Some people are getting an error when trying to download version 8.6 of Rentmaster by going to the help menu and choosing Download RentMaster Update.

The error mentions something like 'Error moving the temporary file from c:\Docume~1\...\locals~1\temp\...tmp to c:\docume~1\...\local~1\temp'

If you get this error, you will need to manually download the update from this location

http://www.RentMaster.co.nz/update.aspx

I will see what can be done for a future version.  However you will probably also get the same error when downloading the next version 8.7 as well.

If you are a property manager, you sometimes end up taking over someone else's tenants.  Maybe another property manager has closed their business, or a property owner is not happy with their current managers performance. 

When you take over someone else's tenant, they will most likely have a positive or negative rent balance at change over date.

One option is to create the tenant with the start date being the date the tenant first moved into the house, and then go back into the rent periods screen and zero out the rent owing from all previous rent periods so that the total balance owing to you is correct.

Another option is to create the new tenant with the tenancy start date as the date you are taking over the tenancy. Then go to the rent periods screen, and edit the first rent period and change the rent due amount to be the rent due for that period, plus any balance owing at the tenancy take over date.

RentMaster version 8.6 has just been released.  This is one of the bigger releases we have done for quite a while.

The major highlight of this new version is the new marketing module.  The marketing module is designed to make finding a new tenant as easy as possible, because vacancies are one of the major hazards we are trying to avoid.

Because the new marketing module is quite big, 2 new tutorials have been developed to make learning this new feature easier.  These tutorials can be accessed from this link http://www.rentmaster.co.nz/FAQ/Marketing.aspx .  I highly recommend you spent about 10 minutes going through these on-screen tutorials.

Other highlights in this new version include...

- A new 'Link' has been added to the Tenant details screen which will take people to the Transactions tab of the rent periods screen.

- The Cashbook transaction list screen has been changed to include the tenant code in the Details column for income transactions which included a tenant selection.

- The Booking Calendar screen has had the first 2 characters of the day name added at the top of the calendar above the date.

- The Database Compaction option has been further restricted in Windows Vista due to potential errors.  More details here http://www.rentmaster.co.nz/blog/2008/12/Issues-with-Windows-Vista-and-Database-Compaction.aspx

This has been asked for a few times, so it is now available.  The Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ is now available for download as as single PDF file.

You can download the PDF file from a link at the top or bottom of this page

http://www.rentmaster.co.nz/FAQ.aspx

As more questions are added to the FAQ, the PDF file will be regenerated to include the new questions.