Having a systematic process where all rent collection processes occur and ends at the same timex allows investors to better automate  their business. 

This is where Marketing Automation platforms come into play.🚀 Why Use Marketing Automation for Real Estate?

@Sam KayWe use Propertyware, have experience with Buildium and have played with Appfolio and RentManager.Buildium is for smaller companies.The other three are tied, the differences being how much automation & customization you want to do.If you don't see yourself growing beyond 150 units, go with Buildium.If you're not very techy and plan to grow over 150 units, we'd recommend Appfolio.If you're techy and plan to grow over 150 units, we'd recommend Propertyware or RentManager.Of course, schedule some demos, take GREAT notes and them make your decision.FYI - there are MANY new options on the market, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Apartments.com, Hemlane, Rentec.

Becky, I am starting with MTR in South Dallas in a nice area where new builds are going, although I do not have all the details, these are my learning points so far:- Marketing focus on specific market, I used Market Place and HotPads to start and received a ton of requests, taking a lot of time, on top of market specific I would do as much automation as possible to reduce your time involved - I have rented 2 out of 3 rooms that I have within 15 days - Other sites to find tenants for me did not work, very difficult to communicate with potential tenants since the email resides within the site- I will start with FF and AirBNB for the 3rd room and see if is works better meHope this helps and please update with your experience in the future, thanks

My partners handles the phone calls and negotiations.If you're looking to automate and save time for other activities, you can go to yellowletters.com or many other sites that handle your mailing for you.

If you are not interested in investing in a fund, I recommend automation systems. 

It has saved me a bunch of time by automating everything and keeping things in one spot.

What types of systems do you use for automation in your REI business?

Need to commit to a automation, channel management and pricing solution TODAY!

But a small sign of hope is that there are several start ups that are starting to gain big momentum as natural fiber welding, bump boxes and an automation company in Mortin Il that hopefully would bring more jobs and security tonthe area.Also Rivian is close by and gearing up for production I would think it should affect positively in Morton area and maybe some of East Peoria/Peoria area but for sure the Bloomington/Normal area.I would say in general its a good place to invest for buy and hold strategy.