Rent collection methods

Charlotte, North Carolina
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Rent collection methods

Gray Wilson
Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote

What are some methods being used for rent collection?  I have a home office and do not want tenants delivering rent to my home.  I'm considering Zelle/Venmo/CashApp etc.  What are the pros and cons of each of those?  And for tenants who do not use those what other ideas are out there other than snail mail?

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Angie CastroBusiness Member
Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 133 posts · 129 votes
3y

I use zelle for convenience. I can track the past payments and it doesn't have any additional fees. It goes into my business checking directly.  I've used turbotenant as well and it's a user friendly option to send the lease, store docs, and receive payments but it costs $99 per year.

[email protected]704-318-5494
Angie Castro with Monarch Group4.848 Reviews
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  • Laurence K.
    Investor · Padstow New South Wales, Australia · Member since 2015 · 38 posts · 27 votes
    3y

    I use erentpayment.com

    0Reply
  • Angie CastroBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 133 posts · 129 votes
    3y

    I use zelle for convenience. I can track the past payments and it doesn't have any additional fees. It goes into my business checking directly.  I've used turbotenant as well and it's a user friendly option to send the lease, store docs, and receive payments but it costs $99 per year.

    [email protected]704-318-5494
    Angie Castro with Monarch Group4.848 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Mary Smith
    Rental Property Investor · Member since 2021 · 385 posts · 197 votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson If you are using PayPal or Venmo to collect rent, you need to be sure that you are using a business account to do so. These business accounts come with additional fees, so many landlords try to bypass this by using a personal account. This is a direct violation of their User Agreements, so I just would like you to be aware. 

    I would recommend you find a property management software to manage your rent payments. It not only makes it very convenient for you but it also makes it very easy for your tenants. We've been using Innago to manage our rentals for the past couple of years and it has made our lives significantly easier.

    1Reply
  • Kai Kopsch
    Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
    3y

    Zillow Rental Manager an easy-to-use tool for landlord's to list rental properties, screen tenants, and create leases and payments! For me it's most important to have every property on one App that's for Real Estate! Google how many Paypal accounts got Frosen for no reason. 

    1Reply
  • David M.
    Morris County, NJ · Member since 2020 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson

    All these new electronic means are nice.  However, if you have to evict for non-payment of rent, I'm not sure how that will work since I don't know how you can not accept payment.  They can send $1 and it may, depending on how your state, throw off your proceedings.

    Otherwise, I'd stick with Zelle as its just a bit cleaner, perhaps more professional, and within the banking system.  

    1Reply
  • Scott AllenBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2020 · 449 posts · 471 votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson Zelle is good, set up a separate business account for it for the rent money to go to. Encourage your tenants to set up autopay to avoid getting charged late fees.

    [email protected]614-698-1227
    Reafco - Columbus, OH
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Gray Wilson
    OP
    Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    3y

    Thanks for all the input.  I've been using Stessa for bookkeeping and they do have a rent collection feature that I am looking into.  Zelle seems like a good option as well.

    0Reply
  • Michael SmytheBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson

    The most effective rent collection method is whatever works for the tenant - except picking up rent!

    We offer 4 different payment methods to our tenants:

    1. Online ACH via our PM software (no charge)
    2. Deposit @ our bank ($x charge)
    3. Credit Card ($x+ + cc fees)
    4. Mail ($x++ charge)

    Notice we charge a fee for the less desirable options to encourage the behavior we want:)

    Logical Property Management4.9459 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson  My choices in order are zelle, a deposit only atm card (for cash people),  have them set up an ACH, or apartments.com. 

    I ask the tenant on the application their bank. I then determine if they are a zelle bank. If not I give them my account number and see if they can do an account to account transfer via ACH. Cash people I have done a deposit only ATM card for but it is kind of hard to identify if you have more than one cash person. Apartment.com works fine but I prefer zelle it is quicker so I can look at things on the 4th and determine if all payments are made. 

    0Reply
  • Ron Brady
    Rental Property Investor · Burlington County, NJ · Member since 2019 · 540 posts · 771 votes
    3y

    We use Rentler.

    0Reply
  • Alfath AhmedBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Gray Wilson:

    What are some methods being used for rent collection?  I have a home office and do not want tenants delivering rent to my home.  I'm considering Zelle/Venmo/CashApp etc.  What are the pros and cons of each of those?  And for tenants who do not use those what other ideas are out there other than snail mail?


     I personally use apartments.com. It is free to use. You can create leases, add in expenses, capEX, etc. The only downside is that the payments take 5 days to process.

    [email protected]614-802-5698
    ReafCo | Ahmed Group 534 Reviews
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    0Reply
  • Lorien Wolff
    Property Manager · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 138 posts · 87 votes
    3y

    @Gray Wilson I joined PRO to utilize their perks :) I use PayRent that you can link your bank account to through WePay by JP Morgan. You can add transactions with memos, and download the CSV for record keeping / accounting. It reads much like a general ledger, and is super friendly for both the landlord and the tenant, ask me how I know!! Feel free to DM me!

    0Reply
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