Top 54 Property Management Software (Nov 2022)

A Buyer's Guide to Property Management Solutions

Property Management Software Buyer’s Guide
 
The business of managing properties like vacation houses, city apartments, condo units, rental properties and other real estates is where the money is.  On the other hand, the excellent management of these residential, commercial and rental properties lies on the hands of a good property manager. In turn, a manager can only be called good if he uses well his earned degree and skills in converting those property management functions into real profits. In today’s economy, where mortgages are on the rise and inflation is thinning everybody’s wallet, a good manager needs a reliable partner in managing these properties. A Property Management Software solution is what we’re talking about here.
 
Every property manager is basically tasked with serving two types of people – the renter or tenant and the landlord or property owner. In order to bridge these two people, the combination of calculator, pen, and paper will not suffice anymore. Today, a manager who is using a Property Management software product is more likely the third person who can make these two people well satisfied. So if you’re a manager looking for a reliable partner, we recommend you this Buyer’s Guide. We from ITQlick.com understand the needs of every real property manager and we believe that this buyer’s guide can be the key in providing those needs better, smarter, and faster.
 
Types
We’ve indentified these three types of Property Management Software solution that are being offered by many solutions provider today. Each solution is designed to answer the needs of a certain type of client.
 
Residential Property Management Software
This solution answers the changing needs of families, couples, and life partners. A property manager will benefit a lot in using a system that oversees the lease renewal workflow, accounting aspects of the business, and reporting and analytics processes.
 
Commercial Property Management Software
Whether it’s retail, industrial, or office property, there is an available solution that can manage well the vacancy postings, marketing, and maintenance of these properties. Such solution removes the hassles brought about by poor communication between the lessee and the property manager.
 
Real Estate Investment Management Software
Real estate owners and investors can now manage their properties in real-time and with better accuracy. This solution helps investors effectively track and manage capital, monitor performance analytics, and maximize property cash flows and valuations. There is always a good deal waiting between buyers and investors when this software solution is on the hands of a smart property manager.
 
Features
The face of the property management market has totally changed in the past two decades. The introduction of the internet, and thousands of application programs that runs with it, completely simplified the operation, control and overall management of real properties. The growing number of renters today serves as an opportunity for many software providers to develop products that can support the unique requirement of owners, managers, investors, and stakeholders. Relevant to these trends, here are the most common features of many property management software solutions offered by various software providers today.
 

• Accounting Integration
• Billing and Invoicing
• Browser and Operating System Compatibility
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• Built-In Screening
• Cash Management
• Collect Rent Online
• Contact Management
• Communication Tools
• Customizable Online Leases
• Data Management
• Easy Vacancy Posting
• Expense Tracking
• Insurance Tracking
• Integrated Marketing Tools
• Integrated Professional Website Creator
• Landlord Database
• Late Fee Calculation
• Late Payment Notifications
• Learning Materials
• Lease Management
• Maintenance Management
• Management Portal
• Mobile Interface
• Online Rental Applications
• Owner Portal
• Prospect Tracking
• Rent Tracking
• Rental Pricing Comparison Tool
• Reporting
• Tenant Database
• Tenant Portal
• Tenant Tracking
• Vacancy Posting and Tracking
• Web-based Interface

 
You can use the above list of features as your checklist when buying the solution package that is just right for your current business needs. However, keep in mind that the availability of features in a solution usually depends on the type of solution or offered service plan that you are going to buy or avail. The next section will further help you verify unto which solution packages are these features often goes with.
 
Solutions per Business Size, per Vendor
When looking for a software solution that will surely fit into the size of your business, it is better that a property manager should conduct his own research of the best software solutions available in the market. Moreover, a manager should also consider taking these vital steps.
 

• Check the prevailing management methods use by most managers in your industry.
• Verify the main reasons for replacing your existing system (in case this is your direction).
• Come up with well-defined list of applications that are really required by your business.
• Match the features with your objective (ex. find better tenants, improve tracking process)
• Determine if the solution is easy to deploy, learn and use.

 
Your to-be-exerted efforts for the above activities are essential in narrowing down your search for the right solution. And that solution can be any of these.
 
Point Solution or Niche-use
Rental Management, Lease Tracking or Accounting; there is a wide array of applications available if a single-point solution is what you need.
 
Integrated Suite
Property management portfolio requires a package that is complete with applications and features. Property managers managing a mix of residential, commercial and rental properties needs an Integrated Suite solution that includes accounting, budgeting and forecasting, marketing tools, and vacancy tracking in a single management portal.
 
Web-based
Simply register an account and pay for a monthly subscription fee; this is the offer of web-based or cloud-based property management solution. A mid-size firm operating nationwide or a large company with branches across different regions and countries can benefit a lot on a solution that is accessible anytime, anywhere, on the cloud.
 
On-premise
Some solution providers will allow you to download the software program from their website and then next is installing it into your personal computer. Integrated Suites, which require broader implementation process, are mostly on-premise type.
 
Mobile Version
Mobile optimized software solution is gaining popularity these days. By simply downloading an app, the property management app, you can already access your management portal even while on the go.
 
Pricing Considerations
Most property management software products are priced on a per month per unit basis. The “unit” refers to the number of residential, commercial or rental properties or units that you are going to manage in your portal. While this is the prevailing pricing model, there are other pricing schemes offered by key players in the market today. Other than the number of units, other factors that affect the price of a solution are the number of users, cost of updates, cost of technical support, and deployment model options. Let’s have a look on some of these pricing models.
 
On the average, the cost per unit is roughly around $5. The cost per user averages to around $150 per user. The cost of software for one time download and installation ranges from $150 to $2,000 per license. Still excluded here are the cost of updates and cost of technical support.
 
Web-based solutions typically have around $10 to $110 per month subscription fee and can go up to the range of $300 to $3,000 depending on the service plan.
 
Overall, each provider offers comprehensive plans or packages that will suit their client’s budget and requirements. Here’s a list of providers with proven-track records in providing great property management solution. Review them and find out if their offered plans suit your taste.
 

• Yardi
• Promas Landmaster
• Tenant Pro
• Quicken
• RentRight
• Flex Software
• Propertyware
• Buildium
• AppFolio Property Manager
• Point2 Property Manager
• Total Management
• Rent Manager Online
• RenTec PM
• Point2 Property Manager

 
Market Trends
Real estate and property management has been there for decades.  However, the real situation in the property management software industry is that it is still currently young in terms of supplying the real demand of many clients – managers, owners, renters and investors. This situation can probably be traced back from the significant number of foreclosures that started since 2008 and the unstable condition of the overall housing market at present.
 
However, the benefits that the modern technology is bringing highly encourage many property managers to re-think about their marketing strategies and invest on better software tools. Mobile phones continue to be an essential business tool and property managers have never been left behind on this trend.  In addition, cloud-based solutions continue to be the most preferred solution of most managers in large property management companies today.
 
More innovations are happening and the property management software industry remains tough in delivering excellent products into the market. So start considering you property management solution needs and shape your new business strategy in acquiring this profit-maker software technology.

ITQlick chart - 2024 best Property Management Software

Finding the right Property Management software for your business
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