15 min readIt doesn’t take landlords long to learn why property management companies exist. Property management comes with a heavy workload, even if you have happy tenants. There are many things to stay on top of such as maintenance, rent collection, and regulatory compliance – just to name a few.
So, it’s no surprise that property management is big business. It was valued as a $99.5 Billion a year industry in the US. And in 2020, the global property management software market was estimated at 5.51 billion in 2023.
Property owners try to optimize processes to protect productivity and revenue. Both take a hit if they can’t clear their to-do lists.
The good news is that landlords can avoid a lot of the stress. The best property management software can make management a breeze. It helps property owners save time, stay organized, make better decisions, maximize profits, and grow.
What is property management software and why do you need It?
Property management software is made for landlords, property management companies, and investors. It has multiple features to help them streamline property management. It’s typically Software as a Service (SaaS), which is cloud-based. And you pay a monthly subscription fee to use it.
The best property management software comes as both a desktop and a mobile app, so you can manage properties from mobile devices. Cloud-based software and mobile apps changed the game. Things weren’t so simple before property management software came along…
Property management involved fax machines, stacks of paperwork, filing cabinets, manual accounting, calendars, spreadsheets, etc. You’d have to crunch numbers to figure out how profitable you were. Everything was manual, so the odd human error was inevitable.
The best property management software helps you automate repetitive tasks such as rent collection, invoicing, and lease management. Plus, they have financial tools that create reports, help you forecast, track expenses, and much more.
Property management software is essential if you’re managing more than a handful of properties. Passive income isn’t realistic without it. There’s just too much to do.
The benefits of using property management software.
The best property management software benefits all parties. Landlords, property management companies, and property investors are the ones who pay for it and use its management features.
Tenants benefit from it too. They receive electronic invoices and have access to a portal to view all communication and submit maintenance requests, which is more convenient than searching through their email inbox for information.
The benefits for landlords, property management companies, and investors:
- Better tenant retention: A more efficient service helps keep tenants happy. Simpler communication means property managers can resolve maintenance and repairs faster.
- Greater visibility: Budgeting and forecasting tools plus accounting integrations give them instant overviews of financial performance.
- Better organization: Property owners no longer need spreadsheets, stacks of documents and post-it notes, etc. All activities go through the software to give them one “single source of truth” for a tidier, safer way of working.
- Boost productivity: Automation, software integrations, and customized workflows streamline repetitive tasks. Manual data entry, data conflicts, manual invoicing, etc., no longer slow you down.
- Maximize profits: Streamlined tasks, increased tenant satisfaction, and data-backed decisions help you make more money.
- Better communication: Online portals, automating notifications, centralized storage, etc. help property managers improve communication. Without property management software, the number of emails can become overwhelming. The odd email always slipped through the cracks.
- Boost convenience: SaaS property management tools free property owners to work from anywhere in the world. You can log into the website from any computer or use the app on your mobile device.
- Risk management: Automatic compliance reminders and convenient document management help them stay on top of legal and regulatory requirements.
- Increased scalability: All of the above gives property owners more time, money, and headspace. And with that, it makes it possible to keep growing their portfolios.
The benefits for tenants:
- Convenience: Online portals and invoicing make it easy for tenants to communicate with landlords and pay rent.
- Improved organization: Online portals make it easy for tenants to log in and find all the necessary information, updates, and documents.
- Better service: The above means that tenants ultimately get a smoother service. It’s common for rent prices to be higher than the cost of mortgage payments. So tenants expect a good service at a bare minimum.
7 Best property management software for 2024
1. Buildium
Buildium is suitable whether you’re a new landlord or an experienced one with a large portfolio. The interface is simple to get to grips with as you jump between business operations, leasing, accounting & payments, marketing, and business performance features.
It’s suitable for all portfolio mixes and it has award-winning support (though it can be a bit slow as it uses a ticketing system). There’s no minimum unit count too, so you’ll only pay for what you need.
Who is it most suitable for?
Buildium is a solid all-rounder and it’s always near the top of the best property management software lists. It’s suitable for single/multifamily, residential properties, community associations, commercial properties, and affordable housing.
How much is it?
There are three pricing tiers:
- Essential, from $55 per month.
- Growth, from $174 per month.
- Premium, from $375 per month.
2. AppFolio
Appfolio is for property managers with 50 units or more. The interface is simple to use, so you won’t get overwhelmed managing your portfolio. They also have a dedicated onboarding team to help you get up and running on the platform.
Lately, AppFolio has been making waves with its impressive new AI features. For example, you can ask it to list all unrenewed leases expiring within 90 days. And then draft an email to that list, offering to renew it. It’s like having a personal assistant. It saves you a lot of time.
Who is it most suitable for?
AppFolio is suited for residential, commercial, and community associations of all sizes but there is a minimum portfolio size of 50 units.
How much is it?
AppFolio has three pricing tiers:
- Core, from $1.49 per unit per month.
- Plus, from $3.20 per unit per month.
- Max, from $5.00 per unit per month.
3. DoorLoop
DoorLoop, at the time of writing, had the most impressive customer software rating. They’ve made an effort to outshine the competition on this front. DoorLoop offers support via phone or Zoom calls. And there’s no limit to the amount of help on offer.
That being said, you may not need much help. The onboarding process is simple. And the app is easy to get to grips with, so you’ll most likely be adding new properties yourself without much trouble.
Who is it most suitable for?
DoorLoop is a versatile option that’s suitable for residential, commercial, affordable housing, student housing, mobile homes, workforce housing, community associations, and HOAs.
How much is it?
DoorLoop has three pricing tiers:
- Starter, from $59 per month.
- Pro, from $119 per month.
- Premium, from $169 per month.
4. Avail
Avail is aimed at “do-it-yourself” landlords. They’ve done a fantastic job with their education center. There are many resources to help landlords get up to speed, no matter how experienced they are.
Who is it most suitable for?
Avail is built specifically for do-it-yourself landlords with smaller portfolios. Its interface is easy to use, which makes it a popular choice for first-time landlords. It doesn’t have the expansive features or AI technology like others on this list. It’s fairly minimal, which is a part of its appeal.
How much is it?
Avail has a “freemium” plan for landlords, offering stripped-back services for tenant screening, rental applications, etc. This is a perfectly good option for landlords with a handful of units. The paid-pricing Unlimited Plus service starts at $9 per unit per month.
5. Rent Manager
Rent Manager is a well-rounded property management tool suitable for portfolios of all sizes. We were particularly impressed with its training center, Rent Manager University. It features basic, advanced, and role-specific training. There are various learning formats, including on-demand videos, webinars, and in-person workshops.
We also liked Rent Manager’s website-building tools for properties. They were straightforward to build and they looked just as sharp on desktops as on mobile devices.
Who is it most suitable for?
Rent Manager is for companies that handle real estate portfolios of every type and size.
How much is it?
Rent Manager has three pricing tiers:
- Basic, from $1.00 per unit per month.
- Plus, from $1.50 per unit per month.
- Premium, from $2.50 per unit per month.
6. Condo Control
As the name suggests, Condo Control is a property management software specialist made for condominium communities and homeowner associations (HOAs). The onboarding process isn’t overwhelming as you’re assigned a dedicated support specialist to help get you up to speed.
Condo Control makes communication and transparency easy. There are many templates for announcements, newsletters, discussion forums, surveys and polls, etc. and lots of positive reviews prove that tenants like it too.
Who is it most suitable for?
Condo Control is for condominium communities and HOAs.
How much is it?
Condo Control doesn’t have pricing tiers. It works on a customized basis. You can request a quote on their website.
7. Re-Leased
Re-Leased is all-in-one property management software designed specifically for commercial real estate. So it’s a popular choice for landlords, investors, property management companies, and corporate occupiers or entities.
Its clean dashboards, invoicing system, and automated lease event reminders keep things surprisingly simple. Managing large portfolios of commercial properties can be easier than you may think.
Who is it most suitable for?
Landlords and property managers for commercial real estate.
How much is it?
Re-Leased has three pricing tiers:
- Core.
- Pro.
- Enterprise.
Its prices aren’t public so you must complete a short form to receive details about their pricing. Our research indicates that it costs around $3 per unit per month.
How to select the best property management software for you?
Most property management software offers trials. You can quickly adjust to the software and you may soon become a paying customer. But there are things to consider before signing up. Particularly if you don’t want the hassle of changing software later. So take the time to figure out what’s the best property management software for you.
How to choose software for property management:
- Assess current needs: Make a list of all the tasks you complete routinely such as rent collection, tenant screening, expense tracking, etc.
- Think of future needs: Make another list of tasks you can see yourself doing in one to three years. List the features you’d need to complete these tasks.
- Make a shortlist and start some free trials: It’s always tempting to pick the company with the biggest name but it’s about what you think about the software, not what others think. You’ll spend many hours using it, so you want to pick one you enjoy using.
- Check its integration: Property management software is supposed to make your life easier by giving you an “all-in-one” tool to manage properties. But the all-in-one part can only work if it’s compatible with your accounting software, payment gateways, tenant screening services, etc. If there isn’t an integration for your tools, you could always try streamlining tasks with Zapier if there isn’t.
- Ask for help: It’s infuriating when you run into a problem and the customer service team doesn’t do enough to help. So try their customer support services during your free trials. You’ll likely need to use more features as you grow, so it’s reassuring to know help is at hand if you need it later.
- Pick the winner: Make a list of “needs” and “nice to haves” and pick the software that gets the most ticks.
- Always reach out for help: Contact customer service if you have problems with or wonder if there’s a better way to do something. Customer support teams should be aware of the best workflow practices. And if you ever think of a feature idea or notice a bug in their software, tell them. They may make updates in the future to keep customers happy.
Achieving the “passive” part of passive income is near impossible without the best property management software. Comparing software, starting free trials, and adjusting to a new way of working can be tedious. But the juice is worth the squeeze.
The best property management software saves time, keeps tenants happy, helps grow your portfolio, and maximizes profits. Mix that with a live property management answering service and passive income is within reach for any portfolio size.
See how SignMore can help you support clients and tenants around the clock with outstanding customer service. Book your free 15-minute consultation.
