As your property management company grows, with additional properties being built, investing in property management software can be crucial to the smooth running of your business. Excel spreadsheets and old pen-and-paper methods may not be the ideal choice in today’s world. There are many cheap and easy to use specialized tools that property managers can choose from that are much better than using the old systems. Property management is hard enough on its own, so choose the right software program to help you organize your growing business.
Tips for Choosing the Right Property Management Software
Budget – Property management software prices can range from $50 to $10,000. These software vary in price depending on how many features the software has. So depending on the number of properties, the complexity of operations and the size of your organizations, choose the software program. Don’t buy more than you need. And at the same time, don’t go for the cheapest alternative. Make sure the software can do the basic things you need.
Trial version: It is always better to have a software program that has the option of a trial. Make sure you can run a full demo that allows you to try before you buy. Make sure you can do the basic things you need to, like maintaining a vendor file, a separate ledger for each tenant and landlord, handling checks and bank deposits, automatically posting rent, handling fees, and late fees , etc. Always check to see if the reports that can be generated or customized in the software meet your end-of-month reporting needs.
Hidden Costs and Recurring Fees – Avoid software that requires long-term contracts and has recurring costs attached to it. It is important to be able to cancel a subscription when necessary without paying a price. Make sure your software is easy to install, easy to use, and has great support hours. Investigation of upgrade costs. Are you forced to buy an upgrade even if you don’t need it?
Complete accounting package – Whether you prefer the simplicity of cash or the details provided by an accrual method, the management software you buy should have your back. And, since a property manager is constantly reading reports and calculating markups and discounts, choose a program that does it automatically. The reports must be available at any time and for any period.
Web Based Software Program – There are multiple property management software online today. For small businesses, a web-based software program may be ideal. Choose a fully integrated, end-to-end productivity tool that can provide everything you need to manage residential and commercial rental properties of any type, online. With web-based software, you get the power and advantage of the latest web-based technology, maintenance-free operations, and ease of access from anywhere, anytime.
Other features: The software program must be able to capture the relevant details that a property manager needs to manage the property, e.g. Track Cost per Unit, Reporting as Late Fee, In, Out, and Termination/Expiration. The software program should have some useful features, such as a reminder system to keep track of appointments, a list of tenants and landlords who owe you money, automatically updating rent amounts, automatically posting amounts to each ledger, and update their account names, etc. Among the other features available in most property management software packages is the ability to create templates for various forms, rental and lease agreements, and letters that are commonly used when managing properties. Custom documents can be created with the templates and then saved to the appropriate file. Templates can save a lot of time when it comes to generating late notices, final notices, eviction notices, and even general notices to tenants.