What Property Management Software Do You Use and Why?

Question

All,

I have recently started working for a local student housing investor who owns around 200 units spread over 7 or 8 properties. He has no property management software, and uses assistants, excel sheets, his personal cell # for maintenance, and no online payments, but he is very successful. I can see the many ways that software can help his business run more smoothly, and I would like to propose an online software to help him out. I would appreciate some insight into which software you all use and why.

I've done some research on Appfolio and Buildium. The main things I think he needs are online payments, online maintenance requests, and a better system (preferably online) of keeping track of who is paying their rent and security deposits on time. Any insight and advice on your personal experience with property management software is appreciated!

Derek Gendig · Answer

@Eric Fitzgerald we have been through Buildium, Appfolio & Propertyware.  We are currently using Rent Manager and plan to stay with them.  Built on a platform that works in a similar way as Microsoft Office products, you have almost countless ways to customize how/where/when you receive and hold information, documents, communications etc.  They also do a great job of always improving their product.  In my opinion, their support is undeniably the best when compared to the others we've worked with.  Based out of Cincinnati & very easy to reach (and understand!).

With that being said, I would make it a point to contact each company you are interested in working with and request a demo.  Save your self the hassle of the data migrations and process & procedure overhauls that come with switching between software's.

Good Luck!

Ruben Galindo · Answer

Hi Eric,

I only have two rental SFRs and I use Cozy.  You can collect rent online and the tenants can also make maintenance requests and you can track expenses all online.  It's free so it works for me.

Jenna Coddington · Answer

I use Appfolio for our student housing, because it allows unit or by-the-bed financial management, online payments, texting, etc. I've been very happy with it for our multi-faceted business, as I managed residential, multi-family, and commercial properties all at once.

Kyle McCall · Answer

@Eric Fitzgerald We use PropertyZar. Very user friendly. They seem to always be adding new features. Very easy to work with.

Kari Miller · Answer

Thanks for the Rent Manager shoutout @Derek Gendig!  It's been great working with you as well!

Eric, the best piece of advice I can give to someone looking for software is to ask for your sales rep to show you a live demo and ask questions that are relevant to your business model. You want to make sure the software will fit your business process, not the other way around. I do this with every software I evaluate for both personal or professional use and it helps narrow down my options rather quickly.

Good luck!

Ross Denman · Answer

I am part of a property management franchise, so our office does not have a choice in the software system we use, but because there are over 250 of us, we do get special pricing and customizations. We used to use PropertyWare which is somewhat of a dinosaur, but very effective with a lot more options than our current software. We switched to AppFolio about a year ago. AppFolio was much less expensive and has a great user interface as well. They have a ton of modern features (digital leasing, online payments, online inspections, etc.) and they are constantly updating the system and adding new features

I have also worked with Buildium as one of our apartment complexes uses Buildium. I would probably recommend checking in to Buildium since you do not have that many properties and I believe that it will be the least expensive option of those 3. It should have all of the features that you are looking for and more.

James Wise · Answer

Have tried Buildium & RentecDirect. Stuck with RentecDirect as I thought the interface was more user friendly.

Levi T. · Answer

We use Appfolio; digital leases, call center, tenant liability insurance, etc. high key recommend it.

What Property Management Software Do You Use and Why?

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