Best 6 PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR 2023 – REVIEWED AND RANKED

What Is The Benefits of Property Management Software?

Property management software can range from simple point solutions to a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. Consequently, the capabilities of a property management solution can be amplified when integrated with rental payment software, lease administration software or lease accounting software, or community association management software.

Real estate activities management software or brokerage management software can be useful to real estate agents or an agency for back-office operations management while facility management software helps users manage the operations and physical assets of industrial-specific properties.

Products in the property management category must tailor their functionality to one or more of the following sectors: commercial, industrial, retail, or mixed-use, residential, or multifamily. Commercial property management facilitates the management of any income-producing properties and commercial spaces. Industrial, retail, or mixed-use property management supports a specific subset of commercial property management—industrial (manufacturing, warehouses, etc.), retail, or mixed use. Residential property management facilitates the management of any property used for residential purposes, including single-family homes, multifamily properties, or both. Multifamily property management supports a specific subset of residential property management—residential buildings that have more than one housing unit and tenant.

To qualify for inclusion in the Property Management category, a product must:

• Track and monitor the financials of a real estate property
• Be used by property owners, property managers, or landlords
• Automate the daily operations of a real estate property
• Provide a portal or method of communication between tenant and property manager

Property Management Software Buyer’s Guide

Running a successful property management operation is no small feat. Any number of business challenges keeps property managers awake at night. How to fill vacancies? What can be done to ensure timely, full rent collection? Will property repairs, acquisitions, or improvements justify the return? To complicate things just a bit further, owners and investors want to know the answers too! After all, they know they have options. Savvy property management companies are increasingly utilizing robust software solutions to gain a competitive edge.

This guide offers information on the following topics:

What Is Property Management Software?

• Key Features
• Primary Benefits
• What Does Your Business Need?
• Does QuickBooks Work?
• Pain Points
• Technology Trends

What Is Property Management Software?

Property management software helps manage income and expenses involved in managing both residential and commercial properties, such as collecting rent and handling proper maintenance. Common features of property management software include trust accounting, maintenance, inspections, tenant portals for communication, and reporting.

Property management software can help save time and money by giving you all the tools needed to maintain the health of your real estate assets and provide a better service to your tenants. Property management software can be used by a single landlord managing a few units, or by a large real estate portfolio managing thousands of apartment buildings.

What types of business challenges do property management software options address? There are property management solutions that address back-end accounting, payment processing, investment management, tenant tracking, work orders, complex reporting, and beyond.

Features of Property Management Software

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most important capabilities provided in property management software programs:

Accounting:

Handles check writing, management of receivables and collections, bank reconciliations, top-level financial reporting, and fixed asset depreciation.

Rent collection:

Allows access to credit card payment portals and the ability to establish electronic (ACH) payments. Keep track of which payments cover fees and/or security deposits.

Tenant management:

Track tenant information and optimize the relationship. Store contact info, payment and service history, renewals, and rent increase schedules. Tenant screening functionalities can also be available to analyse credit data and criminal histories.

Work order management:

Manage service work, preventative maintenance, and unit prep work. Coordinate work performed with internal staff, in addition to work subcontracted to outside vendors. Scheduling features optimize availability of labour and equipment to make sure work is being performed as efficiently as possible.

Property tracking:

 Track property assets and value, vacancies, tenant histories, property descriptions, previous improvements, and work, as well as ownership and investment information.

Investment management:

 Track and report on ownership and investment data. Track investments, handle disbursements, and even identify new investors. Online owner portals provide owners a snapshot view of their investment data.

Prospect tracking:

Find new tenants by data basing contact info, posting vacancy ads, scheduling showings, and coordinating with interested potential tenants. Can be thought of as an industry-specific CRM software module.

Benefits of Property Management Software

Robust property management solutions are becoming increasingly more accessible. Many features, which just a few years ago were reserved for only the most sophisticated, enterprise solutions, are now available to property management businesses of all sizes and software budgets. Software providers are leveraging many of the following tools to help property managers run their business more efficiently:

• Business intelligence dashboards
• Web portals
• Automation features
• Improved system integration
• Customizable alerts
• Mobile access

What Does Your Business Need?

Property management companies come in all shapes and sizes of course. That’s a big part of the reason there is no one single answer to which property management software is the best. If you’re managing a large portfolio of industrial or office-oriented commercial space, your needs are different than if you manage a small set of single-family residences. Still, there are many common challenges. No matter your needs, software solutions are being designed to reinforce operating best practices and help your company become more profitable.

New Buyers and Small Businesses:

These businesses, or even a single individual, may manage one or more single family homes and/or a small apartment complex. Getting started with an accounting system that can handle collecting rent payments, and tracking the basic expenses involved with being a landlord (such as general maintenance) will allow you to see how much profit you’re making in your investments.

Managers of Multiple Buildings:

Companies that are managing multiple different buildings and a larger amount of units are going to desire functionalities to not only help save money but also make their lives easier. Advanced property management options include portals for tenants to log in and pay rent, submit maintenance requests, sign leases, and more. The system may also include a service portion, which will include a scheduling tool to ensure the proper maintenance workers are taking care of pressing issues at various locations as they occur.

Large Companies:

If the business is a part of a larger corporate real estate entity and manages thousands of units, you’ll likely look for an enterprise level property management option or perhaps a complete ERP software option. The solution will need to be synced in with some real estate development features, as businesses of this size tend to have a development division and look to expand into new areas and properties. A strong focus should be put on reporting functionalities that can help the business make better decisions and lower costs.

If the property management business is comprised of several large properties or multiple complexes, it is advised you look into a more advanced system. A professional property manager could be better off finding a trust accounting system. Once rent is received from the tenants, it needs to be disbursed to the property owners. This money should be kept in its own account and separate from any account that is used to pay expenses. Any money also received from the owners for the work you’ve done (your management fee) should be put into your own account.

Pain Points Solved With Property Management Software

Dealing with Vacancies.

In order to ensure full ROI on your property investment, you’ll want to ensure any available units are leased out and empty units do not stay empty long. Most software can also set reminders to let you know when units are 60 days from a lease expiring, which can prompt you to handle a renewal with a current tenant, or get a unit listed on the market. Look for property management software that lets you manage your rental listings via popular property listing websites (such as Craiglist or Apartments.com) as well as maintain up to date and accurate information on available units on any company website or Facebook page you may manage.

Timely response to maintenance issues.

Many tenants may feel dissatisfied with their property manager if they are slow to respond to repairs and other issues in the unit. Quality property management software will not only allow for work orders to be created, but it will include a level of interaction between the tenant and landlord. Online portals can let tenants submit a maintenance request on their own time, and also let them monitor the response. Rather than leaving a message on an answering machine after office hours, the tenant knows that their work order has been digitally received, and later accepted and assigned to a technician. At the office, it lets you assign various levels of priority, from a routine drywall patch to an emergency flooding situation, and ensure it’s been handed off to an appropriately skilled technician who can go on site.

Properly managing the “hidden” finances.

Security deposits that are collected will need to be returned to a tenant once they have moved out, sans any money withheld for needed repairs the tenant may be responsible for. A smart property management solution can help pave the way for these funds to be kept in a separate bank account that accumulates interest, or some other investment account. The solution will also make sure the appropriate taxes are calculated and taken care of by year-end or track any sort of depreciation on assets (such as the buildings themselves).

Trends in Property Management Software

There are many interesting trends in property management, particularly when involving new technology and online solutions. Here are just some of the latest changes to the industry:

Know you’re demographic

Customer service has become a lost art in property management, yet keeping your tenants happy is the best way to ensure they resign a lease and keep the money flowing in your direction. Being able to contact a landlord through an app is much more convenient than waiting to place a phone call during traditional business hours.

Additionally, the demographics for renters are skewing younger and younger. And tenants in the Millennial and Gen z age brackets will often want high tech solutions to rental services, environmentally-conscious living spaces, and more access to social services like community nights or fitness centres. Ignoring this demand puts your company at risk of appearing outdated and thus unattractive to a renter.

Basic expectations from young renters include:

• Wi-Fi compatibility
• Ability to apply online
• Flexible lease arrangements
• Online payment options
• Enhanced security
• Outdoor amenities
• Embrace modern technology

Almost everyone is connected to the web. In today’s day and age, it’s hard to imagine a property management company operating without a website. And now, software solutions are starting to offer property management mobile apps for tenants and prospects. These mobile apps allow the tenant to have all the same functionality they are used to on a company website, such as paying rent, reviewing lease terms, and submitting work orders. As mentioned before, this makes customer service much easier to facilitate.

For prospects, they should be able to view apartment availability and submit applications. An app lets you modify listings on the fly, even marking a property as no longer available after a successful showing. This keeps you and potential tenants from wasting time scheduling viewings at already promised properties.

Many industries are jumping on the virtual reality wagon, so much that it’s projected to become a $29.7 billion dollar industry. And real estate has taken advantage of this trend to great effect. Companies like Matterport allow for 360-degree visualizations of dream homes to be built. Special cameras pick up every aspect of a room and give prospective tenants the ability to go on a 3D virtual tour of a listing. Similar to Google Maps’ street view, you can drag and drop your mouse to get the exact view you’d like of a room, instead of relying on the photos posted on the property management website.

Property managers don’t need to gain access to any special technology to have these features available in their listings. Companies like Facebook now allow for 3D and 360 photos to be taken with any mobile device and uploaded to your website or app. These images grant any potential tenants the ability to “move” around the photo.