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Innago Saves BEN Properties a Week of Time Every Month
Ben Novak Owner and Property Manager, BEN Properties
Location:
Cincinnati, OH
Property Types:
Commercial, Student Housing
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0
Innago Customer Since
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170+
Units Managed
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97%
Online Rent Payment Adoption Increase with Innago
How it Started
Ben Novak never had a dream to own properties. He was busy pursuing athletics in college and a degree at the University of Cincinnati (UC). However, during his time in school, he helped take care of homes and quickly learned the value of property. He worked a lot of other jobs before owning rentals (at restaurants, etc.), and he didn’t have many expenses due to scholarships, so he built a healthy savings.
His property journey started at the end of his freshman year when he talked his dad into purchasing a place with him. He spent the summer remodeling it. Initially, he only saw this place as a temporary financial aid while he worked his way through school.
But after he finished remodeling that place, he kept buying property. By the time he graduated, he had six or seven houses. He started to contemplate his future. Maybe that future centered on property. It was clearly a viable option for him.
Now, years and years later, Ben doesn’t doubt his decision at all. He’s an extremely hands-on property owner. He manages tenants, fixes certain maintenance issues himself, and maintains his properties with gusto. He also runs the finance side of the business. He takes care of almost all the taxes and accounting. Ben describes his role as “wearing every hat.” He says it’s the main thing that makes his business unique.
Jill, a fellow UC graduate, didn’t own property before she met Ben. But she became a key, albeit smaller, part of the business once they married. Jill takes care of some of the administrative work (i.e., emails and lease organization) and communicates with tenants. She takes care of getting leases signed as well.
Ben and Jill have four kids, so when they’re not busy with business, they’re busy with the kids. You can see their eyes light up when they talk about them. Family is a priority. Ben says that’s why they keep their property limited to nearby areas in the city.
As we tour Ben’s properties, he stops and chats briefly with a tenant. He’s one of those rare landlords with many units who still recognizes most of his tenants immediately.
BEN Properties focus is student housing, but they do have other kinds of places like a commercial warehouse that’s home to vintage cars and motorcycles and more. Ben tells us that he “[likes] to dabble in other things. I enjoy trying something different sometimes.”
Finding Innago
When Jill first heard about property management software, she relayed the information to Ben. Another landlord they knew in Cincinnati told them about it. Ben wasn’t quite ready to jump in, though, so they put the discussion on the back burner.
A few years went by, and Ben decided he was open to property management software. They met with Dave Spooner (Innago’s CEO) and liked what they heard right away. They tested Innago with a handful of properties first. The onboarding process was smooth, and they appreciated the ease with which they could reach Innago’s support team. Ben slowly started sending the rest of his properties to Innago.
Ben admits he was still a little skeptical at first. He’d been running the business for so long and doing so much on his own that he wasn’t sure a software would gel with his operations. He was also worried about the fees and the cost.
“I was really worried about the fees [with property management software]… But when I think about the value of my time… It’s not even close… The benefits are obvious.”
![Testimonial Avatar](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ben-Circle.png)
Ben Novak
![](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dave-01-1.png)
I'm Dave Spooner
Dave Spooner is the co-founder and CEO of Innago. He met Ben in 2017. Ben is one of Innago’s earliest customers.
“Dave was super helpful with onboarding, and I always appreciated his time. The customer support team has always been top notch, very prompt.”
![Testimonial Avatar](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/jill-circle2.png)
Jill Novak
The main thing that helps alleviate these kinds of fears for property owners and managers is the fact that Innago is free for them. Innago makes money by passing on small fees to tenants (that said, landlords like Ben can take on some of these fees if they choose to). This is one of the things that makes Innago unique in a marketplace full of pricey competitors.
![](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mary-Headshot.jpeg)
Mary Ragano is a Senior Marketing Programs Manager at Innago. Email sales@innago.com to reach her and the rest of the team if you want to learn more about our software.
“Every month… I get back about a week of time that I spent just logging rent, running to banks, and manually handling everything… because of Innago.”
![Testimonial Avatar](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ben-Circle.png)
Ben Novak
The Features
Ben says that ten years ago he was still logging tenants’ rent by hand, using deposit books, and running to the bank up to two times every day. His tenants were primarily paying rent with checks or cash. Nowadays, Innago tracks everything for him, he goes to the bank considerably less, and 97% of BEN Properties tenants pay fully online.
The online rent collection process simplified things for Ben and Jill. That, along with the automated financial tracking, took a lot of their previous labor off the table. It’s much easier to see what’s coming in (income) and what’s going out (expenses) than it was back when Ben logged everything by hand.
“Our dining room used to be full of all these deposit books and checks… when people wouldn’t always write stuff on the memo lines and check balances… Innago has been so much better.”
![Testimonial Avatar](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/jill-circle2.png)
Jill Novak
![](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Storage-scaled.jpg)
Ben and Jill both continue to find more things they love about Innago. The innovative software doesn’t just help them collect rent and organize their operation; it also helps them grow their business.
Ben says they don’t have the strongest social media presence, so Innago’s listing feature has added a new dimension to BEN Properties. Jill enjoys how simple the feature is and reiterates the benefits they’ve seen from it already. She said they recently started using the feature and “that’s just been great.”
Ben and Jill also mentioned they want to start using other features in the coming months. They specifically called out the maintenance feature, saying it’s “high on their list.”
![](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Group-1597883178.png)
“If people ask me, I [tell them about] the great features like deposit [time] savings, lease-signing time savings, and advertising options." - Ben Novak
The Innago Difference
Jill and Ben love that Innago values person-to-person relationships. They believe that out of all the things that stand out about Innago, this one stands out the most.
Jill even mentioned a time when support elevated a ticket because it wasn’t something they couldn’t sort on the spot. It stood out to her because a support team member, Darnell, kept in touch with her proactively throughout the entire process.
Jill believes Innago is “life-changing” and says it’s not hyperbole. The software has given her and her husband more time to spend with their kids and more time for other key aspects of their lives. Ben echoes the same sentiment:
“I think it’s fair to say Innago is life-changing.”
![Testimonial Avatar](https://innago.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ben-Circle.png)
Ben Novak
About Innago
Innago is a free, easy-to-use property management software solution, designed to save you time and money. Our mission is to make managing communities simple, accessible, & affordable for managers of any size.
![](https://innago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/about_us.png)