where a missed insurance renewal could expose you mid-season.

Long-term units track monthly rent as recurring credit transactions. Future releases will add invoice generation (PDF, sent via Resend) and tenant notification emails. Long-term rent income doesn't have check-in/check-out dates — it records the payment date and amount.

Yes. Every STR booking transaction has a platform field (Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, Booking.com, Direct, Other). The Money view lets you filter by platform. Future reporting will break down income by platform so you can see which channels are worth the fees.

No. Estavo records what you collect — it is not a payment processor and does not act as an intermediary. Tenants pay you through whatever method you've set up (bank transfer, Venmo, check). You record the payment in Estavo. This keeps Estavo out of money movement compliance requirements and keeps your tenant relationship direct.

Estavo is a Progressive Web App (PWA). Install it on your iPhone or Android home screen and it works offline — log an expense, submit a maintenance request, check a door code — all without a browser. A native iOS and Android app is planned for Phase 2.

Yes. Any debit transaction can have a receipt photo attached. Capture it from your phone camera directly — no separate upload step. Receipts are stored in encrypted object storage with 15-minute expiring access links. They're never publicly accessible.

Yes. Maintenance requests support photo attachments captured directly from your phone camera. Attach before-and-after photos, document the damage, or give your vendor visual context — all within the work order.

In the Credentials section of each property's hub page. They're blurred by default and only revealed on an explicit click — and only visible to Owner and Manager roles. The reveal action is logged in your audit history. Accountant, Maintenance, and Viewer roles cannot see credentials at all.

Yes. Each vendor in your account stores their contact info, service category, and notes about which properties they service. Vendors are linked to maintenance requests and expense transactions so you can see their full work history at a glance.

Phase 1 supports CSV import from any platform — download your booking history from Airbnb or VRBO, upload it to Estavo, and map the columns once. Phase 2 will add direct API sync for real-time booking data. The CSV path was intentional — it works for every platform without requiring OAuth approval from each one.

Yes. The Work view shows all open, in-progress, and completed maintenance requests across your entire portfolio. Filter by status, priority, property, or vendor. Each request tracks the vendor, estimated cost, actual cost, and any attached photos.

Yes. Invite team members with role-specific access. Owner and Manager see everything including credentials. Accountant sees financial data only. Maintenance sees work orders only. Viewer is read-only with no financial details or credentials. You set the role; Estavo enforces it.

Owner: full access including credential vault, team management, and billing. Manager: full property and financial access including credentials — same as Owner except cannot manage billing or team. Accountant: read access to all financial data and reports; cannot see credentials, maintenance requests, or team settings. Maintenance: can create and update work orders only; no financial data. Viewer: read-only access to properties and transactions; no credentials, no financials.

Free: 1 user. Host (up to 5 units): 2 users. Investor (up to 25 units): 5 users. Portfolio (up to 100 units): 15 users. Enterprise: unlimited. The user count includes the account owner.

Yes. The Accountant role has access to all transaction data, reports, and Schedule E exports — but cannot see the Credentials section of any property. WiFi passwords and door codes are only visible to Owner and Manager roles.

Yes. Every credential reveal (WiFi password shown, door code shown), every team invitation, and every plan change is logged with a timestamp and the user who performed the action. This is available in your account settings.

Yes. The free tier is permanent for 1 active unit. No credit card required, no time limit, no trial expiry. It's not a trial — it's the free plan. Use it as long as you want.

Free: 1 unit, 1 user. Host ($19/mo): 5 units, 2 users — for active STR hosts with 2–5 properties. Investor ($59/mo): 25 units, 5 users — for portfolio builders with 6–25 units. Portfolio ($149/mo): 100 units, 15 users — for serious operators with 26–100 units. Enterprise: custom pricing, unlimited units and users.

Yes. Annual billing is available at a discounted rate equivalent to about 2 months free: Host $190/yr, Investor $590/yr, Portfolio $1,490/yr. The pricing page shows annual pricing first.

You're prompted to upgrade to the next plan. We don't silently charge you more, and we don't lock you out of existing features. You keep everything you have; you just can't activate additional units until you upgrade.

The free tier is the trial — permanent, 1 unit, no credit card. When you hit a feature gate (like adding a 2nd unit, CSV import, or Schedule E export), a contextual 14-day upgrade trial activates automatically. No separate trial signup page, no credit card to forget to cancel.

Yes, any time. Downgrade from account settings. If you cancel, your data stays accessible for 30 days so you can export everything. No cancellation fees. No lock-in.

We're building a referral program. Accountants who onboard clients get a 45-day upgrade trial for their client. Email hello@estavo.net with your situation and we'll set it up.

Financial data is stored on PostgreSQL in a secure data center. File attachments (receipts, photos) are stored in S3-compatible object storage. Every file access uses a 15-minute expiring presigned URL — there are no publicly accessible file URLs in Estavo.

Access credentials are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before storage. They're only decrypted when explicitly revealed by an authorized user (Owner or Manager role), which creates an audit log entry. They're never returned in list responses — only on an explicit, role-gated reveal action.

No. Every query in Estavo is scoped by your organization ID, enforced at the application layer and at the PostgreSQL database layer via Row Level Security (RLS) policies. Your data is never commingled with another account's data.

Yes, always — from any plan. Export all transactions, properties, and units as CSV at any time. Your data is yours. We don't lock it behind a paid export feature.

Your data stays accessible for 30 days after cancellation so you can export everything. After 30 days, it's permanently deleted from our servers. We send a reminder email before deletion so it's not a surprise.