Yardi vs. Buildium

[Jason Mak]

Was hoping I could get advice from experienced folks out there.

Currently managing 3 buildings, 350 units total. So quite a lot of activity in terms of rental collection and expenses payment on a monthly basis. I have a full time bookkeeper who uses quickbooks. Our quickbooks systems is fine, it enables me to get all the information I want including monthly reports, etc etc. My bookkeeper has been with me for a long time and has no problem continuing to use quickbooks. We own all our own properties so there is no need to generate fancy reports for clients; just need simple and honest reports.

Was hoping to see if any property managers who have been using Yardi or Buildium could recommend that I switch over to either of those softwares, particularly Yardi.

My reservation for Buildium is that it is a web-based system that I'm not too hot on. A desktop application (such as quickbooks) is needed for quick data entry and flexibility in case we make any mistakes.

My reservation with Yardi is if the costs are worth it and will the software be much more than we need. What sorts of additional value can I get from Yardi if I'm currently running my business just fine on quickbooks?

Finally has anyone used both of these softwares together?

many thanks

[Steve L.]

I use Buildium for most my properties and AppFolio for a small percentage. AppFolio has more account built in accounting and features.

I don't think Yardi is worth it all. We've researched it a couple times.

[Steven Hamilton II]

I love my clients that use buildium. I cannot speak for Yardi. Buildium has an array of options.

[Franklin Spees]

Have used Buildium for small conventional property management business. Yardi Voyager is much more robust and geared toward larger management companies...and it also has a $15k-$20k startup fee is I recall. You should also check out the new online Yardi Beacon which is about $1 per door per month. It's especially good for managing affordable housing projects, but does lack the online portals, owner/tenant log in & online payments that Buildium has.

[Jason Mak]

for you buildium and appfolio users, is your monthly rent collection process slow due to online data entry? Is the web interface slow or tedious at all for data entry of checks? I have to collect close to 350 checks a month.

[Flint Gardner]

Buildium is amazing for HOAs & Single Family homes. However, for Multi-family complexes it starts to break down for 1 simple reason. The inability to record expenses to a specific unit rather than the property/complex at large. This is huge! I need the analytical data on what's happening at a unit level and the property/complex. Not just the complex alone. BUILDIUM please fix this!! I'm looking to switch for this very reason but it's not in their product update pipeline. 

[Marc Winter]

@Flint Gardner, we have been using Buildium for the last 10+ years and there ABSOLUTELY is the ability to enter any number of units in a multi-unit building.   We manage buildings from 1 to 40+ units and have a by-the-apartment entry for whatever a tenant pays, maintenance is performed, etc.

@Jason Mak, If the internet connection is up to speed, the entry is quick.  Also, for what reason are you collecting 350 checks every month?  There are online payment programs that really help with collections.  Check with Buildium on that count.

Disclaimer:  I am not in any way affiliated with Buildium--I just like the product/service they provide.