What is the best selfproperty management app? Thanks

Question

What is the best self management rental app? I just bought my first rental property.

Kenny Dahill · Answer

@Iliana Oudom, congrats!  How exciting to get your first property.  Let the wealth fun start!

There are several ways to go about apps.  There's professional software and then landlord software, which sounds like your preference.

Some tidbits:

Cost:  There's generally two types: transactional vs. monthly membership.  For one unit, I'd look at the transactional types.

User Limits:  With landlord software, it's generally capped at 1.  And you should never share access to your account because it connects to your bank.  However, if you have a partner or use somebody to help manage (i.e. co-manage) then this would need to be determined before selecting which platform.

Features:  Apps are generally built with the same core 3rd party apps for rent payments, screening reports, etc.  The user experience may be the biggest difference but some offer more accounting power.  Users either love or hate that extra accounting power, some say it complicates the experience and not needed.

Peer Apps:  Your tenants will prefer Venmo or Zelle; vast majority do.  It's easiest for them.  Stick to your guns and require them to use your desired landlord software for payments.  Venmo/Zelle don't know what rent is, just what payments are.  Compared to landlord software which does know what is rent, when it's due, if/when to add late fees, if/when to send automatic email reminders, etc.

As you see, I'm a nerd about this stuff.  Happy to answer any questions!

Joel Wilson · Answer

Before I started my own management company I used Cozy (Now apartments.com) Easy set up and free rent collection with a brief hold period (7 days I believe) You don't need anything too robust with just 1 property. Keep it simple!

Saad D. · Answer

@Iliana Oudom it depends on what you want, how many units you manage and plan to manage, and what condition they are in.

Features: Rent collection? Property listing? Tenant screening? Maintenance mgmt? Bookkeeping? Etc..

There are several options out there including Zillow rental, cozy, rent redi, avail, Baselane.

I find Zillow most useful for rental listing and tenant screening.

I recommend googling all and choosing the one that suits you best.

So far I have found none that do a great job of maintenance issues and tenant comms.

And most do not have good bookkeeping and analytics except Baselane.

Ben Scott · Answer

Congrats on your investment!! You might look at Stessa or Tenant Cloud. I think you can manage one property there for free. Make sure to set up a seperate bank account for your rental property to keep from comingling your personal and business funds.

Markus Shobe · Answer

Check out https://rezedent.com/. One of the best rental collection sites out there. Easy to use and non expensive.

Conner Olsen · Answer

@Iliana Oudom I get by without using an app. I save all my receipts and input them into an excel. When I scale I'll begin looking for ones but for right now it's not worth it. I do use Apartments.com to write the leases.

Andrew Bang · Answer

I've used several.  None are perfect, but the one I like the most is Hemlane.com.  I used to use innago.com and still do for a few tenants.    I keep both accounts open, so if tenant is having issues with one I switch it over to the other.

Jasmine Delves · Answer

There are lots of great property management apps, so it depends on what your priority is. For example, some of them have more comprehensive accounting features and others focus more on tenant management. It's worth having a look around to see which one would suit you best.

What is the best selfproperty management app? Thanks

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