Best Management Software for Self-Managers
New to Real Estate · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2022 · 21 posts · 15 votes
Best Management Software for Self-Managers
Most Popular Reply
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
3yQuote from @Account Closed:
It depends on how many units, your skill level, and other factors.
RentRedi is now a benefit for anyone with a PRO account. I've started testing it out and it's a pretty robust set of features and easy to use for the price. I've also tested TenantCloud and had a similar experience.
Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:
- Most investors don't need software until they have 5-10 rentals. All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and a few other things. You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than it would to find and learn a new software. If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.
- Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports. But do you really need that for your one rental?
- There's no perfect software out there. Every system you try will have flaws or you'll salivate over a feature that shows up in other software.
Some common names you'll see thrown around a lot: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.
I recommend you search for each of those apps online and see what they offer, how much they charge, etc. Make a simple spreadsheet or written list with the features of each and see which ones appeal to you most. Try to narrow it down to your top 3-4. Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function. Do one task at a time in each app so you can compare apples to apples.
- Load a property with pictures and details.
- Market that property.
- See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.
- Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.
- Run a credit/screening report on yourself.
- Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, attach a fake invoice.
- Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.
- Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.
- Sign documents electronically.
- Run owner reports.
After testing a few apps, one of them should stand out for you. Choose that one and use it. No system is perfect, so don't waste your time chasing after the next shiny object. You should only have to change when your current software has a flaw or lacking feature that is causing you to spend too much work on a work-around. Then you can consider researching and finding something that meets your needs better.
The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews
5 Replies
- Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes3y
We use Buildium. Our criteria now includes only products that offer paynearme; for us with 53 rentals the ability to accept cash payments (where nNSF charge backs are possible) is super important. We also required online rent payment full featured accounting software, e-lease, and tenant screening. Maintenance queue management and happy inspector are features that are also very nice to have . We really do like Buildium but it is pretty expensive and once you've committed it's a pita to switch. If I were looking now (or if they have another increase), we'll look at rentechdirect.
- Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes3y
Quote from @Account Closed:
It depends on how many units, your skill level, and other factors.
RentRedi is now a benefit for anyone with a PRO account. I've started testing it out and it's a pretty robust set of features and easy to use for the price. I've also tested TenantCloud and had a similar experience.
Software is a common question on BiggerPockets. Here are some things to consider:
- Most investors don't need software until they have 5-10 rentals. All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and a few other things. You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than it would to find and learn a new software. If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.
- Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports. But do you really need that for your one rental?
- There's no perfect software out there. Every system you try will have flaws or you'll salivate over a feature that shows up in other software.
Some common names you'll see thrown around a lot: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.
I recommend you search for each of those apps online and see what they offer, how much they charge, etc. Make a simple spreadsheet or written list with the features of each and see which ones appeal to you most. Try to narrow it down to your top 3-4. Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function. Do one task at a time in each app so you can compare apples to apples.
- Load a property with pictures and details.
- Market that property.
- See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.
- Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.
- Run a credit/screening report on yourself.
- Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, attach a fake invoice.
- Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.
- Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.
- Sign documents electronically.
- Run owner reports.
After testing a few apps, one of them should stand out for you. Choose that one and use it. No system is perfect, so don't waste your time chasing after the next shiny object. You should only have to change when your current software has a flaw or lacking feature that is causing you to spend too much work on a work-around. Then you can consider researching and finding something that meets your needs better.
The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews - New to Real Estate · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2022 · 21 posts · 15 votes3y
Thank you for the great replies!
- Rental Property Investor · Russellville, AR · Member since 2014 · 684 posts · 509 votes3y
We use Buildium. We only manage a few, but the system is pretty user-friendly. The tech support is pretty great too. It's worth the cost in my opinion.
- Rental Property Investor · Katy, TX · Member since 2022 · 63 posts · 31 votes3y
@Account Closed, have a look at Stessa.com
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