The property management software can be your new best friend when you start out your (real estate) investment journey. The software can be useful for property manager or landlord, helping them manage the property correctly and soundly.
We live in the era where technology has been designed to help us, so why not making use of it? After all, many of these programs have automation system that can streamline the operations, so you can get all the needed help without fuss or drama.
More about Property Management Software
As you can guess from the name, the property management software is a tool, an app based type, that helps landlords or property managers to automate financial, back office, and administrative processes. The tools generally have features like document storage, online payment processing, maintenance tracking, online tenant portals, and electronic leases.
Should You Use One?
The property management software can make your life easier as a landlord or property owner. It reduces the workload and it streamlines the workflow. Even if you are responsible for one property only, such a tool can provide a huge help. If you are responsible for multiple properties, you will consider the tool a time (and also a life) saver for your business.
Some tools are free, while some are the paid types. Feel free to choose which one suitable for your needs. You can even decide NOT to use the tool. That’s fine. Just keep in mind that such a program is designed to help users. If you don’t want to get help, not having the software shouldn’t be an issue.
The Benefits of the Software
Having the software does provide its own benefits:
- It can streamline the accounting process. Not only you can stay updated with the accounts, but you can manage and organize everything easily. Many of these tools can generate financial reports, record expenses, log payments, and digitize receipts. These are only some of the basic features.
- It can automate communication. Bulk text messages or automated rent reminders are only some examples of this feature.
- It catalyzes growth. If you want your real estate investment or business to grow, then having the tool is definitely a must. You will be helped with daily administrative tasks.
What Can the Software Do?
There are property management tools out there, offering different features and abilities. However, most of them share similar core functions, such as:
- (Rent) payment processing. The software can help making the rent collection easier. Aside from online resident portal in which the tenants can electronically submit their payments, the software can include text reminders and automated email to prevent delayed (or late) payments.
- Tenant screening. Many of the tools can work together with tenant screening You can have it as a part of the (electronic) rental applications and then view the reports from the platform directly. It definitely helps you avoid shady or troublesome tenants.
- Property marketing. Many of these tools would automatically ‘distribute’ your (rental) listings to different property listing sites. When potential tenants submit their applications, they would be uploaded to the property management database automatically. This will help save a lot of times.
- Maintenance tracking. It can be difficult when having multiple properties, which means managing contractors and tracking requests for maintenance can give you a serious headache. If you go with the tool, you can track the maintenance request by allowing the tenants to submit descriptions, videos, and pictures of the problems. Then, you can create tickets (for the maintenance) for contractors.
Different Software Types
The property management programs are coming in various types, especially for residential and commercial properties. The software would also be different in nature and features
- Residential Property Management Program
This software would be implemented to manage residential properties, such as housing or student housing. There are different software, depending on how many properties you have to deal with. For less than five properties, there are many often, such as Cozy or Avail.
If you have to deal with more than 5 properties, but less than 150 properties, there are more powerful programs, including RentRedi or Buildium. Not only these programs have great scalability, but they also offer automate parts.
If you have to deal with more than 150 properties, there are even more powerful software, such as AppFolio. You want to find software with AI features and even maintenance contact center that runs 24/7.
- Commercial Property Management Program
If you have industrial properties, office spaces, or retail stores, then you need management software that is designed especially for commercial use.
Whether you are the property owners or the manager, you want to find features that you may not get from residential software, such as ratio utility billing support, corporate accounting, and common area maintenance.
Conclusion
Some software may even offer hybrid solution, meaning that you can use it to manage both residential and commercial properties. You may want to find the ‘hybrid’ software type if you have both types of properties. In short, property management software can seriously help but only if you can get the best out of it.
