10 Reasons You Need Property Management Software

 

 

Rental properties are great investments that appreciate over time and, if managed correctly, can provide a significant monthly income stream. However, the day-to-day rental management responsibilities can be intimidating and overwhelming if you don’t use the right tools.

Some turn to property managers to simplify the challenge. The problem is they cost 10% of your monthly rent (which can be 100% of your profits.) To turn a profit, you’ll want to self-manage your rentals.

Self-managing is not only cost-effective but has many benefits. One key benefit is the power to choose the most trustworthy tenants and manage them successfully, which reduces turnover and avoids costly vacancies. However, self-managing rentals also puts the daily administrative tasks on your plate.

The good news? Property management software is built for self-managing investors to simplify rental management and professionalize their businesses.

Follow along as we dive into the top 10 benefits of using property management software and how you can save yourself time and money as a self-managing investor.

This post covers:

• What is property management software?
• 10 reasons you need property management software
• The easiest way to self-manage rentals

 

 

What is property management software?

Property management software is software that helps landlords and property managers manage their properties. This can include financial management, maintenance, marketing, and leasing.

The best property management software helps you keep track of rental properties, rent payments, and maintenance requests.

You should choose a property management software that fits your needs. For example, some property management software solutions are better for multifamily buildings, while others cater to gated communities and condos.

 

10 reasons you need property management software

1. Fill vacancies quickly
2. Vet applicants easily
3. Create affordable and compliant leases
4. Collect rent on time
5. Organize bookkeeping and tax preparation
6. Reduce business expenses
7. Report accurately
8. Manage from anywhere
9. Save time
10. Professionalize your business

 

1. Fill vacancies quickly

Recent data collected by TurboTenant found that over 50% of renters found their current rental online. To cast the widest net to find your dream tenant, you’ll want to make sure your listing is advertised online to popular listing sites. Here’s where property management software can help you avoid manually creating and paying for listings on dozens of websites.

All you have to do is create one listing, and the software will syndicate your rental to dozens of popular sites like Apartments.com, Redfin, Craigslist, and more. How’s that for saving time?

Most property management software solutions allow you to market your rental property for free, so you don’t have to dip into your monthly profits to fill vacancies.

 

2. Vet applicants easily

Once your listing is live, you’ll start to receive inquiries from potential tenants. If you’re using property management software, you can expect to see dozens of leads pour in through various listing platforms. While more leads are always better, it’s more to manage.

Fielding questions, requests for showings, and dozens of inquiries can be overwhelming. No one has time to coordinate with every single inquiry. A good property management software sends all renters a free pre-screener that asks basic questions about desired move-in date, income, employment status, pet status, and more. These results are available to view at your convenience so you can focus your energy on tenants who already appear to be a good fit for your property.

Once you narrow down your list of interested renters, you can use property management software to schedule showings and send rental applications. No matter what, always screen tenants. Quality tenant screening includes rental applications with full background, credit, eviction, and criminal checks. By using an online service, you won’t have to collect sensitive information like social security numbers. All you need is a tenant’s phone number or email to send the application.

Most property management software offsets this cost to the tenant, so applications are 100% free to the landlord.

When screening applicants and choosing tenants, always make sure you’re in compliance with the Fair Housing Act.

 

Discover our complete beginner’s guide to access control:

 

3. Create affordable and compliant leases

Rental lease agreements are the foundation of your business relationship and the only way to protect you, your property, and your tenant. Because landlord laws vary by state and county, each rental lease agreement must adhere to the local rules so you remain compliant and avoid costly fines.

The good news is you don’t need to spend money on an attorney-drafted lease agreement (which will need to be updated every year) in order to have an airtight lease agreement.

Property management software has attorney-approved state-specific lease agreements that you can easily customize to your property and create online in minutes. Because you’re using an online service, e-signature is often included so tenants can easily sign from anywhere. If you’re managing a property out of state, online lease agreements are the best way to do this remotely.

Property management software stores all your past and present lease agreements for your records, so you don’t have to worry about keeping track of important documents. You can add addendums at any time so you can keep your lease up to date with any important changes.

You shouldn’t have to spend extensive time or money creating and keeping track of your lease agreements. Moving your leasing process online makes your life easier while also keeping your tenants happy with easier processes. The easier it is to sign a lease, the faster your tenant can complete this essential task.

 

4. Collect rent on time

Collecting rent is the most exciting part of being a landlord. However, for most, this can be a stressful recurring task. When tenants don’t deliver rent on the 1st, you have to deal with tracking down rent payments and dipping into your savings to front monthly mortgage payments.

Property management software helps you avoid the nightmare of missed rent payments by automating the process for everyone. Tenants can set up autopay via ACH bank transfer or credit card so they don’t have to remember to make payments manually each month. The software will also send reminders to your tenants to pay rent every month so they don’t forget, and you don’t have to be the bad guy.

Property management software lets you apply custom late fee rules to tenants’ missed bills to help you prepare for missed rent payments. At the end of the day, you don’t have time to be the middle man chasing down rent payments and going back and forth with your tenants. It’s easier to let software handle the hard and sometimes awkward aspects of managing tenants.

Another benefit of collecting rent online with property management software is maintaining a detailed record of payments. The software will keep track of it for you. It sends rent receipts to tenants for every payment, just in case you live in a state where this is legally required. With property management software, you can reference outstanding or completed payments at any time.

 

5. Organize bookkeeping and tax preparation

Bookkeeping is one of those nasty little jobs that all rental property investors must take care of. And while it’s not the most glamorous task, doing it right is critical to your long-term success. For DIY landlords, you’ll need a fool-proof way to track rental income and expenses to make tax preparation less stressful while maximizing your deductions.

Property management accounting software is the ticket. It’s designed explicitly for landlords and real estate investors. So now, rather than trying to link far-flung spreadsheets, create comprehensive formulas, and get it all ready by the April deadline, you can centralize your bookkeeping into a single location to make filing taxes simple.

Using real estate-specific bookkeeping software will also help you identify deductions. As a rental property owner, there are a lot of ways you can use tax season to your benefit. You don’t want to miss out on helpful write-offs. Property management accounting software will highlight opportunities you might be missing and help you calculate the more complicated tax laws like depreciation.

 

 

6. Reduce business expenses

Nowadays, everything is done online. The problem is that for each task you want to complete, you have multiple websites on which to complete it. When time is critical in reducing vacancy periods, automating your day-to-day chores can significantly reduce business expenses.

With the right solution, you can automate all aspects of property management, including marketing, tenant screening, and rent collection. Now, rather than counting on upwards of 10 websites to complete those three tasks, put them all in one place to save on operational costs. The result is property listings that syndicate to dozens of websites, tenant screenings where applicants fill out their information, and rent collection free from in-person cash handoffs.

The best part? Many property management software options are either free or less than your average streaming subscription.

 

7. Report accurately

No matter how detailed we think we are, the chance of human error is always present. Something as simple as forgetting to input a payment or expense can paint the wrong financial picture of your business.

Property management software increases accuracy by tracking rent payments as they come in, importing recent transaction data from your bank accounts, and setting rules to match transactions based on descriptions or amounts. For landlords, this means highly accurate reports they can generate in minutes to fully understand their business success.

Ultimately, successful investors always know the score. The easiest way to keep track of cash coming in and out of your rental is by letting the software do the work for you. Then, you can sit back, relax, and watch your cash flow report go up as you fine-tune your investment strategy.

 

8. Manage from anywhere

The best use of your capital might not always be where you live. If you want to expand your rental businesses, buying property outside your current market might provide exciting investment opportunities. However, you’ll need excellent property management software to manage remotely.

Even if you’re down the street from your rental property, you won’t always be available. If you plan to travel, you’ll still want the ability to easily manage your tenants and property without hiring a property manager who could take home up to 10% of your rent. The answer is an all-in-one landlord software solution that enables you to be in two places at once.

From a laptop or smartphone, remote landlords actively manage their rental properties from home or halfway across the country. Now, you won’t ever need to hire somebody to collect rent or worry about a frozen pipe cutting your trip short.

 

9. Save time

For DIY landlords with full-time jobs or a sizable number of properties to manage, there might never be enough time in the day to get it all done. Between getting a unit on the market, screening applicants, and signing leases, your time as a landlord is always running short.

Rather than trying to brute force your way through it, save time with software. It enables you to market your property across dozens of highly trafficked listing sites, screen tenants, and create lease agreements in just minutes rather than hours.

Consider it your ticket to a more freed-up schedule that allows you to focus on new investment opportunities or spend more time with family and friends.

 

10. Professionalize your business

Your tenants are your business partners, and you want them to have the utmost faith in you. If they have any doubts about your business processes, they might not seek to renew their lease, leaving you with yet another vacancy cycle to manage.

Boost their confidence in you with professional tools like online applications, digital leases, and automated rent payments. No tenant wants to fill out a paper application or send sensitive information over email. When your tenants feel like you have professional systems in place to manage the property and their tenancies, they’re more likely to feel confident in you as a landlord and stick around for the long haul.

 

The easiest way to self-manage rentals

Without understanding what software can do for you, it’s easy to think that hiring a property management company is the only way to make rental property management as passive as possible.

However, with an affordable property management software solution, finding quality tenants, listing properties, collecting rent, and drafting legally compliant lease agreements is easier than ever. Not only do the tasks themselves become more manageable, you’ll spend far less time and money getting them done.

 

Author’s Bio:

TurboTenant is the all-in-one property management software built to simplify rental management for self-managing landlords. From finding tenants you trust to collecting rent on-time, every month, TurboTenant helps you confidently and professionally manage your rental portfolio. Over 700,000 investors across the country currently use TurboTenant to elevate their rental business.

Ready to learn how to manage rentals, better? Visit TurboTenant’s website or reach out at success@turbotenant.com.

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