Getting started with OwnerTabs tools

OwnerTabs is intentionally simple: properties are the center, and everything else exists to keep property context intact. If you use the right bucket, you’ll stop losing time to ‘where did we put that?’

Who this is for

Homeowners: keep manuals, warranties, and maintenance history together.
Landlords: manage units, turnovers, and recurring issues without spreadsheets.
STR hosts: keep guest-facing info and ops notes in one place.
Property managers: run repeatable workflows across a portfolio and team.

How to use it

Start with Properties. Create one per address (add units if needed).
Use the Dashboard to jump into the next action, not to “store” information.
Use Incidents for anything time-based (a problem, a visit, a repair, a complaint).
Use Records for durable knowledge (access notes, how-to, “this building’s quirks”).
Use Files for the actual artifacts (invoice PDF, photo evidence, manuals).
Use Contacts for the people behind the work (vendor/company + notes).

Key workflow

Dashboard (where you start): quick actions + what’s in progress.
Properties (where things live): the “folder” everything attaches to.
Incidents (what happened): event + timeline + status + resolution.
Records (what you want to remember): stable notes that stay true over time.
Files (the proof): documents/photos you want attached to the right context.
Contacts (the humans): vendors, strata/HOA, building staff — with usable notes.

How to think about the buckets

Incident = something happened (date/time matters).
Record = durable info you want to keep (should still make sense months later).
File = the document/photo/invoice/manual itself.
Contact = the person/company behind the work (with notes you’ll actually use).

Practical example

New tenant move-in next week:

Open the property.
Create/update the tenant info pack (handoff tool).
Add access notes as a record (so it persists beyond this tenant).
Upload the signed docs as files.
If something goes wrong, log it as an incident with photos + resolution.

Common mistake

Treating the dashboard like storage. The dashboard is for navigation. Put info under the property (and then choose incident/record/file/contact).

Next guide

Next, learn how to use the Dashboard as a daily command center.

How the OwnerTabs dashboard works