RentRedi - App or Bust?

Question

Welp, it's literally my first day as a landlord (signed earlier today) and I've already got an issue that I'm struggling to figure out.

In short, I was hoping to use RentRedi to manage this and hopefully other properties. However, RentRedi seems to only function on the tenant side via their app with no web option. In other words, if you don't own a smartphone, you're out of luck. This seems odd to me when considering some quick stats about smartphone owners. Overall, 19% of the US population does NOT own a smartphone. That's nearly 1 in 5! When looking at salary, that percentage doesn't get better until you surpass salaries of $50k. I don't know about you, but I'm likely going to be renting to people who make less than $50k.

Back to today. Wouldn't you know it, I was all excited to show off my new RentRedi toy only to find out that one of my tenants doesn't own a phone!! I know you saw this coming.

Any workarounds, thoughts, guidance other than just switching platforms? Am I missing something?

RentRedi,
If you're reading (and I know you likely will) why no web option? Landlords are able to do most/all of our work via web login. Why isn't this an option for our tenants who are less likely to own smartphones?

Jonathan Scheeler · Answer

I have been using RentRedi for 4 months now with our 9 unit apartment building. I would NOT recommend it for the following reasons: 1. No adaptability for pre-screening questions - remember that book that random bearded dude wrote on about managing rental properties. Remember that section on pre-screening and application processes/questions. Yea, RentRedi lacks the ability to even get the prior two landlords without having to use an external form. 2. Application process - see above comments 3. Notifications/Communications - If a tenant submits a maintenance request, there is no linked communication route to that request. You can send a push notification, but it does not link to the maintenance request 4. Fees - they charge your tenant quite a bit if they do not use ACH 5. Fees - oh, and did they mention they charge YOU the fees to? Yes, they do, even though they don't say so. Just got my 1099 for last year and those fees (to which we never received) were included (even the $1 ACH fee they collect). Want to appropriately write them off as expense? Good luck getting a W9 from them. 6. Lease - yep, you will need docusign or another software as well. Their "lease" signing is not actual signing, it is just a confirmation email. So, add that expense to your list as well 7. ACH and the WTF that goes with it. Your tenants can set up automatic drafts for their rent payments, but make sure they do not set them up for the due date, as they will not process. Why? Who the frank knows. Ed (owner) finally stated that it is because payments are processed the night/morning AFTER the date in which the tenant picks. HOWEVER, they do not tell anyone that, so your tenants and you will be thinking WTF happened to their automatic payments. So, if you are not concerned about tenant screening, tenant application, lease signing, tenant payments, or being overbilled to the IRS for funds you did not receive, then RentRedi is the software for you! They even have Latchel, to which I have not used, nor will not, as I am more concerned about basic landlord responsibilities over fluffy useless third party crap-ola.

Landon Miller · Answer

I have enjoyed my overall experience with RentRedi, as long as the tenant chooses ACH. I have a duplex and the tenants were able to pick it up pretty quickly. I have no experience with Latchel or Lease Signing.

Ryan Barone · Answer

Hi @Tyler Kivland! 👋 Thank you for posting about RentRedi! I’m always happy to answer any questions you have! Feedback from our landlords is how we build and prioritize every feature and improvement we continue to make, so I appreciate you sharing this. A reason we built the mobile app is actually landlord-requested due to all of the benefits In terms of accessibility, our research and feedback from landlords (and research done by institutions like the PEW research center) indicate that people are more likely to have access to a smartphone than home internet. This is true especially in low to mid-income areas, where smartphone dependency actually increases among low-income tenants, with 26% relying on only a smartphone and no home internet. I hope that helps provide clarity around the accessibility and benefits of using a mobile app for tenants, and thank you again for this feedback and I appreciate it!

Ed Barone · Answer

TimIt was great speaking with you yesterday. I added your comments to the ticket for adding portfolio capabilities. This is already being worked on and I will be sure to reach out and alert you when it goes live.Ed

Tim J. · Answer

I tried using rentredi recently. RentRedi either has no notion of separate portfolios or does not understand that I want to assign cash in/out to specific units or just to a property or to a portfolio. Incredibly brain-dead in my opinion. The workaround suggestion from support was untenable. The basic lack of understanding about how property management works leads me to think there are other issues beyond the trouble I ran into.

Ryan Barone · Answer

@Wesley B Williams I appreciate the feedback and am happy to update you that now RentRedi lets your tenants also use a tenant desktop web portal now at tenant.rentredi.com

Wesley B Williams · Answer

@Ryan Barone Hi I would like to say that my only complaint is the fact that there is no way for tenants to access through a desktop also. I’ve had to find workarounds because of this. Would really love for a tenant desktop web portal to be created. Other than that solid system.

Frank Herbst · Answer

Yes I wish I saw this thread before I signed up. I was not expecting for there to not even be an option for tenant to use a web portal. So if the tenant who has the APP loses his or her phone they essentially have no way to access the account. In addition, I don't think RentRedi posted anywhere that they are charging $1 for ACH. I have used two other platforms and never had an extra fee for ACH

Jason Jiménez · Answer

Re: #6 - I uploaded my .PDF lease on my desktop, and sent it to my tenants. They were prompted to take a photo with their drivers license. The photo was posted to the bottom of the lease was digitally signed using the IP address of end user (tenant). I received a notification that it was signed. I was then prompted to sign it, which I did, and my name and IP address was captured. I never had to download another app like dot loop.The tenant was charged the $1 ACH fee, I was not. I will say that I’m not a fan of having to wait 6 days for the money to clear. Rent was paid on 2/3 and cleared on 2/9. I did use the tenant screen feature as the tenants that are in the property now have been in the unit prior to me taking over as landlord.The customer service support has been great. I’ve had my questions cleared up, and they’re good about following up with you. If you’re not tech savvy, probably not the best app to use.

Jason Jiménez · Answer

Re: #6 - I uploaded my .PDF lease on my desktop, and sent it to my tenants. They were prompted to take a photo with their drivers license. The photo was posted to the bottom of the lease was digitally signed using the IP address of end user (tenant). I received a notification that it was signed. I was then prompted to sign it, which I did, and my name and IP address was captured. I never had to download another app like dot loop.The tenant was charged the $1 ACH fee, I was not. I will say that I’m not a fan of having to wait 6 days for the money to clear. Rent was paid on 2/3 and cleared on 2/9. I did use the tenant screen feature as the tenants that are in the property now have been in the unit prior to me taking over as landlord.The customer service support has been great. I’ve had my questions cleared up, and they’re good about following up with you. I’ve actually suggested a few feature requests that I believe will make the UX of the platform easier to use that have been forwarded to their DevOps team.If you’re not tech savvy, RentRedi is probably not the best app for you to use.