Best Property Management Software

By Riddhiman Roy, Content Writer and Market Analyst at Selecthub

The traditional approach of recording accounting transactions, inspection notes and tenant requests on papers, emails and spreadsheets can get exhaustive and overwhelming. Luckily, property management software is there to rescue you. It enables real estate professionals and landlords to automate processes, streamline workflows and control their day-to-day operations to sustain themselves in a highly competitive and ever-growing market.

 With several products and tools available in the market for landlords, finding a suitable solution can be a time-consuming and daunting task. To make your selection process easier, we have created this guide to act as a starting point for your research. You will learn about the benefits, features, industry trends, price considerations and some of the top products in the market that can help you make empowered software decisions.

Executive Summary

• Property management software helps manage properties' operations, maintenance, marketing and leasing.
• The online tenant portal ensures timely rent payments by tenants, increasing the property’s ROI.
• Marketing tools and built-in screening help engage more quality applicants and expand the business.
• You can define rules to automate bookkeeping and ensure accounting accuracy across all fronts.
• Property management software selection is integral to a business’s success, and you should do it carefully.
• It’s crucial to prepare a software comparison strategy and personalized budget before starting the selection process.

• The system records every maintenance request and activity to promote accountability and streamline audit processes. Advanced solutions also let you onboard maintenance vendors and track their work progress in real time.
• The system connects with your bank account or payment gateway to instantly deposit rent, utility bills and other revenue.
• Use the reporting suite to automate periodical reporting on profitability, utility consumption, rent analysis and owner statements. You can easily design public disclosures like 1099 forms with a few clicks.
• It records all property-related financial transactions, maintains separate ledgers and organizes accounting processes.
• Lastly, the platform alerts you about every important event, including audits, lease renewals/terminations, late rent payments and maintenance activities.

Types of Property Management Software

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, shelter is one of the basic needs necessary for human beings to survive. Today, real estate isn’t a luxury but a necessity as it touches every part of our lives. From schools, gyms and offices to hotels, governments and churches — all use real estate to conduct their operations.

Due to the variety of properties, it’s counterintuitive to use legacy software to manage each type. There are different categories of property management software based on the type and size of your real estate. The major ones are:

• Residential Rental Property Management: As the name suggests, these solutions help you market, manage and maintain residential properties like houses, condos and apartments. Its features include vacancy marketing, screening, tenant management, maintenance modules and reporting.
• Commercial Property Management: Commercial properties are real estate rented to businesses and organizations instead of residents. A few examples are shopping malls, offices, government buildings and airports. Specialized modules help screen a business’s financial health, track common area maintenance (CAM), manage commercial leases and charge utility bills based on consumption.
• HOA Software: The fundamental goal of a homeowner’s association is to build a peaceful and connected community. This software streamlines communications between residents and serves as a platform to host events, meetings and elections. Board members can create personalized covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&R) documents and track violations.
• Landlord Software: These cloud-based platforms serve small businesses and individual landlords. You don’t require in-depth technical knowledge to implement and run the solution. They offer intuitive interfaces and simple features to simplify a landlord’s day-to-day life while offering stellar tenant experiences.
• Hotel Management: You can market your rooms on multiple OTA, ILS and GDS to improve occupancy rates. A native booking engine allows you to take direct bookings and bypass third-party booking commissions. Digitize every front desk activity, including check-ins, checkouts, housekeeping, payments and guest messaging.
• Self-storage Software: It helps you track a storage unit’s occupancy, maintenance and profitability. Interactive facility maps let you assign maintenance activities, authorize access and schedule payments. You can integrate the software with biometric locks, thermostats and on-premise CCTVs.
• Lease Accounting: Those in the property management sector know that lease accounting can be tricky, especially with recent FASB ASC 842 and IASB IFRS 16 accounting standard updates. Thankfully, lease accounting solutions can automatically comply with these standards and serve as a central repository for all your leasing data.
• Property Management Apps: These are a great addition to a property manager’s toolkit as they allow you to stay on top of every operation from any remote location. Some apps serve specific functions like tenant communication, maintenance tracking and property accounting. Others are all-in-one apps that let you manage the entire property management spectrum from a mobile screen.
• Real Estate Investment: Big enterprises and private equity firms can get an in-depth view of their portfolio’s health and optimize investments.

Deployment Methods

Based on your business priorities, you can choose suitable software from either on-premise or cloud-based deployment models to seamlessly run your daily operations.

On-premise or Server-based

On-premise property management software requires a dedicated server to host the solution, with a heavy upfront hardware investment. You may need skilled IT professionals to implement, maintain and upgrade systems. Due to on-site hosting, these solutions provide in-office, limited access to your data.

These setups offer certain advantages that companies may find beneficial, such as high customization capabilities, independent of internet connection and cost-efficiency in the long run.

Cloud-based

Property management software available as SaaS, also known as online property management software, are economical options that don’t require robust hardware and IT infrastructure as vendors host the software on their native servers. The cloud facilitates online data storage and processing, enabling remote access from any location.

With a monthly subscription fee, low upfront cost and a robust internet provider, these solutions deliver benefits like minimized costs, automatic backups, greater accessibility and scalability.

These deployment strategies come with different pros and cons. Your unique business needs and requirements can guide your final choice of property management software.

Primary Benefits

Simplified Management

Performing similar tasks over and over again leads to time wastage and low productivity levels. Fortunately, automatic processes like invoice reminders, welcome emails and more can save time for other critical work like addressing customer needs and connecting with potential clients. You can set late fee reminders for renters and schedule notifications for circulating important information.

Easy Rent Collection

Manually collecting payments and chasing down tenants can be difficult and time-consuming. Mobile access and automated reminders can ensure timely payments. A convenient way of paying rent adds up to customer satisfaction. You can also automate late fee calculations through additional functionalities like late-fee calculators.

Streamlined Marketing Campaigns

It’s easier to find new tenants when people are aware of your vacancies. Property management software allows you to market your property details on personal websites, social media and third-party channels. It helps you reach a broad audience to find ideal tenants for your property quickly.

Increased Accuracy and Productivity

Handling large volumes of data is cumbersome and prone to manual errors. Automatically updated data minimizes administration work and, as a result, improves accuracy. Reducing time spent on redundant processes boosts overall productivity and leaves more space for other essential work like validating and analyzing numbers.

Improved Tenant Experiences

The baby boomer generation no longer dominates the homebuyers' market. A study found that older millennials make up 25% of the U.S. homebuyers’ population, taking the largest share among all generations. But have you ever wondered what attracts them to buy or rent a home?

Online payments, communications, maintenance requests, utility billing and rental listings are the top technologies renters want in 2022. Reliable property management software offers all these technologies and helps make your property attractive to a wide section of buyers.

Implementation Goals

Before integrating property management software, you need to recognize the fundamental goals you wish to achieve with the new platform. Here are a set of implementation goals you can accomplish with the right solution:

Basic Features & Functionality

While property management software comes in varied forms, you can expect a few standard features in most of them. However, the proficiency levels of these functionalities may differ. Choose your solution wisely after evaluating the set of features that you require to fulfill your unique requirements.

Advanced Features & Functionality

Current & Upcoming Trends

It’s necessary to evolve with modern and sophisticated technologies to survive in a highly competitive environment. To keep up with advancements, businesses must grow according to the latest changes and trends. In this section, we’ve listed some industry trends in the property management software market to help you gain a competitive advantage.

Inflation and Portfolio Growth

Economic concerns take priority in most industries, and property management is no different. A Deloitte study reveals that property managers and stakeholders have mixed revenue expectations for 2023 — 48% of surveyors expect revenue to decrease, 12% see no change, and the rest 40% are optimistic about revenue growth.

But the light at the end of the tunnel is closer than it appears. Reports suggest that inflation is peaking, leading to a drop in home prices that can reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2023. Property managers are looking to capitalize on this opportunity by aggressively expanding their portfolios.

According to a report by Buildium, 92% of businesses plan to add new properties to their portfolio, 77% plan on expanding it by adding new owners and properties, and 50% are looking to support their current growth as an expansion strategy.

The same Buildium report found that the top priorities for managers in 2023 are growth, efficiency and profitability.

This shift in the plan represents a state of normalcy that we haven’t witnessed since the pandemic began because organizations primarily focused on owner and renter issues. Therefore, as inflation cools down, growth for property management businesses can come more easily compared to the last two years.

IoT and Smart Homes

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables landlords and managers to track a property’s usage and utility consumption. They also create a well-connected living space with intelligent automation for renters, commonly called smart homes.

The global IoT market is expected to grow from $478.36 billion in 2022 to $2,465.26 billion at a 26.4% CAGR. Also, the smart homes penetration rate is forecasted to be 21.1% by 2025. With this growth, you can expect increased adoption across different real estate segments, with a special focus on smart appliances, security and connectivity.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

A report found that 95% of buyers use the internet to search for homes. Virtual reality and augmented reality can play a considerable role in making this online search and home buying experience more fascinating and accessible.

Potential buyers who can’t physically visit sites can get virtual property tours anywhere, anytime, to understand and experience the property. Augmented reality enables realtors and builders to display unfinished areas with virtual furnishings and accessories to give buyers granular insights into physical spaces and high-quality immersive experiences.

Growing Mobile Connectivity and 5G Adoption

The global 5G market is expected to grow from $58.8 billion in 2022 to $1.67 trillion by 2030 at a staggering 51.9% CAGR. With the advent of 5G, global mobile connectivity has enhanced further to gain more importance.

This increasing 5G adoption will provide higher bandwidth, allowing more smart devices to connect to the internet, create wireless workplaces, increase telecommunication and enhance digital workflows. It’ll enforce various technological innovations to promote sustainable maintenance and intelligent data insights to upgrade the quality of life. Also, you can boost home security by connecting multiple cameras and sensors that can capture HD images around properties.

Software Comparison Strategy

Selecting suitable property management software is crucial for the effortless management of your properties and guaranteeing your buyer’s delight and satisfaction. However, narrowing down your options from a wide range of vendors available in the market that offer various tools and features can be tedious.

Before starting your search, we recommend you make a thorough list of your business-specific requirements and priorities. You can use the basic and advanced features list mentioned above to get a primary idea. Next, gather all the ideal qualities you’re looking for and match them with your probable options. You can check out our article on property management software features to make the process easier.

Other than that, here are a few factors you should consider while devising the requirements checklist:

• Integrations: Make sure the software of your choice connects with your existing software stack and other solutions your business might use in the future.
• Number of Users: Most solutions offer a finite number of team member onboarding. Therefore, you should determine the number of team members who’d need access and look for a solution that can comfortably onboard and manage your team.
• Usability: Many make the mistake of overlooking this factor during software selection. But the platform’s usability is directly proportional to your business’s productivity. Find software that offers an intuitive interface that you and your team can easily navigate.
• Deployment: Choose a suitable deployment model based on your business’s IT infrastructure and expertise.

You can also jumpstart your selection process with our free property management software requirements template. Once you have a clear idea of your requirements, refer to the questions list below to ask yourself and any potential vendors to find the right solution that best aligns with your business.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

Generally, most property management software products are priced on a per unit, per month basis. Before investing in a platform, look out for a suitable deployment option. You can go through the details mentioned above and evaluate the pros and cons of on-premise and cloud-based deployments to shortlist one that suits your business size and budget.

You can consider vendors offering subscriptions, upgrades, training resources and support options. There may be additional or hidden costs involved, so it is advisable to cross-check all associated charges before purchasing.

If you are looking to upgrade, search for solutions that can integrate with your existing tools like CRM, accounting, marketing and more. This way, you can transfer data across applications conveniently and avoid data reentries.

It is evident that there is no standard guide to address the question of property management software pricing. You must gauge multiple factors and, most importantly, your company’s budget before investing in the right system. To simplify the process, you can consider using our free property management software comparison platform to compare top vendors based on features, pricing and other user-defined criteria.

Best Property Management Software

Now that we’ve covered property management software in detail, it’s time to discuss systems leading in the market. SelectHub’s research analysts have assembled a list of the highest-rated products, and here’s a brief overview of our top picks:

AppFolio

AppFolio is one of the most robust property management solutions for enterprises and managers with large portfolios. Besides supporting all types of properties, it can help you manage multiple brands by designing unique websites and maintaining separate accounts.

Its standout feature is the native AI that serves as a leasing chatbot, reads PDFs and invoices to identify critical information, auto-fills forms, and automates reporting and performance insights. A few other offerings are:

• Mobile app
• 3D virtual tours
• Payment processing
• Automated CAM and bank reconciliations
• Online portals
• In-app messages and chat feature
• Document library
• Team management and HR tools
• Call center services
• Role-based user access
• Utility management
• Predictive maintenance
• Audit center
• Universal search feature

AppFolio has two different pricing tiers for residential rental businesses. The Core plan charges $1.40 per unit per month with a $280 minimum monthly fee, and the Plus plan is $3 per unit with a minimum monthly fee of $1500. They also have unique plans for community associations and commercial properties.

Set up unique payment automation to streamline rent collection.

Yardi Voyager

Yardi is one of the oldest and most reliable property management software vendors, and Voyager is their magnum opus. It can handle every property type, including residential, affordable housing, HOA, government buildings, commercial real estate, airports, self-storage, and parks and recreation. Chances are if you have a property, Yardi has a solution to manage it.

It’s a mobile-optimized platform that can help you design websites, market portfolios, screen tenants, collect rent and manage maintenance. Voyager can connect with other Yardi product suites and external solutions to help build the perfect stack for your business. Its other features include:

• Data centralization
• Document library
• Leasing
• Trust accounting
• Debt management
• Investment management
• Staff onboarding and training
• Asset management
• CRM and call center services
• Chatbot
• Payment processing
• Insurance management
• Construction management

Each of Yardi Voyager’s modules is individually deployable. It doesn’t have specific pricing plans but offers unique quotes based on your business size and type.

Tip: Landlords and small property managers can check out Yardi Breeze for a more compact and easy-to-handle solution.

Manage every type of real estate from a unified platform.

RealPage

RealPage is a modern solution with unique property management offerings. It automates administrative tasks to simplify your daily life and maintains property ledgers to comply with local and federal regulations.

One of its unique features is the marketing suite that can design websites, 3D floor maps, virtual tours and lifestyle videos. The system also offers a list of pre-verified vendors across the country to resolve maintenance tasks and issues quickly. A few of its other features are:

• Payment processing
• Call center services
• Leasing hub
• Insurance solutions
• Tenant screening
• Keyless smart access integration
• Community WiFi programs
• Utility management
• Business intelligence
• Revenue and spend Management

Like Yardi Voyager, RealPage doesn’t have bespoke pricing plans but offers unique pricing structures based on the scale of your business.

Design interactive virtual property tours to boost online engagement. Source

MRI Software

MRI Software is one of the best solutions available for commercial property management. Although it has modules for residential and multifamily properties, the efficiency it brings to the table for commercial real estate is unparalleled.

A powerful accounting suite helps maintain the commercial real estate, affordable housing and public housing compliance. You can design asset and debt models to forecast trends and optimize investments. The platform can also manage the following:

• Maintenance
• Accounting
• Risk management
• Tenant screening
• Identity verification
• Insurance programs
• Investment insights
• Lease abstraction
• Lease accounting
• Facility and space management
• Visitor screening

Like the options mentioned above, MRI software tailors unique quotes based on your business size. This means you can pick and choose features you want and avoid paying for modules you don’t need.

Receive performance insights and optimize your investments.

Buildium

Buildium is a comprehensive platform that can handle residentials, commercials, HOA and student housing. It helps you market, manage and maintain your properties without unnecessary complications. Its accounting suite separates property ledgers from company financials, allowing you to manage both from a single screen.

Another unique feature is the resident experience suite that lets you create branded tenant portals to collect rent, record maintenance issues and build a community with your tenants. Its other features include:

• Website designing
• Mobile app
• Payment processing
• 1099 eFiling
• Document storage
• Property inspections
• Renters insurance
• Showings coordinator
• Tenant screening
• Leasing

The best part about Buildium? It offers a 14-day free trial to test the product before the final purchase. Following that, there’s the Essential plan starting at $52, the Growth plan at $166 and the Premium plan starting at $499 per month. The system also offers unique quotes for community associations and managers with more than 5,000 units.

Stay on top of all your operations remotely with the mobile-optimized platform.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Use these questions as a starting point for internal conversations:

• What is the type and size of my property?
• What is the overall budget?
• What goals do I want to accomplish?
• Do I need on-premise or cloud-based deployment?
• What features are required?

Questions To Ask Vendors

Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with vendors:

About the Software

• Is the system customizable?
• How often are the updates provided?
• Does it include training and support options?
• Does it offer mobile capabilities?
• Is the solution scalable?

About the Vendor

• Which industry is the software serving?
• Are there any additional costs involved?
• Does the vendor offer demos or free trials?
• Is there any implementation support provided?
• What programs integrate with your product?

Last Words

Every property management software offers a unique set of tools and features. Investing in a suitable product can help you become organized, increase efficiency and garner profits. This buyer’s guide intends to serve as a starting point to direct concerned professionals towards making an informed decision to find the top solution that helps meet targets and adds value to their enterprise. 

Product Comparisons

• AppFolio vs. Yardi Voyager
• Yardi Voyager vs. RealPage
• RealPage vs. MRI Software
• MRI Software vs. Buildium
• Buildium vs. AppFolio