Rental Property Investor · Las Cruces, NM · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 15 votes
I just purchased my first rental property and I'm not to sure what website or app would be best to collect and keep record of rent payments. I want the process to be smooth and easy for all parties.
As a first timer, I would suggest some thing cheap and easy. I along with many others I know have used TenantCloud. As you grow you’ll likely want to switch to something a little more robust but something like that should work for now.
Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the Landlord Club!
There are many free options. I have been using Zillow Rental Manager for over 2 years with no issues. The only down side with Zillow is it takes about 5 - 7 business days for the funds to be deposited into your account once collected from your tenant. There is also another site called Zibo that is a free interest checking account that you can also use to collect rent with (free of charge, I think). I am in the process of researching, but as you may know, switching business checking accounts takes some adjustments that can be time consuming.
I have 4 rental properties. 2 use Zillow and 2 mail in their checks. Either way is fine by me as long as the rent it paid.
Some other resources I use that are free of charge:
Turbo Tenant
Stessa (accounting/expense/income tracking)
Other investors rather have other paid for programs that included notices/group e-mails, etc... I have my own notices (non-legal) that I googled and personalized and I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my check register.
I learned about all these free resources by listening to the BP podcasts. I listen to many others, but I have learned that BP really digs into the how and why investors do what they do.
Good luck! If there is anything else you need reach out!