Congratulations! I self-manage 19 units, including 4 Mid term rentals, and I use TurboTenant for the online rent collection, listings, pre-screenings, applications, and receiving maintenance requests. They have a no-cost option but their low-cost option is cheap and worth it for the premium features (great customer service and ability to deposit funds into multiple accts ie security deposits by property or operating acct). I like that they build the tenant's credit as they pay rent so you look like an ally and they're further incentivized to make their payments.
They have great features - the ability to export the rent ledger, single and recurring charges and multiple categories, and automatic late fees customizable by percentage or fixed fee.
Best of all - their maintenance portal. Right now, their portal is fairly basic and allows tenants to enter requests and submit pictures and you can send the requests directly to vendors but I've found it's not conducive for tracking. BUT...they're rolling out a much more robust maintenance portal that'll have great tracking abilities AND a very low-cost option to have them manage the work orders. I participated in a product development call and was super impressed with what they're rolling out.
I highly recommend you check them out!
AppFolio is my personal preference. Very user friendly, from my point of view, as both a renter who uses it and as property n manager. Tenants have an online portal where they can pay rent, submit maintenance requests, upload renters insurance documentation. Maintenance requests are easy to track and AppFolio has a set of questions to weed out emergency vs. non emergency work orders. You can also send all work orders to your particular vendors from the Maintenance tab. AppFolio regularly seems to add new features as well to continuously improve usability.
22 units is a decent size portfolio, congratulations! Using software with property management specific tools will save you a ton of time, and your tenants will love features like having a real rent payment app.
Some of the most useful items BiggerPockets members have identified are features that save time so they can spend time working on their next property. These are features like online renter payments, tenant portal (for payments and work orders), help keeping track of work orders, tax reporting features, built in tenant screening, and accounting functionality. One of the most important steps you can take as either a startup landlord or seasoned one is to use a platform specific to property management as it will save you tons of time and give you the same tool as the big PMs.
The good news is that nearly every software designed for landlords includes these features. The differences between most software is subtle and may be how they bill for their service, support their product, or the process to use those features.
Here's some software options that you commonly see recommended on BiggerPockets. The more mature platforms that are designed for landlords include:
There are also a growing number of low-cost platforms available that are able to offer you a lower price by sharing costs with your tenants (payment processing fees, applications, tenant screening, etc). These platforms include RentRedi, Stessa, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com (formerly Cozy), and TenantCloud.
Almost every platform mentioned contains the base features you are going to need. It boils down to which platform's processes, pricing, and support works best for you. The more mature platforms are going to be more complete; however, not everybody needs every feature. The best way for you to figure this out is visit the platforms and explore their free trial (if offered). Run through some of the features you will need like setting up a property, moving in a tenant, receiving rent payments, and publishing online applications.
Pay attention to which platform feels the best to you as you perform these functions. Each platform does it a bit different and you are going to like some more than others. While trying it out, call their customer service and see how they treat you and how knowledgeable they are on their product. Ask their customer service to walk you through the above options if needed.
It shouldn't take more than a couple hours of research to try out the top platforms and identify which feels the best for you. Those couple hours of research will save you hundreds of hours of time down the line, so it's well worth the effort.
Propertyware has worked well for me in the past. It's great for large portfolios. Allows you generate maintenance tickets, monthly reports, portal to communicate with tenants ect.
Congratulations! I self-manage 19 units, including 4 Mid term rentals, and I use TurboTenant for the online rent collection, listings, pre-screenings, applications, and receiving maintenance requests. They have a no-cost option but their low-cost option is cheap and worth it for the premium features (great customer service and ability to deposit funds into multiple accts ie security deposits by property or operating acct). I like that they build the tenant's credit as they pay rent so you look like an ally and they're further incentivized to make their payments.
They have great features - the ability to export the rent ledger, single and recurring charges and multiple categories, and automatic late fees customizable by percentage or fixed fee.
Best of all - their maintenance portal. Right now, their portal is fairly basic and allows tenants to enter requests and submit pictures and you can send the requests directly to vendors but I've found it's not conducive for tracking. BUT...they're rolling out a much more robust maintenance portal that'll have great tracking abilities AND a very low-cost option to have them manage the work orders. I participated in a product development call and was super impressed with what they're rolling out.
I highly recommend you check them out!