I am a HUGE proponent of Apartments.com and absolutely love that platform.

I will say, we have been successful in finding and buying quality listings via platforms such as loopnet and crexi but it seems that well has dried up a bit. 

@Frank Rodrigues : What platform did you curate the data from, and is it applicable to the area of your choosing?

I am a huge fan of the platform overall, but as a PM I would find some tweaks to the scoring system very useful.Even being able to request past LL references right in the profile, and more questions about the care and handling of the animal on a day to day basis.

Regarding the DIY approach:- Background checks can run you $20-$50 each from platforms like tenantbackgroundsearch.com, American Apt Owners Assoc., e-renter, rentprep and more- Dozens of platforms, listed here, allow you to post your rental listings online for a range of fees depending on subscription length, account type, and features requested- Run comps using 3rd party sites to see what recent rental apartments have rented for (not to be confused with active rental listings), & price your rental unit accordingly- Lastly, hire a professional photographer or cash in a favor from a friend with a good camera!

Can't replace the knowledge Brandon brought to the platform, though, that's for sure.

I am going to be self-managing and was wondering does anyone have a preferred platform that they use to collect rent online and for work order/maintenance tracking?

Check out recent sales and explore more than one platform to pull data, Pinal county is catching up on data integration so some sales doesn’t even show up in 3P platforms. 

Most of the platforms allow only full payments, or have an option to manually disable payments if you start eviction proceedings.

You should definitely be on both platforms.