What to use to collect rent

Question

As the title reads, what’s the best platforms the BP community recommends for collecting rent, screening tenants, and anything else needed.

Michael Smythe · Answer

@Daniel King most DIY landlords use whatever works for them and their tenants.

Just NEVER collect cash in person! Too much risk and sets bad boundaries for tenants.

Many use Venmo, Zelle or just have tenants deposit at their bank (local branch).

There are also several free DIY PM softwares that have rent payment built in, but they charge the tenants a fee to do so (that's how the companies make money).

Daniel King · Answer

Thanks for the reply Hoa. It’s my first rental so I just need something to get the gears going, but I’d also like to get a feel for property management. I’ll give zillow rental manager a try. Thanks again

Hoa Nguyen · Answer

A property manager is a great resource for all the above and more. Sure everyone likes to save money by doing so yourself, but eventually, you would want to scale your business to the point where you can hire a PM to do that work for you. Now if you absolutely want to do it yourself, (may get hate for it) I have actually found Zillow rental manager to be a pretty decent way to solo manage your properties and collect rent.

Jake Baker · Answer

@Daniel King

Most rental software will collect rent. I have a couple properties that I don't use a property management company for. I use QuickBooks Online. I send the tenants a bank authorization form and set up a recurring receipt in QBO that charges them on the first of the month. Less friction if I collect their bank info at the beginning and set up automatic charges.

Paul Melchior · Answer

@Daniel King I self-manage my current portfolio of seven units and use RentRedi software for collecting rent, listing units, and property management. Zillow rental manager for screening tenants and applications.

Stacy McGee · Answer

Check out Innago. It’s been great so far.

Michael Smythe · Answer

@Daniel King as long as you give tenants payment options, they can "pick their poison".

Most free software for owners, make their money by charging tenants.

We've designed our charges to encourage online payments and discourage mailed payments.

FYI: not sure you can legally NOT accept cash, but you CAN require them to only deposit into your bank account instead of giving it to you.

John Schaeffer · Answer

@Jake Handler has a property management company that can walk you through the process.

What to use to collect rent

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