Your realty business is steadily trickling in, but are you handling it? For property managers, the most important thing is easy to access property details in a central location. Using and selecting the best property management software is a long and tedious process. The market for property management solutions is vast and there are many software providers. We provide you with the Top 11 Tips for Choosing the Best Property Rental Management Software + 1 Bonus.
It’s already 2019, but investors, realtors, landlords or real estate managers are now only switching to these automated solutions. When you select the best real estate administration solution, it helps you modernize your business. It helps you automates some common functions. Those features include:
- Property Advertising
- Maintaining Applicant Databases
- Payment Collections
- Property Detail Management
- Tenant Screenings
- Document Management Support
- Maintenance Work Scheduling
- Profit Tracking
- Expense Tracking
Whichever Rental Management Software you choose, you need these features for proper automation and property overview.
01: Platform (Local or Cloud)
Traditionally, all real estate solutions are managed on your computer (PC or Mac) through a single application. Increasingly, these apps have become mobile and are cloud-based. This means your data is available to access on numerous devices through mobile apps.
This is especially handy when you’re out at the property and want to update or do administration work on the go. It is also beneficial if for some reason you are not able to access the computer. If you cannot have access to your data while you are with your client, then there is no use of using the application. You don’t want to be losing out on that elusive deal just because you don’t have the information.
02: Rent Collections
I get it; you’re up-to-the-bring juggling properties or are reaching there. Your valuable time shouldn’t be consumed by rent collections or going after late payments. Even non-commercial solutions allow online rent collection and tracking late payments.
This is one of the basic features that every real estate management solution (commercial or otherwise) should have. The solution you choose should allow basic online rent collection and set a new work order.
03: Expenses Management
You need a full overview of all your incomes, and for that, you have to track your expenses. The best property management programs have rent ledgers that help you in tracking all your expenses. This will let you automate your accounting to a great extent, resulting in a quick and easy report generation that is essential to any business.
The best applications generate reports for money outflows and inflows with just a click. They also help in preparing tax statements and returns. Rental Management accounting doesn’t have to be hard.
04: Maintenance Work Management & Scheduling
Rental management solutions should not only allow you to file maintenance orders but also allow you to schedule and track them. These solutions allow recording data securely, such as property documents and photographs.
Good real estate software helps in tracking tenant communications. It should have a system that records service and repair messages. A really good solution helps in noting and scheduling service and repair messages using calendars and reminders.
05: Property Advertising
You should invest in a property management solution that has automated property publicizing features. This is because it is a very lengthy and tiresome process. The process should be simple as filling in the details, uploading a few photos of the property, and advertising it with the button’s push. The other added feature is syncing it to property listing websites.
The application process for rentals should be automated by your real estate solution. It should automatically create and post or email the rental application to the appropriate person. You don’t want one going to another. It should be simple as online filling, e-signing it and then sending it back to you.
06: Tenant Background Checks
These are hard times and you do not want anything that ruins your profit margins such as an awful tenant. Mostly, these types of tenants don’t want to pay their bills on time. Tenant background checks mostly eat into your precious time and slow you down with more and more paperwork.
The best rental solution automates this process to the most extent possible. You should be able to check reports immediately – this includes tenant credit, previous criminal activity, dispossession notices, and dwelling histories. Most preferably, the solutions will allow you to select whether it is the applicant or you as to the one that is going to pay these fees.
07: Agreements
Professional real estate managers use tight-fit or leak-proof agreements for protecting their properties from the start. The general rule is: if it’s not written into the agreement, it can’t be enforced.
The best solutions are able to create custom ironclad agreements at a button’s click. Another added feature would be letting you create late rent notices immediately.
08: Prices & Fees
This is one of the most important factors that you should be looking at when going in for a Rental Management Solution. It could be monthly fees or a fixed price. It all banks on the user or unit count that you are looking to accommodate. Before choosing a property solution, you need to research for all the fees, hidden or otherwise.
You should always do your research on the solution before choosing the optimal one for you. This will help you to save money when selecting the best rental software.
09: Customer Support
Another important factor when selecting a Rental Management Solution for your property needs. You should check out and see if there is customer support for your solutions and what the charges are. You may not need it, but it’s assuring to know that you have it.
Know the terms of service in-and-out, its availability, and costs. These are property management solutions that charge you $50/hr. You also have solutions that do not charge you and the cost is included in the one-time payment you do when purchasing it. You also have a free solution that may not offer support, but it’s always good to know where they stand.
10: Marketing Help
Does your application, you are considering to purchase, offer support for third-party apps? It really saves time because you don’t have to copy-paste data from one app to another. Advertizing rental listings to third-party apps or websites is the most popular trend right now.
Property detail syndications allow vacancy postings to major websites with a single click. This helps your businesses reach and developing your property with quality residents/tenants.
Furthermore, most property solutions will give you a personal website that helps you in marketing your properties. You can make customized listings using your own logo, marketing content and personalized colors. This helps make your brand and your properties stand out to potential customers/applicants/ tenants.
11: Documentation Support (Bonus)
In addition, preparing and sending reports, you want to easily keep and lookup documents. These may be receipts, rental documents, dispossession notices, and merchant registers. If a property solution lets you upload and keep documents bases on units and tenants it is an added bonus.
It’s greater if it provides templates that can be filled with specific data such as rest, tenant, unit details, late fees, and other basic stuff. The best solution will offer you a great search function. It would still allow you to search documents even if you forgot about the tenant’s name or the unit details.
Conclusion
There are many advantages to choosing the best property management solution. We hope that our Top 10 Tips for Choosing the Best Rental Management Software has helped you make an educated decision on what to look out for when choosing one.
