RentRedi user feedbacj

[Kirsten Wright]

Hi! I purchased my first out of state rental property (Knoxville, TN) and am managing it myself.  I want to have tenants fill out an on line application, they pay for background check, etc. I watched a video on BP going over the RentRedi software.  Asking everyone for feedback on the program vs other programs out there.  

[Nathan Miller]

Congratulations on your first purchase!  That's exciting.

I think a lot depends on how many properties you plan to manage.  There are so many options and most of them have very similar features, just implemented differently so I would recommend trying a few of the popular options and see which feels the best to you.  There's also dozens of threads on BP on this topic with lots of info too.

There's a lot of free/discounted options like Stessa, Avail, Rentredi, etc.  Most offer free trials and Rentredi even has a deal for BiggerPockets.  All software companies have to earn revenue somewhere so they typically charge your tenant's for services so you pay less in software costs.

If you want to step up into a professional solution, which you pay a monthly fee for instead of your tenants, look into Appfolio, Buildium, Rentec Direct, or Rent Manager.  Most of these, other than Rentec, have fairly high startup costs, but they are all worth looking at if you are planning to add more units in the future.

Try out the free trials of everything that looks interesting to you and see which feels best.  And be sure to call their support and see how good that is because quality of support varies widely.