First rental property - should I use Schedulemyrent.com?

Question

I just rented my first property after some hurdles and the first rent is due in April. Someone recommended that I should use schedulemyrent.com for rent collection and for the tenant to report repairs. This is supposedly a low cost landlord software and I would like suggestions/recommendations from anyone who has used this management software. Any other recommendations are welcome, as I have only one property.

Thank you!

Miller McSwain · Answer

I hadn't heard of schedulemyrent.com. I took a quick peak at their website and it looks like they may not be as developed as the other softwares that are often talked about.There are lots of well-known property management softwares. I'm a single-family investor, and I recently looked through the most popular softwares and selected one. The products I investigated were:1. Tenant Cloud2. Apartments.com3. Innago4. Avail5. RentRediI was looking for a software that met the following criteria:1. Online payments from tenants2. Automatic late fees3. Maintenance request portal4. Free for the landlord5. Online applications6. Tenant screening (background checks, etc)7. Lease signing8. Ability to post vacancies in the softwareI found that Innago was the only one to meet all these requirements. It does charge a $2 fee for each rent payment, but that is charged to the tenant by default. I haven't had any complaints from tenants about this charge.The other softwares were pretty good, but here are the deal breakers for each.Tenant Cloud: Tenants cannot setup autopay unless we have the paid versionApartments.com: You cannot upload your own lease, you can only make modifications to their leaseAvail: You cannot upload your own lease, you can only make modifications to their leaseRentRedi: No free version AT THE TIME***I investigated these softwares 8-12 months ago, so some things could have changed. For example, RentRedi is free now if you are a BP Pro member that could potentially make it a contender with Innago for my use. I did try it out recently, and the only thing holding me back is their lease signing feature. It doesn't prefill any of the lease for you. With Innago, for example, I uploaded my lease and indicated where my name, the tenant's name, checkboxes, etc need to be automatically filled. RentRedi doesn't prefill anything, which is a timesuck and a killer for me :(

Alex Pelletier · Answer

Hey Arthur, thanks for mentioning us. Nkechi, I think you'll find that as you look for solutions, there are a lot of different variables and great tools available. Some questions you may be asking yourself:1) How much am I looking to spend? 2) How robust are the tools that I am seeking? Do you want to be able to scale to infinite or have the most simple and streamlined solution?3) Do I need maintenance, listing, accounting, banking, insurance, and more all in one place? What's the best combination of these? There are so many platforms like Turbotenant, Avail, Tenantcloud, Azibo, Innago, Apartments.com, Rentredi, and more which will all be great at some of these above! There are always strengths and weaknesses for every platform, especially lower-cost solutions. The good news is that because most of the above are free or have cheaper prices of entry, you can test these out and get a feel for what's best! If you ever have any questions about Azibo, feel free to DM me! I'm part of the team there and am always looking for feedback so we can be the best solution for investors like yourself.

Account Closed · Answer

Hi Nkechi,I like this article as it highlights the different options based on the number of doors so you don't end up paying for unnecessary features: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/property-management-softwareThere is a big difference between software focused on 1-10 properties and one focused on 200 or more doors. The article hasn't been updated recently as I know Azibo is missing, which we are just starting to use for accounting, so that is another option. Cozy is now Apartments.com as well. Good luck!

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

@Arthur S Thanks for your response!

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

Thank you for the detailed response. I will check these out. Many thanks!

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

Thank you for your detailed response! I will this out.

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

@Tommy Thank you for your response!

Tommy Parker · Answer

Congrats on your first property. I've never heard of schedulemyrent.com. I have used Innago for the past couple years and I found it very effective for my business. Plus they are free for property owners/landlords. I'd highly recommend!

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

Nkechi Jarvis · Answer

Thank you for your response...I'll explore this software as well. Thanks!