Landlord software for <10 doors
Hi all,
My first time land lording without a partner, what software does everyone use to make applying/ and managing tenants easier?
Hey @Kobe McDaniel,
Assuming you are asking because you are self-managing these properties solo?
There are many options out there. Full disclosure we use property management, so we may not be the best to answer this question for you.
But...
I know a lot of folks in this forum talk about Rentredi, Innago, Avail, Azibo, Hemlane, and others. I think BP even has a special deal for Rentredi.
Hemlane is interesting. It's a solution that is somewhat between self-management and property management. It is also very cost-effective. We have looked into this for our own properties
Innago is also starting to get a lot of steam.
Every REI Tool is a resource that catalogs all the options out there and can be useful.
I hope this helps at least somewhat. I think with BiggerPockets' deal Rentredi is like $1. Innago, Azibo, and Avail are free. So you have some good options at low/no cost. I guess it also all depends on what you are looking for in the tool (listing, screening, rent collection, maintenance, etc)
Quote from @Kobe McDaniel:
Hi all,
My first time land lording without a partner, what software does everyone use to make applying/ and managing tenants easier?
Hi Kobe,
Here is an article I like to share as it lists options based on the number of properties:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/...
The article hasn't been updated so please keep in mind:
In the Small Investor section, Cozy is now Apartments.com and Azibo is not listed as an option.
In the Medium section, Buildium is not listed as that is a good product once you have 50 or more doors.
We use Azibo to track our income and expenses but we haven't used the other features yet. Good luck!
I've used Stessa for the past 5 years, and really do like it for what it is. It doesn't have a tenant/maintenance portal, which is something I'm interested in for the future. Will be taking a look at Innago or Hemlane as a replacement.
This Arthur is just copying and pasting or rephrasing every reply he has to market Az.ibo
@Kobe McDaniel a lot of them are listed and you will need to just demo them if you plan to self-manage. Right now, I have my clients on Buildium.
Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
Quote from @Kobe McDaniel:
Hi all,
My first time land lording without a partner, what software does everyone use to make applying/ and managing tenants easier?
I work on rental management software and use some for my own properties. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to chat about the pros and cons. No software is perfect.
- Rental management software: Azibo, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com, Hemlane, Turbotenant, Rentredi, Tenant Cloud, eRentpayment, Zillow rental manager
- Rental accounting tool: Azibo, Stessa, REIHub
- Rental banking: Azibo, Stessa
- move-in/move-out inspection: rentcheck
Quote from @Simon W.:
This Arthur is just copying and pasting or rephrasing every reply he has to market Az.ibo
@Kobe McDaniel a lot of them are listed and you will need to just demo them if you plan to self-manage. Right now, I have my clients on Buildium.
Simon,
Yes, I copy the same reply since software is a very common question on the forums. There are a number of people that copy the same response to this question.
Excel spreadsheet and it's free :)
I have over 30 units, and the excel spreadsheet works perfect for me. $0.00 doesn't hurt either !
"There are lots of well-known property management softwares. I'm a single-family investor, and I recently looked through the most popular softwares and selected one. The products I investigated were:
1. Tenant Cloud
2. Apartments.com
3. Innago
4. Avail
5. RentRedi
I was looking for a software that met the following criteria:
1. Online payments from tenants
2. Automatic late fees
3. Maintenance request portal
4. Free for the landlord
5. Online applications
6. Tenant screening (background checks, etc)
7. Lease signing
8. Ability to post vacancies in the software
I found that Innago was the only one to meet all these requirements. It does charge a $2 fee for each rent payment, but that is charged to the tenant by default. I haven't had any complaints from tenants about this charge.
The other softwares were pretty good, but here are the deal breakers for each.
Tenant Cloud: Tenants cannot setup autopay unless we have the paid version
Apartments.com: You cannot upload your own lease, you can only make modifications to their lease
Avail: You cannot upload your own lease, you can only make modifications to their lease
RentRedi: No free version AT THE TIME
***I investigated these softwares 8-12 months ago, so some things could have changed. For example, RentRedi is free now if you are a BP Pro member that could potentially make it a contender with Innago for my use. I did try it out recently, and the only thing holding me back is their lease signing feature. It doesn't prefill any of the lease for you. With Innago, for example, I uploaded my lease and indicated where my name, the tenant's name, checkboxes, etc need to be automatically filled. RentRedi doesn't prefill anything, which is a timesuck and a killer for me :("
Hey Kobe, when looking for software it's always good to find 3 that rank highly for you while also putting down the pros and cons of each. For me when I did this Innago was a clear winner. I really like that it was free for me, had all the features I needed and the customer support rep was always knowledgeable/helpful.
Quote from @Nathan Murith:Thanks!
Hey @Kobe McDaniel,
Assuming you are asking because you are self-managing these properties solo?
There are many options out there. Full disclosure we use property management, so we may not be the best to answer this question for you.
But...
I know a lot of folks in this forum talk about Rentredi, Innago, Avail, Azibo, Hemlane, and others. I think BP even has a special deal for Rentredi.
Hemlane is interesting. It's a solution that is somewhat between self-management and property management. It is also very cost-effective. We have looked into this for our own properties
Innago is also starting to get a lot of steam.
Every REI Tool is a resource that catalogs all the options out there and can be useful.
I hope this helps at least somewhat. I think with BiggerPockets' deal Rentredi is like $1. Innago, Azibo, and Avail are free. So you have some good options at low/no cost. I guess it also all depends on what you are looking for in the tool (listing, screening, rent collection, maintenance, etc)
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
Thanks Nathan!
@Kobe McDaniel I have something that would be perfect for you. If you don't know all the ins and outs of self-managing.
Just curious if you'd made a decision? I've been using excell but have also been thinking of switching to something that allows for simpler tenant payments and a maintenece portal....
At first, I used Excel but now I use Innago. Simple and free.