New (soon-to-be) Landlord: Zillow vs. TurboTenant vs. Something?

Question

Hello all! First post here. About to close on our first rental property and I'm trying to narrow down which property management site we should use. I've read lots about the different ones, and think I've narrowed it down to either Zillow Rental Manager or TurboTenant. Would love to hear what you all are using and if you have pros/cons for these.

I'm leaning towards Zillow, but the delay in getting the payment seems annoying - probably making a bigger deal out of that than it will be.

Also, bonus question, anyone have any recommendations for accounting software? Was going to just make some Google Sheets because Quickbooks seems too expensive and powerful at this stage of the game for me.

Thanks!

Keri Lamb · Answer

Hi! I have used TurbotTenant for our (self-managed) rental properties for over a year now and I love it. I actually use Zillow to screen because they charge less than TurboTenant, but once I approve a tenant I onboard them onto TurboTenant. They also have a delay in posting rent payments to my bank account, but that's just because I use the free version! As a sidenote, I also record all of my expenses in TT and really love the interface. Good luck with the landlording!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

TenantCloud, Avail, apartments.com, and RentRedi are the ones I see mentioned the most.

You won't find perfect software, so sign up for several and give them a test run. Enter a rental. Market it. Create a fake Tenant. See what it's like to enter/track a maintenance request, enter charges on the Tenant ledger, make corrections to a ledger, run owner reports, etc. Narrow in on the one that's easiest for you to use and stick with it.

Alex Pelletier · Answer

I think the best software for your use case depends on how many properties you look to manage and whether the financial tracking or maintenance piece is more important for you. Few platforms do everything well.

Some like Avail, TenantCloud, or TurboTenant are good all-rounders, but some are paid solutions and charge additional for accounting and other value-add features.

Stessa is easy to use for the bookkeeping bit, but is a bit less developed for managing leases, collecting rent, screening applicants, etc.

Azibo is building an all-in-one solution, free of charge, but the maintenance tracking features are still incoming. We offer free accounting, rent collection, tenant screening and applications, managing multiple portfolios of properties, etc. I'd recommend trying several with a trial and seeing what works best for you. Good luck!

Bryce Jamison · Answer

Hi Chris,

If you're concerned about the delay in payment you could have your tenants Venmo you their rent, or you can get ACH direct deposit instructions from your bank so you can have your tenant directly deposit their rent into your account and you can cut out the middle man.

Kate Purse · Answer

@Chris Carson, I have the exact same questions!  How long is the delay in getting the payment?  I heard that Zillow is great for listing and getting applications...thinking of TurboTenant for property management, like the others have mentioned.  Following!

Account Closed · Answer

@Chris Carson Tenant Cloud is the best any day!

Doug Garrison · Answer

I would just use spreadsheets for now for your accounting. With any luck at all, you shouldn't have but just a few transactions per month.  I used quickbooks for years for my rentals but it's not ideal. I mostly used it because I was already familiar with it from my construction business. I recently (2 years or so) switched over to RentecDirect which is better but would be overkill for one unit. Rentec offers ACH payments, a nice tenant portal and good expense tracking. Their reporting is a little weak, so I still export my P&L in to Excel and clean it up before I submit it to my CPA.

I do let my tenants pay with Venmo, Zelle, and Google pay. I like Zelle the best since the payments show up directly, and instantly, in my bank account flagged with their name in the list of transactions.

Matthew Bowling · Answer

I believe Rentredi.com has an accounting package add-on.

Avail.co looks to be a good option as well.

Derick Bonsu · Answer

Only familiar with Zillow so I can't comment on the other but I think it will more than serve your needs. Don't over complicate stuff. QuickBooks is good but unless you pay the higher price for the package that allows "class", you'll have to use tags or something to categorize your properties. You have one, so I'll caution against complicating stuff once again. Honestly for one unit, just download some Google sheets template and be done. If you want to get fancy, try stessa. It's free.

Adam Stanley · Answer

I just started working with Turbo Tenant and so far am highly disappointed. It feels like the system is completely hard coded and thus any changes are next to impossible, making you have to restart a lease process to correct any issues.

New (soon-to-be) Landlord: Zillow vs. TurboTenant vs. Something?

Most Popular Reply