Who to keep track of
- Owners you manage for. What they care about most, how they like to hear from you, and what you promised on your last call.
- Owners you’re hoping to win. Who you met, what they own, and when they said to check back.
- Vendors and contractors. The plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, cleaners and handymen you rely on, who’s quick to respond, and who you owe a thank-you.
- Referral partners. Real estate agents and investors who send owners your way, and who you send business to.
- Boards and peers. HOA or condo board contacts, and fellow property managers you trade advice and vendor names with.
What to write down
- One personal detail from the conversation
- Anything coming up for them, like another property, a sale or a busy season
- Anything you promised, with a reminder to follow up
Keep leases, rent, applications, screening, work orders and accounting in your property management software, and keep sensitive tenant information in your company’s systems. BlackBook is for the personal notes that help you pick up where you left off.
Phone contacts vs personal CRM
| Phone contacts | BlackBook | |
|---|---|---|
| What you talked about last time | A notes field, if you remember to use it | Notes on each person’s own page |
| History | None | Interaction history on each person’s page |
| Follow-up reminders | Separate app | Reminders per person, with notifications |
| Who to check in with next | Up to you to notice | Pulse suggests who to reach out to next from your notes, history and reminders |
| Account | Your phone’s contacts account | No BlackBook account; data on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud |
A simple routine
Right after an owner call or a vendor visit, take thirty seconds to add a note while it’s fresh, and set a reminder for anything you promised. Before your next owner update, read your last note so you can follow up on what they asked about. Once a week, open Pulse and reach out to one or two people you haven’t talked to in a while, like an agent who referred an owner last year or a vendor who bailed you out on a weekend.
The free plan covers 25 people, which is enough to start with your key owners, go-to vendors and referral partners.
More on this: a personal CRM for real estate investors, a personal CRM for real estate agents, and a personal CRM for small business owners.
BlackBook facts
- Platform: iPhone, iOS 17.6 or later
- Price: free download; optional BlackBook Pro subscription (prices shown in the app)
- Free plan: 25 people, 2 notes per person, 30 days of interaction history
- Pro: optional subscription with VIP reminders and insights, relationship notes with tags, duplicate detection, BlackBook AI
- AI: on-device via Apple Intelligence (Pro, iOS 26, compatible iPhone)
- Privacy: data lives on your iPhone and in your private iCloud, no account, no ad SDKs, data never sold
- Developer: Preston Earnest / Earnestly Studios LLC
Frequently asked questions
Is BlackBook property management software?
No. BlackBook doesn’t handle leases, rent, applications, screening, maintenance requests or accounting. Keep those in your property management software and use BlackBook for the relationship side: notes, history and follow-up reminders.
Who should I keep track of?
The owners you manage for, owners you’re hoping to win, the vendors and contractors you rely on, real estate agents and investors who refer new doors, HOA or condo board contacts, and fellow property managers you trade advice with.
What should I write down after a conversation?
One or two lines: what you talked about, anything coming up for them (another property, a sale, a trip), and anything you said you’d do, like send an update or a vendor’s number. Keep tenant applications, payment details and other sensitive records in your company’s systems and follow its rules.
Is my data private?
BlackBook needs no account. Your people and notes live on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud, not on a BlackBook server. There are no ad SDKs, and your data is never sold.
Is BlackBook free?
BlackBook is free to download with a free plan of 25 people, two notes per person and 30 days of interaction history. BlackBook Pro is an optional subscription: in the US it’s $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, and the annual plan includes a 1-week free trial. Prices are shown in the app.
What iPhones does it run on?
BlackBook requires iOS 17.6 or later. On iOS 26 with a compatible iPhone, BlackBook Pro adds on-device Apple Intelligence features.
Remember the people behind every property. Start with 25 people.
BlackBook is free to download for iPhone (iOS 17.6+). Start with 25 people, no account needed.
Get BlackBook – Personal CRM