To successfully manage your rental property or portfolio, you must be on top of all day-to-day tasks. From managing tenants, to making repairs, to sourcing vendors, to marketing for new tenants, and more, you have a lot on your plate.
With so much to do, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. However, tenants and guests don’t care how much you have to do. They expect you to take care of any problems they have promptly and keep your property in great shape. If you forget any of the seemingly endless routine tasks you must do, you’ll have low tenant or guest satisfaction.
Instead of manually managing your property, you need rental property management software. This software can automate day-to-day tasks, streamline your workflow, create a better tenant experience, and more.
If you’re looking for the right rental property management software, you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled the top 10 rental property management software options to meet your needs. We’ll also discuss what features to look for and how to find the right rental property management software for you. To start, let’s look at what rental property management software is.
What is rental property management software?
Rental property management software helps property/asset managers and landlords operate every aspect of their rental properties.
Beginning with finding tenants, rental property management software can help market your property, screen applicants, schedule self-guided tours, manage leases and other digital documents, and more.
In terms of tenants, rental property management software can provide tenants with a mobile app for access control, managing smart devices, communicating with staff, getting important notifications, and more.
This software can also help you manage maintenance, work orders, and inspections. In addition, rental property management software can make finding, managing, and paying vendors easier.
Many rental property management platforms also help you manage finances. This software can include online rent and bill payment to make collecting revenue easier. Plus, reporting capabilities can help you understand your property’s financial health and find opportunities to cut costs and increase revenue.
The right property management software should help you manage all these aspects of your property.
Who is rental property management software for?
Rental property management software is best for landlords and property/asset managers. For landlords, rental property management software can make it easier to manage a growing portfolio yourself. Property and asset managers can use rental property management software to manage rental properties for multiple landlords or investors.
In addition, rental property management software works for all sized portfolios. Whether you own or manage 5 properties or 500 properties, rental property management software can make your life easier.
However, it’s important to consider your portfolio size when choosing rental property management software. Some solutions only work for large or small portfolios. Depending on your portfolio, you may be unable to use certain rental property management software options.
Why should you use rental property management software?
Now that you know what rental property management software is, you might be wondering why you need it. Here are some of the top benefits of a rental property management platform:
Save time
Rental property management software can save you and your team a lot of time, which is a major benefit. Without rental property management software, you or your team has to manually communicate with tenants, handle leases or bookings, generate leads, schedule maintenance, manage vendors, and more.
This manual property management can suck up hours of your time every week. Moreover, the time you spend on manual property management is time you can’t spend on creating a great tenant/guest experience, finding opportunities to increase revenue, and other high-value activities.
With rental property management software, you can automate day-to-day operations – like managing work orders, paying vendors, vacancy management, tenant communication, housekeeping scheduling, and more. This software handles menial tasks for you – saving you and your team hundreds of hours a year.
Cut costs
Rental property management software can also help you cut costs. Manually managing your rental property doesn’t just take up time. It also drives up your costs because you need more staff and more shifts to make sure someone is always available for tenants or guests. Plus, manually managing your property hurts efficiency – which also increases costs.
With rental property management software, you can automate many day-to-day tasks to reduce the staff you need. You can also automate things like access control to eliminate overnight shifts. Some rental property management software also has reporting, which makes it easy to spot other cost-saving opportunities.
Increase revenue
Along with cutting costs, rental property management software can help you increase revenue. When manually managing your property, it’s easy to let tenant charges fall through the cracks. Whether it’s late fees, amenity usage fees, or any other charges, it can be hard to keep track of and bill these charges.
Rental property management software makes it easy to bill tenants and collect rent and other payments. Online rental payments are easier for tenants, helping you collect more rent. This software also helps you track and send reminders for any late payments. Additionally, the software can help you charge more for rent (such as by providing smart device management).
Create a better tenant/guest experience
Another benefit to rental property management software is that it can create a better tenant and guest experience. Tenants and guests expect a modern, digital, and streamlined experience. Manually managing rental properties makes it hard to provide the great experience tenants and guests want.
Rental property management software can help you create the tenant and guest experience they expect. With tools like a mobile app, digital access control, responsive communication, and more, you can create a modern guest and tenant experience. These tools can help you serve guests and tenants better – leading to higher satisfaction, retention, and reviews.
What features should you look for in rental property management software?
To maximize the benefits of rental property management software, you need to choose the right one. Here are some must-have features to look for in rental property management software:
Comprehensive
Rental property management software should help you manage all aspects of your property. So, you should look for a comprehensive solution, with features like:
- Marketing and outreach
- Application screening
- Self-guided tours
- Manage guest booking
- Store digital tenant/guest documents
- Collect rent online
- Tenant app
- Vendor management and billing
- Manage work orders, maintenance requests, housekeeping, inspections, and more
- Control smart devices
- Enterprise reporting
Without a comprehensive solution, you’ll need many point solutions to do everything. This will lead to a large and complicated tech stack that reduces efficiency and has low adoption.
Instead of choosing point solutions to meet your operational needs, you should choose an all-in-one rental property management platform. The right solution should do everything in one platform, eliminating the need for so many solutions. That way, you can maximize the benefits and ROI of your rental property management software.
Modular
While a comprehensive solution is important, your property may not need every aspect of a rental property management platform. Without modularity, you’ll have to pay for all parts of the platform – even the ones you don’t need.
So, you should look for a modular platform that’s customizable, so you can pick what you do and don’t want to use. Modularity can help you cut costs by only paying for what you need.
Furthermore, modularity can help your rental property management software grow with you. As your needs change, you can add or remove modules – instead of needing a whole new platform. This can save you money and minimize interruptions to tenant/guest service.
Integration
Another must-have rental property management software feature is integration.
While your rental property management software should be comprehensive, it won’t be the only tool you’ll use. Smart devices, accounting software, and other tools need to talk to your property management software to function.
Without good integration, your tools will be unable to communicate. A lack of integration can make some tools useless (like smart devices that have an unsupported protocol) or make life harder for your team (such as having to manually enter and transfer data).
To avoid these issues, you should look for a rental property management platform with good device and software integration. That way, you can keep using legacy hardware or tech that works for you – while getting the benefits of rental property management software.
Easy-to-use
Your rental property management software should also be easy to use. Real estate is one of the least digitized industries. So, many team members, vendors, and other service providers are reluctant to use new software. Hard-to-use software can result in your team not using it. Moreover, difficult software can create a negative tenant experience.
So, you need rental property management software that’s easy for your team, tenants/guests, vendors, and anyone else to use. A simple and easy-to-use interface can help you get the most out of your rental property management software.
Good customer support
You’re bound to run into problems even with the best technology. Without responsive support, minor problems can cause major interruptions for tenants, guests, and your team.
To avoid creating a negative tenant and guest experience, you should look for rental property management software with responsive human support. This support should prioritize your problems and help you resolve them quickly. That way, you’re prepared for any technical issues at your rental property.
What is the best rental property management software?
You now know some top features to look for in rental property management software, so it’s time to choose the right one for you. Here are the 10 best property management software options:
1. BeHome247 – Best Overall
Top Features:
- End-to-end rental property management platform
- Middleware for legacy tech
- Responsive human support
- Tenant communications app
- Flexible and scalable platform
BeHome247 is a comprehensive property management platform for multifamily, single family, vacation rental, and hospitality properties. Unlike other solutions, you can manage short-term and long-term rentals with BeHome247.
You can also use BeHome247 to manage rental properties of all sizes, making it a great choice no matter your portfolio size. Plus, BeHome247’s platform works for both property owners and operators – whereas other solutions only work one or the other.
With BeHome247, you can manage every aspect of operations, guest management, and communication from one single application. From its cloud-based platform, BeHome247 helps you automate all of your day-to-day operations – like inspections, maintenance, vendor invoicing, rental applications, online rent payment, housekeeping, guest/tenant app, message center, digital rental/guest agreements, and more.
Along with end-to-end capabilities, BeHome247 is also a middleware solution. So, you can continue using legacy tech – instead of replacing systems you already have. BeHome247’s platform can help you get the most out of your existing technology and add additional features (like EV charging). Because BeHome247 is a device agnostic platform, you can also continue to use your smart devices, regardless of their protocol (like Z-Wave or Zigbee).
Additionally, BeHome247 has enterprise reporting to help you find opportunities to save time and money while increasing revenue streams.
BeHome247’s all-in-one rental property management platform works for short-term and long-term rental properties and portfolios of all sizes, which makes it the best choice for most.
2. Appfolio – Good for a Mixed Portfolio
Top Features:
- Marketing and leasing
- Tenant communication
- Maintenance and operation management
Appfolio is a rental property management software for owners and operators of residential and commercial properties, as well as HOA/community associations. However, Appfolio doesn’t provide solutions for short-term rentals. For the properties Appfolio supports, it provides tools like tenant communication, accounting/reporting, maintenance management, marketing/leasing tools, and staff training.
With pricing, Appfolio charges between $0.80-$1.50 per unit per month. But, Appfolio has a minimum charge of $250 per month, which is a minimum of 150+ units. Because of this minimum, Appfolio isn’t the best choice for smaller owners or operators.
3. Propertyware – Adequate for some for Single Family Properties
Top features:
- Flexible tenant payment options
- Online tenant portal
- Maintenance management
Propertyware is a rental property management solution for single family properties. It focuses on helping owners and property managers scale quickly to hundreds or thousands of properties. If you’re a smaller owner or operator, Propertyware won’t work for you. Plus, if you have a mixed portfolio, Propertyware also won’t meet your needs. For single family properties, Propertyware can help with tools like online leasing, maintenance management, payments, tenant communication, accounting, and vendor management.
Propertyware has three pricing plans ranging from $1-$2 per month per unit, with a minimum fee between $250-$450 per month. This minimum monthly fee can make Propertyware expensive for smaller owners and operators.
4. Guesty – Good for Vacation/Short-Term Rentals
Top Features:
- Booking website
- Guest communication
- Payment processing
Guesty is a rental property management platform for short-term/vacation rental properties. With its focus on short-term rentals, Guesty does not provide solutions for multifamily or single family properties. If you have a mixed portfolio, Guesty isn’t the solution for you. As an end-to-end platform, Guesty provides solutions like automated guest communication, accounting, task management, and payment processing. Additionally, Guesty has solutions for small owners and larger property managers. In terms of pricing, Guesty provides customized pricing based on each portfolio, instead of standard pricing plans.
5. Avail – Consider for DIY Landlords
Top Features:
- Rental listings
- Tenant application and screening
- Online rent payment
Avail is a rental property management platform geared towards the DIY landlord. As such, Avail is not the right choice if you’re a property management company. With its focus on DIY landlords, Avail provides solutions throughout the tenant lifecycle – like rental listings, tenant applications, credit and background checks, digital leases, online rent collection, maintenance tracking, and more. In terms of pricing, Avail offers a free plan and a premium plan for $5 per month per unit.
6. TenantCloud – Good for Small DIY Landlords
Top Features:
- Online tenant payments
- Lead generation
- Digital rental agreements and eSignature
TenantCloud is a rental property management solution for multifamily and single family properties. With TenantCloud’s platform, owners and operators can manage listings, tenant screening, maintenance, rent payments, and leads. It provides solutions for both landlords and property managers, but its features are better suited to DIY landlords.
With a free plan for owners with fewer than 75 units, TenantCloud works best for small DIY landlords. This free plan doesn’t have the robust features property managers generally need. TenantCloud has three other pricing plans – Starter beginning at $12/month, Growth beginning at $40/month, and Business with custom pricing.
7. Buildium – Consider for Property Management Companies
Top Features:
- Property accounting
- Maintenance tracking
- Tenant applications/screening
Buildium is a rental property management solution for property managers of residential and student housing properties and community associations. As a solution for property managers, Buildium doesn’t work for property owners. For property managers, Buildium helps with things like payment collection, accounting, maintenance management, vendor management, communication, rental listings, and tenant screening.
Buildium has three payment tiers (Essential, Growth, and Premium), with pricing per unit. However, Buildium is more expensive than other solutions, so it may not work for smaller portfolios.
8. Rentec Direct – Maybe for Small Portfolios
Top features:
- Accounting system
- Tenant payments
- Professional website
Rentec Direct is a rental property management platform for multifamily and single family properties. So, if you have vacation rental or hospitality properties, Rentec Direct won’t work for you. In terms of features, Rentec Direct offers tools like online tenant payments, professional websites, tenant communication, and a mobile app. Features like tenant screening aren’t included in the basic plan but can be added for an additional charge.
With plans for owners and operators with 1-5,000 units, Rentec Direct has options for different portfolio sizes. However, it is a better choice for smaller portfolios as the price increases by the number of units. Pricing begins at $35 for landlords and $40 for property managers with 10 or fewer units.
9. Yardi Breeze – Good for Midsized Portfolios
Top Features:
- Cloud-based
- Simple to use
- Online payments
Yardi Breeze is a cloud-based rental property management solution for residential and commercial properties, as well as community associations. This platform has features for both landlords and property managers, with an emphasis on simplicity. Yardi Breeze’s platform includes tools like marketing and leasing assistance, rent collection, maintenance management, centralized tenant communication, and accounting.
Pricing starts at $1 per unit per month, with a minimum of $100 per month for residential properties. This minimum fee makes Yardi Breeze better suited to midsized portfolios.
10. TurboTenant – A Free Option
Top Features:
- Property advertising
- Tenant applications and screening
- Rent payments
TurboTenant is rental property management software for landlords of multifamily or single family properties. While TurboTenant is free for landlords, it won’t work for landlords with a mixed portfolio. It also isn’t designed for property managers. TurboTenant’s platform can help landlords manage things like advertising, screening, leases, rent payments, and tenant communication.
To be free for landlords, TurboTenant passes the cost onto renters. Tenants are charged $45 for application and screening, 3.49% for debit and credit card payments, and renters insurance starting at $8 per month.
How to choose the right rental property management software
After reviewing the top options for rental property management software, you can ask the following questions to find the right one for you:
What is my property type?
Some solutions only work for short-term or long-term rentals. So, it’s important to consider your property type to make sure the software works for your portfolio.
How many units do I have?
While some solutions work for all portfolio sizes, others don’t. When choosing rental property management software, you should make sure it will support how many units you have.
Who will use the software?
Landlords and property managers have different needs. So, you should make sure the property management software supports your use case.
What’s my budget?
It’s also important to consider your budget. You’ll get more features if you choose a paid solution. But, you should keep your budget in mind to avoid higher than expected expenses.
What are my must-have features?
Your specific property and portfolio have unique needs. So, you should consider what features you need. If a software doesn’t have your must-have functionality, it won’t work for you.
Will it connect with my devices and tech?
You likely already have smart devices and other tech solutions. If you want to keep using your devices and tech, you need to make sure the software will connect with them.
How easy is it to use?
If your tech isn’t easy to use, you and your team won’t use it – wasting money. Before choosing a rental property management solution, you should make sure it’s simple to use.
Does it have good support?
You should also consider each solution’s support. Responsive support will make your life easier and keep your guests/tenants happier.
Conclusion
Rental property management software can help you cut costs, increase revenue, save time, improve your tenant/guest experience, and more. However, you have to choose the right rental property management platform to see these benefits.
Each of the 10 rental property management software solutions can meet some of your needs and help you see some benefits. However, if you want the best-in-class option for all portfolio types and sizes, BeHome247 is the way to go.
BeHome247 helps short-term and long-term rental properties manage every aspect of operations, communication, and tenant management. Plus, BeHome247’s comprehensive, cloud-based, and easy-to-use platform works for owners and operators managing small and large portfolios.
Book your BeHome247 demo today to see how BeHome247 can help you manage your property more efficiently.
