Best GoTo Software for Rentals

Best GoTo Software for Rentals

Provo, UT · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 5 votes

I have one rental property that I'm managing myself. 

Wondering what the best software is that could help me advertise the property by sending the rental listing to multiple websites, provide a rental application for prospective tenants to fill out as well as run background checks, etc. Is there a software out there that anyone would recommend?

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Rental Property Investor · Cherry Hill, NJ · Member since 2015 · 626 posts · 495 votes
4y

I currently manage 4 SFH rentals in addition to having a very demanding full time job. There are many free resources out there for smaller investors. I am going to list them:

  • TurboTenant
    • It is completely free to advertise your rental, screen your tenants.
    • You upload your pictures, write a description and it posts to 20+ websites for free
    • Takes about 24-48 hours for leads to come in.
    • Once you select a tenant, they pay for the background check, upload documents (paystubs, ID, W2) and it is all set to you.
    • It even helps you build a lease after you select a tenant (there is a $30+ fee for the lease)
    • My referral code (https://turbotenant.com/r/T3du... disclosure. I do not get any money from TurboTenant, nor am I an owner or investor in the company.
    • They have a referral program where they will send me a $25 home depot gift card for a referral - you don't have to use the referral code
  • Stessa
    • Stessa is a website that I use to track all my expenses.
    • It is another free site and you can pull reports
    • You even can upload receipts.
    • Roofstock recently purchased Stessa
    • Completely free
  • Zillow Rental Manager
    • I use this to collect rent.
    • Free for the landlord
    • Tenant only pays a fee if they use a credit card to pay rent. ACH is free
    • Takes about 5-7 days for the funds to hit your bank account
  • Excel
    • I use an excel spreadsheet to track my check register. You can download a free template online

Other free websites I haven't used.

  • Avail.co
    • This is another free website that I learned about this week listening to a podcast (may have been a BP podcast). I haven't used it and cannot speak to it.
  • Zibo.com
    • This is another free website where you can collect rent electronically and have an interest checking account.
    • I am still looking at this, because not all my tenants pay electronically. 2 like to mail checks. I haven't looked at how to deposit those - I don't like mobile deposits.

There are many free resources to use before you start paying for services. Out of my 4 rentals, I have placed 2 tenants with TurboTenant - one tenant is on year 3 and the other tenant is on year 2. I listed the properties, took some pictures (they weren't the greatest pictures) and had it rented in a week. I was able to recycle the leases upon renewal and didn't pay any commissions for the rental, which is a savings of over $4,000 if you consider the rental commission to be 1 month rent. I highly recommend it.

Here are some threads you may want to take a read of:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

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  • Rental Property Investor · Cherry Hill, NJ · Member since 2015 · 626 posts · 495 votes
    4y

    I currently manage 4 SFH rentals in addition to having a very demanding full time job. There are many free resources out there for smaller investors. I am going to list them:

    • TurboTenant
      • It is completely free to advertise your rental, screen your tenants.
      • You upload your pictures, write a description and it posts to 20+ websites for free
      • Takes about 24-48 hours for leads to come in.
      • Once you select a tenant, they pay for the background check, upload documents (paystubs, ID, W2) and it is all set to you.
      • It even helps you build a lease after you select a tenant (there is a $30+ fee for the lease)
      • My referral code (https://turbotenant.com/r/T3du... disclosure. I do not get any money from TurboTenant, nor am I an owner or investor in the company.
      • They have a referral program where they will send me a $25 home depot gift card for a referral - you don't have to use the referral code
    • Stessa
      • Stessa is a website that I use to track all my expenses.
      • It is another free site and you can pull reports
      • You even can upload receipts.
      • Roofstock recently purchased Stessa
      • Completely free
    • Zillow Rental Manager
      • I use this to collect rent.
      • Free for the landlord
      • Tenant only pays a fee if they use a credit card to pay rent. ACH is free
      • Takes about 5-7 days for the funds to hit your bank account
    • Excel
      • I use an excel spreadsheet to track my check register. You can download a free template online

    Other free websites I haven't used.

    • Avail.co
      • This is another free website that I learned about this week listening to a podcast (may have been a BP podcast). I haven't used it and cannot speak to it.
    • Zibo.com
      • This is another free website where you can collect rent electronically and have an interest checking account.
      • I am still looking at this, because not all my tenants pay electronically. 2 like to mail checks. I haven't looked at how to deposit those - I don't like mobile deposits.

    There are many free resources to use before you start paying for services. Out of my 4 rentals, I have placed 2 tenants with TurboTenant - one tenant is on year 3 and the other tenant is on year 2. I listed the properties, took some pictures (they weren't the greatest pictures) and had it rented in a week. I was able to recycle the leases upon renewal and didn't pay any commissions for the rental, which is a savings of over $4,000 if you consider the rental commission to be 1 month rent. I highly recommend it.

    Here are some threads you may want to take a read of:

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

  • Real Estate Agent · Orem, UT · Member since 2021 · 98 posts · 80 votes
    4y

    TenantCloud is pretty good too. It does a lot of what you mentioned and is free for the base version. 

  • Insurance Agent · Sioux City · Member since 2020 · 83 posts · 41 votes
    4y

    I loved cozy and used that for years, All my properties got migrated to apartments.com when they bought them out. Did not love it at first, have a few properties moved over to Zillow, we'll move them all back to apartments.com when this lease is up though. Apartments.com is free and has all the features that I've become accustomed to. I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on why other programs are better than apartments.com.  

  • Linda HallPro Member
    Realtor · Columbia, SC · Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    I  use Avail for advertising . . . don't use other features yet.   It's basically free to advertise on many sites (Realtor.com, Apartments.com, Hotpads, etc); a few sites/platforms like Zillow, do add minimal fees.  Then, for my top tenant prospects, I use SmartMove to vet for background checks, etc.

  • Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 53 votes
    4y

    @Matt Sumsion this forum is rich with info already. I would say figure out what you need, and do some desktop research on all the options. Get demos of the solutions or try the free ones out to see what you like best. It really depends on your units and your tenants too. What's best for them?

    My recommendation is to look for companies that are investing in features and making it better all the time.

    I've tried avail, rent redi, cozy, Zillow and Baselane. Each has their tradeoffa and none are perfect imo yet. I'm probt getting off rent redi - too buggy. And liley keeping Zillow rental and Baselane.

  • Realtor · Provo, UT · Member since 2020 · 374 posts · 270 votes
    4y

    RENTLER is by far the best software I have used. It is free to you (the landlord) and more importantly the tenants. I have a few units here in Utah and use rentler for all of them.

    Since rentler is a local company A LOT of renters use rentler when looking for units.

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