Which Property Management Software to use????

[kiwibean]

Hi all

I have four properties. I am going to start doing the property management on again (due to a useless PM) and are looking around at PM software to help be out a bit.

Can any one recommend any companies software worth using? (does anyone use this) Or should I do it the old fashioned way and just write everything down and keep paper records etc.

Thanks in advance.

[kiwibean]

I am thinking between these two.

http://www.renthq.net/Features/HQvsRentMaster.aspx

Anyone used these?

[DazRaz]

I've used them both. They are similiar however RentHQ is a cloud app. From Rentmaster to RentHQ mainly for the mobile app for property inspections and linking photos to inspection reports. I don't use it now because it would record low quality photos where the damage was hard to see. Also, the mobile app does a limited set of the web application. The web application uses silverlight so a Windows PC is required and can't be used with tablets and the like. I am close to doing everything on a tablet rather than a PC/Laptop so this is a big issue for me.

Palace would be the software of choice however the pricing isn't pitched for people with a small number of rentals. https://tenansee.com/ is a possible alternative.

Also considering just using spreadsheets or setting up my own DB.

[stakeproperty]

Try Pocket Rent, they are great for landlords with a few properties. They have an app for inspections which is very good and you can log all documents and email tenants directly from the program. It also links with Xero if that is of benefit to you. pocketrent.com

[aay]

I just do excel spread sheets. Scan all documents and put them in respective folders for each property. So far it's been going well with 9 rentals. I guess when I have more, i'll look into those software options. Pocketrent looks nice.

[brendan]

What problems do you want the property management software to solve?


My wife & I use a combination of Xero, Todoist, Evernote to manage 4 properties. I like them because they are all cloud based and always available on all our computers and phones.


Bookkeeping: Xero. Tag transactions with tracking categories for Property and Tenancy.
Ensure rent is paid: Todoist reminds me, I then check Xero.
Filing of documents: Scan everything, send it to evernote, tag with property and tenant. Easily searchable (even hand written text is searchable).
Remember to do rent increases, renew fixed term tenancies, property inspections: Todoist reminds me.
Manage renovation projects: Enter it all in Todoist, with multiple levels of subtasks. Currently doing a renovation that has about 80 tasks. Can specify when do do stuff, and who is going to do it.
Property Inspections: I use a form that I have made in Word that is specific to each property. Fill it in by hand, then scan it to evernote and attach photos that I've taken. Add maintenance jobs that I see to Todoist.
Rent Report: In Xero, run Profit/Loss report by Tenancy, then export all rent received transactions for a tenant to a spreadsheet and mangle around a bit to show how much they should have paid vs have paid.
Water: In Xero, Split each water bill to variable and fixed components, tag each variable with property and tenancy, and fixed with just property and assign to different accounts. When tenant pays variable water component, also tag with property and tenancy and assign to same variable water account. Run Profit/Loss report by Tenancy, then export all variable water transactions for a tenant to see where they are with water.


I usually text tenants notifications, and automatically back up the texts to gmail using SMS Backup+ app for android. That way I have a full searchable record of communication.

[Oracle]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience. Our software of choice is REST but wouldn't be compatible for small portfolio's, the cost would be too high. That said a good software package will save a lot of money on the accounting side of things by generating all of your end of month/year statements etc.

Rentmaster was used by a couple of our owners when they were managing their properties by themselves, maybe start there.

Good Luck - Kelly Preen - Oracle Property Management

[elguapo]

Created by John Bolton from Squirrel, it would be worth a look;

https://tenansee.com/

[kiwibean]

^ is this cloud based or download software?

[elguapo]

Cloud based

[Anita]

Wonder what clever property management software/s you would recommend for us.

We manage 20 - 25 rentals in East/ Central / South Auckland. We deal with 3 x different banks -ie rent comes to 3 x different banks

We are needing more quality time for us both and need life as landlord to be a lot more pleasurable.

Any skilled property management software for 20 - 25 properties that monitor rents from 3 different banks and

A) automatically sends a text the day after the rent due if no payment recieved to tenants, and
B) any maintenance works to manage better - no idea how software can help though
C) compile Rent Summary, it blinks/nudges when Rent Increase is desirable with under rented properties reminding with market rents etc or send rent increase letters , and the l/lord only has to modify/authorize the letter
D) monitor water if paid for the properties by tenants to l/lords account ( calculates if it is minus $15 for fixed charges every month, within 10 days recieving water bill for all properties/ from all tenants) & if waters not recieved to send friendly text reminders to tenants.
E) Calculates summaries rent ins/out/maintenance for each property/bills/invoices recieved/paid any other bills outstanding etc daily/weekly /monthly basis
F)cashflow forecast........
G) Recommendations /prompts...

Wonder if there's a way that we could deal with Maintenance matters ie , dealing with tradies/getting quotes assiging works included in the same software?

What property management software you would recommend that all above (A) to (G) in one rather different softwares for each?



And or what's your experience/suggestions and or how do you manage all these items (A) to (G) for over 25 properties/retnals and live the life to the fullest

Look forward to hearing from you.

[stakeproperty]

What problems do you want the property management software to solve?


My wife & I use a combination of Xero, Todoist, Evernote to manage 4 properties. I like them because they are all cloud based and always available on all our computers and phones.


Bookkeeping: Xero. Tag transactions with tracking categories for Property and Tenancy.
Ensure rent is paid: Todoist reminds me, I then check Xero.
Filing of documents: Scan everything, send it to evernote, tag with property and tenant. Easily searchable (even hand written text is searchable).
Remember to do rent increases, renew fixed term tenancies, property inspections: Todoist reminds me.
Manage renovation projects: Enter it all in Todoist, with multiple levels of subtasks. Currently doing a renovation that has about 80 tasks. Can specify when do do stuff, and who is going to do it.
Property Inspections: I use a form that I have made in Word that is specific to each property. Fill it in by hand, then scan it to evernote and attach photos that I've taken. Add maintenance jobs that I see to Todoist.
Rent Report: In Xero, run Profit/Loss report by Tenancy, then export all rent received transactions for a tenant to a spreadsheet and mangle around a bit to show how much they should have paid vs have paid.
Water: In Xero, Split each water bill to variable and fixed components, tag each variable with property and tenancy, and fixed with just property and assign to different accounts. When tenant pays variable water component, also tag with property and tenancy and assign to same variable water account. Run Profit/Loss report by Tenancy, then export all variable water transactions for a tenant to see where they are with water.


I usually text tenants notifications, and automatically back up the texts to gmail using SMS Backup+ app for android. That way I have a full searchable record of communication.

You should try Pocket Rent, is integrates to Xero automatically and is cloud based. You can download a month free trial on their website. Its good if you are managing a small amount of properties for yourself.

[James Hale]

PIMS is a cloud based property management software that could be worth a look.

It's a fairly simple program, using outlook style architecture, but very useful and can make your job a lot easier: pimspropertymanagement.com

[jciba]

If you have just a few properties then mobile app can be good enough for keeping track of rent payments and expenses and basic reports. I use Landlordy app on my iPad.

[pl]

What software does the rental agents use? Are they all subscription based now? I'm looking for something that looks after my rental, but also accounting for other properties I'm also managing. What software will be recommended for 60 odd properties? Wanting something that I pay once for, and not monthly fees. Any suggestions? Cheers