Is Rent Cafe A Good Property Management Software?

Question

I am in the process of taking over my 5 units from my Property Management Company. I have seen that most apartment communities and other residential rental companies use Rent Cafe. I have heard of RentRedi and software issues. I would like to have a one stop shop that provides the tenants with many of the features as RentRedi provides but, I don't have time to manage any issues. Has anyone had experience with other software programs?

Alex Schmitt · Answer

We use Buildium as our management software. it has a tenant portal as well as a landlord portal. Tenants are able to have maintenance requests if needed and pay their rent through the database. In addition to the paying rent, if rent is late it automatically adds late fees. The landlord portal gives access to all tenants activity, such as rent payments and maintenance. They can also see how their property is performing with monthly and yearly net sheets.

Rodney McDaniel · Answer

I like Rentec-Direct a lot. I think I am sold on it. Again, thanks for the recommendation!

Rodney McDaniel · Answer

I had a company managing the properties but, I was always having to get involved anyways especially with Maintenance issues. So why not just DIY.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Rodney McDaniel

"I don't have time to manage any issues"

You may want to rethink DIY management as property management ALWAYS has issues!

Rodney McDaniel · Answer

I will take a look at rentec-direct!! Thanks.

Rodney McDaniel · Answer

I would like to have rent payment collection options which is most important. The front end side is what I would value also, like the ability to send applications, and conduct tenant screenings etc. I have rented some properties recently due to travel and relocation for my W2 job and all have used RentCafe for payment collection, and lease document sharing. Thanks for the tips!

Jasmine Delves · Answer

What are your main priorities when it comes to property management software? Some are great for tenant management and maintenance requests and others are stronger on the rental accounting side of things with features like integrated bank feeds, receipt scanning, income and expense tracking, and accountant-approved reports.

There are lots of options out there so it pays to have a look around and see what might work for you. Some of them also offer free trials which could be a good way to check them out first.

Hope that helps!

Randall Alan · Answer

I have not used rent cafe, but can speak to rentec-direct.  We love it… manage 40 units with it.  It has a tenant facing web portal, collects and deposits my rent in 1 day via ACH for no extra charge, offers debit / credit card payments as well for a service fee to the tenant, and SOOO much more. Full blown reporting, tenant screening, is easy and intuitive to use, etc.  And it’s really affordable… like $2-4/door /month.  It’s the best money I spend every month!  Not an ad… we just really like the functionality and price. Randy