Property Management Software for Small STR and LTR Portfolio

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Property Management Software for Small STR and LTR Portfolio

Brendan DriscollPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Fairfax, VT · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 3 votes

We’re evaluating property management software for a small portfolio: 2 short-term rentals (STRs) and 8 long-term rental (LTR) doors. STR is the priority — we need a true channel manager that combines calendars across booking platforms (Airbnb/Vrbo, ideally Booking.com too) to prevent double bookings, plus solid guest messaging/automation. We currently use PriceLabs for STR dynamic pricing and spreadsheets for LTR tracking.

If one system can manage both STR + LTR (leases, rent collection, maintenance tracking, reporting), that's ideal — but we're open to an STR-first PMS and keeping LTRs in a dedicated LTR tool if the "all-in-one" compromises the STR workflow.

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Jake BakerBusiness Member
Flipper/Rehabber · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 695 votes
9mo

@Brendan Driscoll

I agree with @James Jones that separating STR and LTR systems is best. I prefer Guesty or Hospitable for STR and RentRedi or Baselane for LTRs. QBO for accounting. I know three software programs can seem like overkill, but the last thing you need is a bookkeeping nightmare come tax time. I like using Tallybreeze to connect STR listings to QBO for a clean sync.

[email protected]
BookkeepingRE - Bookkeeping for Real Estate & Service-Based Businesses58 Reviews
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  • Lucas De Carvalho
    Rental Property Investor · NYC · Member since 2024 · 52 posts · 17 votes
    9mo

    I've heard great things about Guesty for STR channel manager. I'd use them if I wasn't already using Hospitable, which is also great. I know both companies are consistently making updates and adding to their product.

    1Reply
  • Brendan DriscollPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Fairfax, VT · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 3 votes
    9mo

    Thanks Lucas

    I see a lot of people using Hospitable as well. With Hospitable would it be easy to include some long term rentals so I can have everything in one place?

    2Reply
  • Lucas De Carvalho
    Rental Property Investor · NYC · Member since 2024 · 52 posts · 17 votes
    9mo
    If you’re looking to track expenses, that’s not something you can do on that software. What is it you’d be wanting to do on the software with the LTR?
    0Reply
  • James JonesPro Member
    Investor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 685 posts · 500 votes
    9mo

    You're already thinking about this the right way by prioritizing STR workflow first. Most of the frustration people have with "all-in-one" PMS platforms comes from forcing STRs into tools that were built for LTRs.

    A few clear observations from running mixed portfolios:

    STR and LTR are fundamentally different businesses

    STRs are hospitality operations. Calendar sync, channel management, messaging automation, cleaning coordination, and pricing integrations matter more than anything else.

    LTRs are accounting and compliance businesses. Leases, rent collection, maintenance tracking, and reporting matter most.

    Any platform that claims to do both perfectly usually does one well and the other “well enough.”

    STR-first systems

    If STR is the priority, use a true channel manager that natively handles Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com without hacks. At your size, reliability matters more than feature sprawl. Keep PriceLabs as a dedicated pricing layer rather than replacing it. Pricing engines are better when they stay focused.

    In practice, most operators your size run:

    STR PMS for calendars, guests, automation

    Separate pricing tool

    Separate accounting or light LTR tool

    That separation actually reduces complexity once volume increases.

    LTR side

    For eight LTR doors, you don’t need anything fancy yet. What you need is:

    Clean rent collection

    Maintenance logging with timestamps

    Basic reporting

    Spreadsheets work until they don’t. Once maintenance history or owner reporting becomes annoying, that’s your signal to migrate.

    The mistake to avoid

    Don't compromise STR operations to "simplify" LTR tracking. Missed messages, double bookings, or calendar sync issues cost real money fast. LTR inefficiency mostly costs time, not revenue.

    My rule of thumb

    Optimize the revenue engine first. Standardize the rest second.

    At your scale, I’d rather see:

    A best-in-class STR stack

    A simple, boring LTR system

    than one tool that does both at 70 percent.

    If you’re open to it, the right answer often isn’t which software, but where do you want complexity to live. Right now, it should live on the backend, not in guest-facing operations.

    1Reply
  • Jake BakerBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 695 votes
    9mo

    @Brendan Driscoll

    I agree with @James Jones that separating STR and LTR systems is best. I prefer Guesty or Hospitable for STR and RentRedi or Baselane for LTRs. QBO for accounting. I know three software programs can seem like overkill, but the last thing you need is a bookkeeping nightmare come tax time. I like using Tallybreeze to connect STR listings to QBO for a clean sync.

    [email protected]
    BookkeepingRE - Bookkeeping for Real Estate & Service-Based Businesses58 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Brendan DriscollPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Fairfax, VT · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 3 votes
    9mo

    I appreciate you taking the time to break this down @James Jones and agree with your analysis.

    @Jake Baker I had not heard about Tallybreeze and will check it out.

    0Reply
  • Jake BakerBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 695 votes
    9mo

    @Brendan Driscoll Hospitable has a good two-way sync with QBO on their Mogul plan. Not sure if you need all of those features though. If not, go with Tallybreeze. 

    [email protected]
    BookkeepingRE - Bookkeeping for Real Estate & Service-Based Businesses58 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Jared Cornell
    Property Manager · Binghamton, NY · Member since 2017 · 5 posts · 1 vote
    9mo

    Hi Brendan,

    I highly recommend taking a look at Rent Manager; they do both STR, and LTR. What I like most is that they are a fully functional accounting and payable system. It is also highly customizable across various fields.

    0Reply
  • Patricia Joseph
    Realtor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 97 posts · 31 votes
    5mo

    Hi Brendan,

    An STR-specific PMS like Hospitable would fit your needs in managing guest communications and calendar syncing across booking platforms. Might be kinda hard finding a single software to manage both LTR and STR effectively. My team uses Hospitable to manage our portfolio and it's nice having one centralized inbox for all guest communications and managing all booking calendars. There are a lot more features in Hospitable that help to easily manage STRs. Happy to answer any questions.

    0Reply
    • Dale Sutton
      Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 6 votes
      5mo
      Quote from @Patricia Joseph:

      Hi Brendan,

      An STR-specific PMS like Hospitable would fit your needs in managing guest communications and calendar syncing across booking platforms. Might be kinda hard finding a single software to manage both LTR and STR effectively. My team uses Hospitable to manage our portfolio and it's nice having one centralized inbox for all guest communications and managing all booking calendars. There are a lot more features in Hospitable that help to easily manage STRs. Happy to answer any questions.


      Are you happy with Hospitable so far and gad you tried any other PMSs in the past for coomparison? Sounds like it fits your needs.
      0Reply
  • Dale Sutton
    Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 6 votes
    5mo
    Interested to know if you made a decision on this one and who you went with? Any interesting learnings from the experience wold be great to hear.
    0Reply
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