Landlord Software for multi properties

[Daniel Darnall]

I know this has probably been asked a 100 times but what is everyone useing to keep track of financing and book keeping on their properties?  so far we have 13 but looking to expand over a hundred properties soon.  We do all the book work and most of the repairs and maintenence ourselves.  lots to keep track of so all the help  would be greatly appreaciated.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Daniel Darnall:

I know this has probably been asked a 100 times but what is everyone useing to keep track of financing and book keeping on their properties?  so far we have 13 but looking to expand over a hundred properties soon.  We do all the book work and most of the repairs and maintenence ourselves.  lots to keep track of so all the help  would be greatly appreciated.

As a Pro member, you now have free access to RentRedi (costs $1 to sign up, then free). Go to TOOLS then PROPERTY MANAGEMENT to start your account.

Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:

1. Most investors don't need software until they have 5-10 rentals. All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and a few other things. You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than it would to find and learn a new software. If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.
2. Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports. But do you really need that for your one rental?
3. There's no perfect software out there. Every system you try will have flaws or you'll salivate over a feature that shows up in other software.

Some common names you'll see thrown around a lot: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.

I recommend you search for each of those apps online and see what they offer, how much they charge, etc. Make a simple spreadsheet or written list with the features of each and see which ones appeal to you most. Try to narrow it down to your top 3-4. Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function. Do one task at a time in each app so you can compare apples to apples.

• Load a property with pictures and details.
• Market that property.
• See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.
• Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.
• Run a credit/screening report on yourself.
• Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, attach a fake invoice.
• Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.
• Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.
• Sign documents electronically.
• Run owner reports.

After testing a few apps, one of them should stand out for you. Choose that one and use it. No system is perfect, so don't waste your time chasing after the next shiny object. You should only have to change when your current software has a flaw or lacking feature that is causing you to spend too much work on a work-around. Then you can consider researching and finding something that meets your needs better.

[Drew Sygit]

@Daniel Darnall just use Rent Redi for now.

If you expand over 75, look at Buildium.

If over 100, look at Appfolio or Propertyware.