Disclaimer: Clients that are taking advantage of Revela AI capabilities can leverage Revela's built-in customer agent to create new property records! To create a new property record using Revela AI, use the following prompt: "Can you create a property named XXXX? The address is [insert property address]. The property address is [specify property type] located at [include complete property address."
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Understanding the Owner/Entity/Property Relationship
Before adding a property in Revela, it is important to understand the three-tier structure that underpins how properties are organized and managed. Every property in Revela belongs to an entity, and every entity is owned by one or more owners. This hierarchy determines how accounting, reporting, disbursements, and management fees flow through the system.
Owners
Owners are the individual people or contacts who have a financial stake in the properties being managed. An owner in Revela has a name, contact information, and can hold ownership in one or more entities. Owners are the users who ultimately receive disbursements and view owner statements.
For instructions on how to add an owner to Revela, click here.
Entities
Entities represent the legal business structures—such as an LLC, partnership, S-Corp, or sole proprietorship—that own and hold title to one or more properties. An entity is the central organizational unit in Revela because it captures the legal name (as shown on the income tax return), trade name (DBA), business type, taxpayer identification, and state of incorporation. Moreover, it is on the entity-level in which accounting controls like journal closes, management contracts, and disbursement preferences are configured.
For instructions on how to add an entity to Revela, click here.
Properties
Properties are the physical real estate assets (i.e. apartment complexes, single-family homes, commercial buildings, and more) that the PMC manages on behalf of a property owner. Each property belongs to exactly one entity and one portfolio.
This three-tier structure means that a single owner can hold ownership in multiple entities, and a single entity can own multiple properties. For example, an owner named Jane Smith might own 100% of “Smith Holdings LLC,” which in turn holds three single-family rental properties. Alternatively, two owners might each hold 50% of a partnership entity that owns one apartment complex.
For instructions on how to add a property to Revela, click here.
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Setting Up Owners
Owners should be created in Revela before setting up entities, since owners are assigned to entities during the entity creation process. To create an owner, navigate Portfolios > Owners and click the Add Owner button. Provide the owner’s name, email, and other relevant contact information.
Each owner can be designated as Active or Prospective, which allows you to distinguish between current property owners and those who may be coming on board in the future. Once an owner record exists, it can be linked to any number of entities.
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Creating an Entity
Entities serve as the bridge between owners and properties. When onboarding a new property, the entity should be created first if one does not already exist for the property owner’s legal structure.
To create a new entity, navigate to Portfolios/Properties > Entities and click to add a New Customer Entity.
The entity creation form is organized into several sections:
- The Portfolio dropdown is a required field that determines which portfolio this entity and its properties will be grouped under. Portfolios are a high-level organizational tool in Revela, often used to segment properties by region, property manager assignment, or management agreement.
- The Entity Information section captures the legal details of the business.
- The Name field should reflect the legal name exactly as it appears on the entity’s income tax return.
- The DBA field can be used if the entity operates under a different trade name.
- The Entity Type dropdown includes options such as LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnership, Sole Proprietorship, Trust, and others.
- The State of Incorporation and Taxpayer Identification fields round out the legal profile, and are crucial to include for 1099 tax filing purposes.
- The Preferred Disbursement field allows you to specify how the entity prefers to receive owner disbursement payments; available options include ACH or Check.
- Tags can also be added to the entity for organizational purposes, and a notes field is available for any internal documentation.
- The Legal Address is required. A separate Mailing Address can be provided if it differs from the legal address; otherwise, checking “Same as Legal Address” will skip that section.
- The Ownership section is where you associate one or more owners with this entity.
- For each owner, you can select the owner from the profile dropdown, enter their Ownership Percentage, and designate one owner as the Primary contact. Typically, the primary contact is the owner who will be used as the default point of contact for communications and signature workflows. Additional owners can be added as needed, and each owner’s percentage should reflect their actual ownership stake.
- The Management Contract section is embedded directly in the entity creation form, which allows the PMC to configure the terms of the management agreement at the same time the entity is created.
- Please consult our Management Contracts article for more information on the Management Contract Process.
After filling out all required fields and clicking Create Entity, the entity will be available for use. NOTE: If any required information is missing at the time of creation, the entity may appear with a “Requires Setup” indicator on the Entities page. You can complete setup at any time by clicking into the entity and finishing the configuration.
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Adding a New Property
Once an entity exists, properties can be added to it. Property creation follows a guided, multi-step process that walks you through the key details of the property.
To begin, navigate to the portfolio where the property will reside and click Add Property. The first step is the Overview screen, which collects the foundational information about the property.
The property creation workflow will prompt the user to enter the following required fields for the property, including:
- Name - This is the display name for the property in Revela.
- Property Type - This field determines how the property is categorized. Available property types include Apartment Complex, Single Family, Mixed Use, and more.
- Selecting the correct property type is important because it influences the setup workflow. For example, single-unit property types like “Single Family” and “Town House” follow a streamlined path, while multi-unit types like “Apartment Complex” and “Multifamily” include additional steps for buildings and unit configuration.
- Entity - Choose the entity that legally owns this property.
- Address - This should reflect the property’s physical location.
After completing the overview, you will advance to the Land and Parcel Information step. Here you can record the Year Built, Date Acquired, and upload a Survey document, if you so choose. If this information is not available or inapplicable, skip to the next relevant section.
The next steps in the setup process vary based on the property type. For multi-unit properties, you will be guided through configuring Buildings and then Units or Floorplans. For single-unit property types, the workflow moves directly to Floorplan configuration, where a default unit is created automatically. Once the setup is finalized, the property is marked as fully configured and appears on the portfolio’s property list.
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Configuring a Property After Setup
After a property has been created, additional configuration is available through the property edit page. Navigate to the property and click Actions > Edit to access fields beyond what the initial setup covers.
The edit page includes all of the overview fields (name, type, year built, tags) as well as additional options, including:
- Rental License Expiration Date - This field can be set if applicable to track licensing requirements.
- Preleasing - This checkbox can be enabled for properties that are accepting lease applications before the property is ready for occupancy.
- Notes - This field provides space for internal documentation about the property.
- Utilities - This section allows you to configure each utility type (including Electric, Gas, Water, Sewer, Trash, and Recycling) by selecting a utility vendor and specifying whether the Owner or the Tenant is responsible for each utility.
- This information is useful for lease management and expense tracking.
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Best Practices for Property Onboarding
When onboarding new properties, taking a methodical approach to data entry pays dividends in the long run.
- Start by creating the owner contact records for anyone who has a financial stake in the proper ties you will be managing. Having owners in the system first ensures a smooth entity creation process.
- Create entities before properties. Since every property must belong to an entity, establishing the legal entity structure upfront avoids having to reorganize later.
- Pay special attention to the legal name and taxpayer identification, as these details drive tax reporting and owner statements. If a property owner has multiple LLCs or business structures, create a separate entity for each one — this keeps accounting clean and ensures that management fees, disbursements, and owner statements are generated correctly for each legal entity.
- Configure the management contract at the time of entity creation whenever possible. Setting up the fee structure, approval thresholds, and property memberships from the start means that management fees can be generated accurately from the first billing period. If the contract terms are still being negotiated, the management contract can always be updated later by navigating to Actions > Management Contract on the entity’s information page.
- When adding properties, select the correct property type from the beginning. Changing a property type after the fact can affect unit configuration and reporting.
- Finally, ensure that at least one owner is designated as the Primary contact on each entity. The primary contact is used as the default for signature workflows, communications, and is highlighted on the entity detail page for quick reference.
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Accessing Entity and Property Information After Onboarding
After onboarding is complete, entities can be managed from the Portfolios/Properties > Entities page. This page displays all active customer entities. Drilling down into an individual entity offers information about its associated properties, owners, and financial activity. The Actions menu on each entity’s detail page provides quick access to key details such as the Management Contract, Owner Statement, and more.
Similarly, properties are accessible from the portfolio view. Navigate to the relevant portfolio to see all properties within it, along with their addresses, entity assignments, and occupancy information. From the portfolio view, you can add new properties and access individual property detail pages for further configuration.
