Whether you’re an owner or manager of apartments, running your property requires you to stay on top of marketing, leasing, tenant communication, maintenance, work orders, inspections, rent collection, vendor management, and more.
With so many apartment management tasks, it can be hard to stay on top of everything. It can also be hard to find time to improve the tenant experience, increase efficiency, cut costs, and boost revenue.
If you’re looking for a better way to stay on top of everything and find opportunities to improve your property, you need property management software for apartments. This software can automate tedious tasks, streamline your workflow, find ways to increase revenue while slashing costs, and more.
Wondering if apartment property management software is for you? You’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about property management software for apartments. Plus, we’ll go over the top 8 apartment property management software options. To start, let’s take a look at what apartment property management software is.
Table of Contents:
- What is property management software for apartments?
- How does apartment property management software work?
- What are the benefits of property management software for apartments?
- What features should you look for in apartment property management software?
- What is the best property management software for apartments?
- BeHome247
- AppFolio
- Buildium
- Entrata
- LeaseHawk
- MRI Living
- Resman
- Yardi Voyager
What is property management software for apartments?
Apartment property management software helps property owners and managers streamline their workflow and handle all property tasks. As such, this software can help you manage guest communication, leasing, rent collection, maintenance, smart devices (like smart locks), invoicing, and more.
Many apartment property management solutions automate administrative tasks like tenant messaging, maintenance scheduling, team reminders, rent collection, and more. Automation can help you and your team save time and focus on higher-value activities.
Along with features to make your life easier, apartment property management software also provides tenant-focused features like a smartphone app, easy work order submission, access control, and more.
The right apartment property management software should help you manage every aspect of your property. However, many apartment property management solutions only focus on a few areas (like marketing or leasing). If you want to manage other aspects of your property with tech, you’ll need additional technology – which is expensive.
So, you should look for an end-to-end property management solution. That way, you can manage your entire property from one, easy-to-use platform.
How does apartment property management software work?
To use apartment property management software, you first need to know what tech you want to continue to use. If you have smart devices, accounting software, or any other existing tech, you need to make sure your apartment property management software can connect to that technology.
After choosing and connecting your apartment property management software, you can then see all property tasks from a dashboard. This dashboard gives you an overview of your property, while also providing links to look at granular details (like open work order requests).
From the dashboard, you can start managing and automating day-to-day operations like maintenance, rent collection, leasing, smart device management, and more. If your software comes with a smartphone app, you can manage most property operations right from your phone. Tenants can also interact with your property through a tenant app.
Once your property management software for apartments has been connected to your property, you can also start generating reports. This software can analyze property data and display it in an easy-to-understand report. That way, you can spot opportunities to boost revenue, cut costs, and improve efficiency.
What are the benefits of property management software for apartments?
The right apartment property management software offers benefits for you, your team, and tenants. Here are the top benefits of property management software for apartments:
Increase revenue
One benefit of apartment property management software is that it can help increase revenue. If you manually manage your property, you or your team has to bill tenants, collect payments, follow up with tenants who haven’t paid, and charge late fees. Keeping track of so many tasks can make it hard to collect rent and fees on time – which can reduce revenue.
Apartment property management software can automate invoicing and payment collection. This ensures you don’t miss out on any revenue. Plus, this software can help you manage smart devices. Most tenants are willing to pay more for smart devices – helping you increase your revenue.
Reduce staff work
Another benefit of property management software for apartments is that it can reduce your team’s work. To successfully manage your property manually, your team has to stay on top of tenant communication, leasing, maintenance, marketing, billing, vendors, and more. The administrative work required by these tasks can suck up your team’s time.
Property management software for apartments can automate many of these tasks (like billing, work order management, and communication). This reduces your team’s workload and allows them to focus on other high-value tasks – like boosting occupancy or revenue.
Retain tenants
Along with reducing work, apartment property management software can also help you retain tenants. If you manually manage your apartments, it can be hard to respond quickly to tenants. It’s also challenging to create the digital experience tenants expect without the right tech. These issues can lead to a low tenant retention rate – and lost revenue.
With property management software for apartments, you can automate tenant communication to resolve any problems quickly. Plus, with a smartphone app, smart device management, smart access control, and other digital features, this software can help you create a high-tech tenant experience. A better tenant experience can help you increase tenant retention.
Slash expenses
You can also reduce costs with apartment property management software. Manually managing your property requires a lot of staff to handle administrative tasks, letting people into your building, and more. The more staff you have the higher your expenses are.
The right apartment property management software can automate administrative tasks (like scheduling and billing) and manage access control (through smart devices). So, you don’t need as large of a team or 24-hour shifts – saving you money. Plus, apartment property management software can help you find ways to further cut expenses with reporting/analytics.
What features should you look for in apartment property management software?
To maximize the benefits of your apartment property management software, you need to choose the right solution. Here are the top features to look for to make sure you choose the right one:
Easy to use
One of the most important features to look for is ease of use. Manually managing your property can be challenging. Apartment property management software should make everything easier. However, some property management software for apartments is hard to use. This stops you and your team from using it – wasting money.
So, you should look for apartment property management software that’s easy to use. This software should have a simple user interface, be cloud-based, have everything in one place, and work on smartphones. That way, your apartment property management system will be simple to use – leading to higher adoption and ROI.
End-to-end
Another important feature to look for in apartment property management software is that it’s an end-to-end solution. Property management software can help you improve every aspect of your property. However, that’s only the case if you choose a comprehensive solution.
With a non-comprehensive solution, you’ll only be able to manage some aspects of your property, which limits the benefits you could see. If you want to manage any other areas of your property, you have to adopt additional tech – which can be expensive and hard to use.
To avoid these issues, you should look for an end-to-end property management solution for apartments. It should have a variety of features like:
- Digital leasing
- Tenant screening
- Online rent collection
- Marketing
- Maintenance/work orders/inspections
- Tenant communication
- Mobile app
- Accounting/reporting
- Smart device management
Choosing an all-in-one apartment property management solution with a wide range of features ensures you’ll get the most out of your software.
Integration
Along with comprehensiveness, you should also look for wide software and device integration. Your apartment property management solution needs to talk to other software and smart devices on your property.
Without wide integration, you’ll be limited in what third-party software and devices you can use with your property management solution. So, you might have to stop using smart devices that work great for your property to use apartment management software with limited integration.
Instead of having to ditch software and devices that work for your property, you should choose apartment management software with wide integration. That way, you have the freedom to choose software and devices for your property – while still seeing the benefits of apartment property management software.
Responsive human support
Lastly, you should look for apartment management software with great support. You’ll eventually run into problems with all technology at your apartment property. Without good support, you’ll have to fix any problems with your apartment management software yourself. This can be time-consuming and create problems for residents.
To avoid the frustration of having to solve technical problems yourself, you should look for apartment management software with responsive human support. That way, there’s always someone there to help you quickly fix technical issues – saving time and minimizing tenant interruption.
What is the best property management software for apartments?
Now that you know what to look for in apartment property management software, it’s time to choose the right solution for your property. Here are the top 8 property management platforms for apartments:
1. BeHome247
Top Features:
- End-to-end platform
- Device agnostic
- Middleware solution
- Tenant communication app
- Responsive human support
BeHome247 is a complete property and device management platform for apartment/multifamily, single family, vacation rental, and hospitality properties. Because of its ease of use, end-to-end capabilities, wide integration, and top-notch support, BeHome247 is the best property management software for apartments.
As an all-in-one property and device management platform, BeHome247 helps you manage every aspect of operations, communications, and tenant experience. From a single, cloud-based platform, BeHome247 automates all of your day-to-day operations – like tenant communication, rent collection, tenant screening, inspections, maintenance, vendor invoicing, and more.
Along with being comprehensive, BeHome247 is also a middleware solution. This means that BeHome247 can work with existing software (like legacy PMS) and add new features (like device control or EV charging). BeHome247 also has wide integration with smart devices regardless of connectivity (like WiFi) or protocol (like Zigbee).
Final word: BeHome247 is the best property management software for apartments because it’s easy to use, comprehensive, has good integration, and responsive human support.
2. AppFolio
Top Features:
- Online payments
- Owner portal
- Utility management
AppFolio is a property management solution for residential and commercial properties, along with community associations. Because AppFolio is geared towards property managers of large portfolios, it isn’t the best choice for property owners or those with a small portfolio. In its property management solution, AppFolio offers features like reporting, maintenance management, marketing/leasing, accounting, and tenant communication. However, AppFolio doesn’t offer smart device management. So, you’ll need additional software to manage any smart devices. AppFolio also has limited software integration.
Final word: If you’re looking for apartment management software for property managers of large portfolios without wide integration, AppFolio could work for you.
3. Buildium
Top Features:
- Resident center
- Tenant screening
- Maintenance request tracking
Buildium provides property management software to property managers of residential, student housing, and affordable housing properties, along with community associations. Focused only on property managers, Buildium won’t work for property owners. In terms of features, Buildium offers capabilities like online payments, accounting, maintenance request tracking, tenant screening, and professional websites. Although Buildium does have limited software integration, it doesn’t have smart device management capabilities or integration.
Final word: If you’re looking for apartment management software exclusively for property managers without device management, Buildium could be a good option.
4. Entrata
Top Features:
- Inspection manager
- Prospect portal
- Payment processing
Entrata offers property management software for residential and commercial properties. It offers solutions for management, marketing, and leasing. While Entrata does offer general property management features, it focuses more heavily on marketing and leasing. As such, its property management offering is less robust. In terms of features, Entrata has capabilities like accounting, vendor payments, work order management, CRM, lead generation, and leasing. Entrata has a variety of software integration but no native smart device management.
Final word: If you’re looking for a marketing and leasing-focused apartment management platform with less robust property management features, Entrata could work for you.
5. LeaseHawk
Top Features:
- Call tracking
- Lead analysis
- Chatbot
LeaseHawk provides management solutions for multifamily properties. If you have a mixed portfolio, LeaseHawk won’t work for you. Unlike other options, LeaseHawk focuses exclusively on automating the marketing and leasing process with features like call tracking, CRM, reporting, AI chatbot, prospect prioritization, and lead analysis. For general property management features (like maintenance, work orders, and rent collection), LeaseHawk relies on integrations with other property management software solutions.
Final word: If you’re looking for apartment management software that focuses exclusively on leasing/marketing, LeaseHawk could be a good option.
6. MRI Living
Top Features:
- Flexible tenant payment options
- Performance dashboards
- Risk management
MRI Living is a property management platform for property managers of multifamily properties. As a multifamily-specific solution, MRI Living won’t work for a mixed portfolio. In its property management solution, MRI Living focuses on attracting tenants, simplifying the resident experience, running smoothly, and business intelligence. It provides features like digital leasing, prospect follow-up, maintenance tracking, accounting, and reporting. While MRI Living offers a variety of software integrations, it doesn’t have smart device management capabilities or integration.
Final word: If you’re looking for property management software exclusively for multifamily without smart device management, MRI Living could work for you.
7. Resman
Top Features:
- Online leasing
- Budgeting
- Reporting
Resman is a property management platform for multifamily, commercial, and affordable housing properties. While it offers solutions for both property owners and managers, Resman is geared more towards property managers. In its property management solution, Resman offers features like accounting, reporting, marketing, CRM, maintenance, and payments. However, Resman doesn’t offer smart device management. So, you’ll need additional software to manage any smart devices. Resman does offer some software integration.
Final word: If you’re looking for apartment property management software without device integration or management capabilities, Resman could work for you.
8. Yardi Voyager
Top Features:
- Central database
- Accounting
- Work order management
Yardi Voyager offers property management software for commercial and residential properties, including apartments. Designed for large portfolios, Yardi Voyager won’t work for you if you own or manage only a few properties. In terms of features, Yardi Voyager offers capabilities like real-time analytics, mobile access, accounting, work order management, central data storage, and leasing. While Yardi Voyager allows you to add features from other Yardi products, it doesn’t natively have features like marketing, energy management, and smart device management.
Final word: If you’re looking for apartment property management software for large portfolios without certain features (like marketing or device management), Yardi Voyager could be a good choice.
Conclusion
Apartment property management software increase revenue, reduce your team’s workload, boost tenant retention, and cut expenses. However, you’ll only see these benefits if you choose the right property management software for apartments. You should look for software with features like ease of use, end-to-end functionality, wide integration, and responsive support.
All 8 apartment property management software options can meet some of your needs. But, if you’re looking for the best apartment management software, BeHome247 is the way to go. BeHome247’s cloud-based platform is easy to use and has everything you need to manage your property and devices.
Along with being all-in-one, BeHome247 also has wide device and software integration. So, if you already use a property management solution (like those in this post), you can add features (like device management) to it with BeHome247. Plus, BeHome247 has responsive human support to help you tackle any technical challenges with ease.
Whether you’re looking for a complete apartment property and device management platform or want to add features to your existing solution, BeHome247 has what you need. Book your BeHome247 demo today to see how BeHome247 can help you manage your apartment property better.
