5 Ways a Property Management Software  Can Make You a Better Landlord

Written By Amelia McGee

Grace Gudenkauf here! A property management (PM) software is is arguably the most important subscription that you should use in your business. The right software will automate everything from late fees and rent payment to lease termination reminders and lease signings. It will streamline finding new tenants, communication, and maintenance. It will also serve as a buffer between you and your tenants, and will help you establish boundaries and stick to your policies. In turn, when you are able to run your business efficiently you are able to provide a better service and experience to your tenant, leaving them happy and satisfied.  Using a property management software presents you as a professional business to your tenants. It establishes a precedent that you take your business and property seriously. We genuinely cannot think of a good reason why you should not have a property management software. 

#1 Quicker Maintenance Responses

Having a system that houses all of your maintenance requests in one spot is not only great for you as the landlord, but it benefits the tenant. Deferred maintenance is a common complaint from tenants. You can keep your tenants happy and paying by simply being on top of any maintenance requests. Make sure to train your tenants to understand that all requests need to go in your portal. If they do call you with a request, here is what I recommend saying, “Hi [Tenant], please input this request into the portal so that our  maintenance team can see it and get back to you as soon as possible so we can get everything fixed. If you call or text me your request, the maintenance team doesn’t know about it and I might simply forget about it. Once it’s in the portal you can see the status and communicate directly with our repair people. Thank you!” 

Always make sure to frame your workflow to the tenant as to why it benefits them. If people understand a valid reason behind the purpose of something they are a lot more likely to do it. 

#2 Tenant Communication Blasts

Most softwares have a feature that lets you announce communication to all tenants. We all know that communication is key, and that tenants just want to be aware of what is going on and be communicated with. For example, if you are planning to replace a roof at a multifamily property, a communication blast is great to keep all tenants in the loop on the timing. There may be tenants who work from home and need to coordinate a work spot for the day. If the roofing work and noise comes as a surprise to them, they are likely not going to be happy. 

Severe weather is another key topic that should be communicated with tenants. As landlords, we want to make sure tenants do certain things at home during freezing temperatures to prevent burst pipes. On the other hand, if you provide snow removal for tenants, it is reasonable that they will want to know when that is being done as they likely have work and life to get to. Using the communication blasts to pre-communicate these things to your tenants will make everyone’s lives easier. 

#3 Tenant Communication

Like anything else, having an organized and central system is the best way to make sure something gets done. As the landlord, it is your responsibility to communicate with your tenants about any questions or concerns they may have. If you have one tenant who usually texts you, one who emails, and one who calls, it can be very chaotic and stressful trying to remember how to communicate with your tenants. 

Using a PM software will eliminate this stress as all of your communication will be in one spot. This way, you can easily get back to your tenants in a timely manner to ensure they are happy in their living situation, and take care of any issues that may arise. On the other hand, it is a lot easier to text someone with a complaint or question than it is to go into the tenant portal. This creates a needed barrier between you and your business. Like any business owner, you should not be expected to reply at all hours of the day, every day of the week (of course, in case of emergencies this does not apply). By having a PM software, this gives you some breathing room and also creates some professionalism on your end. 


#4 No More Losing Leases

There isn’t anything scarier in the property management world that losing a lease. If you do not have the contract to rely on, it could quickly become a “he-said-she-said” game. Too many landlords have no organizational system and misplace leases. With the right PM software, your lease is stored online for both the tenant and landlord to easily refer back to. The lease, afterall, is your source of truth and very important. 

E-signing is another great feature that comes with most PM softwares. This saves you time and stress by not having to run around town to meet tenants to sign your agreements. Rather, they can login to the PM software and sign it right then and there. 


#5 Eliminate Late Fees

If you are collecting rent by hand it’s hard to actually enforce late fees. It can feel a bit personal to have to text your tenant that they actually owe another $30 for paying late. Also, there is no auto reminders for your tenant, or anyway for them to set up an automatic payment to ensure they don’t ever have to pay late fees.  So, oftentimes it just feels easier to let it go. When you do this, you are leaving money on the table as a business owner. Your tenant is contractually obligated to pay you late fees and there should be no reason that you are not doing that. 

When you have an adequate property management system in place, you don’t have to make the emotional decision of whether to charge late fees. Rather, the system does it for you. The best part is that the tenant doesn’t have to be mad with you, as it is as simple as whether or not they paid on time.

If a tenant does reach out and complain about the late fees, you also have a great solution for them. Any adequate property management software will have an easy auto-pay solution. You can let your tenant know that they can be guaranteed to never pay late fees again by setting up their autopay. This is also great for you as the landlord because it means you know exactly when you are getting your rent each month. As a tenant, this is a great solution to guarantee no late fees. Remember, a happy tenant is a good tenant! 

What software should you consider?

TenantCloud

Both Amelia and I use TenantCloud for our rental businesses. When I was selecting a PM software, I wanted something that was user friendly, yet powerful. I also didn’t want to pay per property like a lot of PM platforms require. I have been using TenantCloud for 3 years and I highly recommend it. You can use TenantCloud for as little as $13 per month. I pay for the Growth plan, the highest non-customized plan and it is only $50 per month. If I value my time at $100 per hour, then I only need TenantCloud to save me thirty minutes per month to make my return on investment. 


Buildium

Another popular property management software is Buildium. Buildium is a very powerful software and is commonly used by very large management companies. The price ranges from $52-$166 per month. Almost any management feature you could think of, Buildium will have. It has more advanced reports and financial features than a lot of other platforms. Buildium has great accounting integrations but is less user-friendly than some other softwares. 

RentRedi

RentRedi is another user-friendly platform that boasts a tenant-friendly mobile app. Other features include unlimited document storage, the ability to connect with local handyman or maintenance contractors, and does not have a cap on the amount of units you can manage with your plan. Plans start as low as $9 per month and go up to $20 per month. Readers with a BiggerPockets Pro account have free access to RentRedi accounts. 

Other Options

You could spend days comparing different management software. As mentioned above, it's best to start with what you want to get out of a software, add in what you want to pay, and then try out a platform. Most platforms offer free trials and even free software demos. Other popular platforms include:

  • Avail

  • Appfolio

  • TurboTenant

  • Apartments.com

  • Door Loop

  • Hemlane 

  • Hospitable: Sign up for 14 day free trial and get 25% off for 3 months

  • Baselane: Enter to win a $500 Amazon gift card

  • Innago

If you are looking for even more insight on how to self-manage your rental properties, make sure to grab a copy of our new book, The Self-Managing Landlord: More Profit, Time and Peace of Mind with DIY Rental Property Management. Pre-order before April 25th and get 10% off plus tons of freebies!

RESOURCES:

Amelia McGee
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