From Property Manager to self managing 🤷

[Jason Faddle]

Hello all, I have been an investor (1 property) for the last couple years. When I initially started I found a property manager in my area. They've been okay, but I'd like to try Self-Managing.

Can anyone recommend a post here or elsewhere with a listing of good self-managing software or companies that can help facilitate that?

I am looking for names of companies with pros and cons for each or at least information about each. A few things I would like are

1) a lease in their system

2) facilitation of rent payment and reminders

3) a way for tenants to submit their issue and their system notifies me. It would be a plus if they made recommendations

4) keeping some of the tax records/ really anything that would help me do my taxes concerning the rental

5) anything else that would help make self managing more like having a property manager

[Patrick O'Sullivan]

Hey @Jason Faddle, congrats on taking the step toward self-managing. You’ve already gotten some great suggestions, but here’s a quick breakdown of a few options based on your wishlist:

• RentRedi: Good entry-level option. It includes leases, rent collection, maintenance ticketing, and basic accounting tools. Tenant app is a plus. Downsides: limited customization and reporting.

• Avail: Very user-friendly and covers most of what you listed—online leases, payment reminders, maintenance tracking. Their tax-time reports are helpful too. Great for smaller portfolios.

• Hemlane: More full-service. Offers leasing help, repair coordination (with local vendors), and rent collection. Higher cost, but useful if you still want some PM-like support without fully outsourcing again.

• Baselane: Strong on the finance side—rent collection, expense tracking, and solid reporting for tax prep. Doesn’t handle leasing or maintenance coordination as fully as others, but pairs well with another tool.

Most folks end up mixing tools a bit depending on what they value most—rent collection vs. accounting vs. tenant communication.

Since you’re planning to grow your portfolio, it’s smart to build out a system now that can scale with you.

Hope this helps—curious what you end up going with!