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SimplifyEm Property Management Software: BiggerPockets Review
May 28, 2020
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While smaller investors and property managers can benefit from SimplifyEm’s substantial range of tools, the platform is also a solid pick for big-time landlords with properties numbering into the hundreds or more.
SimplifyEm is an online property management tool from founders Pankaj Shukla and Narinder Sandhu, who came from Intuit and were both passionate about real estate investing. The web-based software was developed back in 2006, so it’s well-established in the marketplace. The rental software currently helps property managers manage more than $42 billion in assets in the U.S. and Canada. The platform includes a full-scale suite of features for handling accounting, reporting, and other tasks.
SimplifyEm is an online property management tool from founders Pankaj Shukla and Narinder Sandhu, who came from Intuit and were both passionate about real estate investing. The web-based software was developed back in 2006, so it’s well-established in the marketplace. The rental software currently helps property managers manage more than $42 billion in assets in the U.S. and Canada. The platform includes a full-scale suite of features for handling accounting, reporting, and other tasks.
Quick facts
LEASE MANAGEMENT
With SimplifyEm, landlords and property managers can manage tenant and lease information in one place, monitoring the history, keeping track of late payments, and getting notified when leases are coming up on expiration.
With SimplifyEm, landlords and property managers can manage tenant and lease information in one place, monitoring the history, keeping track of late payments, and getting notified when leases are coming up on expiration.
MULTIPLE PROPERTIES
With the platform, you can keep track of one or multiple properties—into the thousands—by way of a simple, customized worksheet. It streamlines the process of switching around between months and years, and also between properties. Within the platform, you can also store supporting notes and documents, like receipts, to keep track of them in a single location.
AUTOMATED REMINDERS
The platform will send tenants automated rent reminders and late notices. Property managers and landlords can also provide access to the platform for their tenants, so they can update their own bank settings and see their rent reminders.
RENT PAYMENTS
The platform also allows online rent payments by way of ACH or credit card, a process that can be done manually or can be automated. You can set up as many tenants as you need, with the cost for this feature starting at $1 per transaction.
SCREENING SERVICES
SimplifyEm partners with TransUnion to offer tenant screening services for property managers and landlords as well. This service is an a la carte add-on, paid per tenant (by the tenant or manager/landlord as preferred), and provides a super-fast, full-scale report including credit, criminal, eviction, and income insights.
INCOME AND EXPENSE TAX REPORTS
For tax time, SimplifyEm automatically creates reports, and you can generate a Schedule E without additional cost. When you enter income and expenses, SimplifyEm organizes them according to IRS tax categories, automatically tracking your tax deductions.
WRITE-OFFS
And the platform can help you save money on taxes, too, providing users with a list of write-offs they might not have already considered and tips for savings based on the data you enter about your properties.
PROS
- The accounting tool is ultra-simplified, which is ideal for people with modest accounting expertise or limited operational bandwidth.
- SimplifyEm’s tax-focused features can potentially save users substantial money (not to mention time) at tax time.
- Add relevant notes and documents to keep everything organized.
- SimplifyEm offers free training and support through phone and by email. “Very helpful on the phone and quick to answer emails,” noted BiggerPockets forum user Kyria Baker.
- The ability to automate systems cuts down on effort otherwise spent on manual tasks each month.
CONS
- There is a free trial, and users note good value to cost, especially at the lower tiers. But beyond all this, the platform’s costs can be significant for users with many properties to manage.
- A la carte services are varied and practical, but each comes with additional costs.
- The web-based platform does not have a smartphone app, which some users miss.
- BiggerPockets forum user Debbie Rumsey noted one particular drawback of an overall positive experience. “It is a very simplified accounting tool and I really like it for that reason,” she wrote. “I do miss being able to search for a certain expense by vendor like I could in Quicken. Sometimes too simple doesn’t work the best."
Pricing
SimplifyEm comes with several pricing tiers, with ascending costs associated with the number of units you manage. The first tier—for 10 properties or fewer—costs $20 per month. Add $10 per month per 10 units up to $50 (so, $20 per 20 units, and so on).
Beyond that, you can manage up to 75 units for $60, or 80 units for $100 per month. Add increments of 10 units for $7 after that. And manage up to 2,000 units with the top-available tier, $1,410 per month.
All subscriptions to SimplifyEm include:
- Email and phone support
- Income and expense tracking
- Reports-generating capabilities
- Document storage
- Year-end tax management features.
A la carte add-ons include:
- Online lease forms: $10 per form
- Online payments: $1 per transaction
- Tenant screenings: $19.95.
SimplifyEm and real estate investors
Because this tool has many features and provides a la carte options for add-on services as they are needed, it’s right for a diverse user base of landlords, property managers, and real estate investors. It’s also right for users who have just a few or many properties to manage because of its subscription tiers: Pay $20 per month to manage up to 10 properties… or manage up to 2,000 units for $1,410.
The accounting tool is best for users without much accounting aptitude or interest; some accounting-inclined users find it too streamlined for their needs. Overall, users consider the platform a good value, especially at lower tiers, and a good fit for beginners: “This app is the best bang for your buck as the other online softwares I have used do not offer such a unique cross-platform ease of use. If you are especially just starting out or are an avid investor and need a better method of tracking, this is the app/online tool to use,” wrote BiggerPockets forum user Kris Quinones.
SimplifyEm not for you? Read more property management reviews.
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