Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Managing residential properties has its own fair share of unique challenges. The best way to meet those challenges is by using tools that make your day-to-day operations as stress-free as possible, and one of the best ways to accomplish just that is with a good real estate management software platform that’s tailor-made for residential management.
But what goes into a good real estate management software option for the modern residential manager? There are so many different solutions out there, and this can run the whole gamut from simple platforms to entire resource planning platforms on the enterprise level. Finding the right software for your specific needs can be a problem sometimes, which is why we’ve put together this quick and easy guide to some of the best, most modern platforms for residential property managers and landlords.
There’s a lot that goes into a property management platform. Different platforms are good for different things, with some being ideal for real estate agents looking to market residential rentals to management companies that need to ensure facilities stay maintained properly. Others still offer back-office support for managing operations staff. As a result, property management programs usually focus on one sector or another, and this means that what might be a great management platform for commercial properties might not be the best for residential ones. In fact, even a good residential property management platform might be ideal for multifamily dwellings, for example, but not as ideal for single-family units.
It becomes necessary, therefore, to winnow down the huge playing field to help highlight some of the best management software platforms that are specifically well-positioned for residential property management. That’s why we’ve scoured the sector to find offerings that are likely to tick your boxes when it comes to managing your residential property. These platforms, while different, all accomplish some of the most important tasks needed, such as tracking and monitoring your property’s financials, allowing for daily operation automation, and providing for methods or portals of communications between property management and tenants. Here’s a handful of the best ones we’ve found.
With the ability to handle not just residential housing but also commercial properties, self-storage markets, and many other types of real estate, Yardi Breeze offers great time and money saving options due to its ability to streamline not just leasing and rent collection but also financial reporting, marketing, and maintenance to name just a few of the crucial tasks for any property manager. User-friendly web portals make it easier than ever for not just renters and owners to track and collect payments online but also for prospective new tenants to fill out and submit applications. Meanwhile, back-end support through an online Help Center with unlimited live chat makes it easy to troubleshoot this platform when necessary.
Taking the Platform as a Service (PaaS) approach, Entrate is unique in the field of property management software providers thanks to its open-access, single-platform design. The number of online tools Entrata offers is many, including mobile and desktop apps and websites, payment processing, accounting, resident management, and lease signing. Thanks to its open API and its robust support for third-party software integration, Entrata is a favorite of residential property managers who want the flexibility to choose exactly what types of software and technology work for them.
Known for using natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge approaches, LeaseHawk is a favorite of multi-family residential managers, landlords, and property owners. Bundled together with the ACE virtual leasing assistant, the LeaseHawk Performance Platform has gained the trust of a number of high-profile multifamily businesses to elevate both their marketing and their people. Options include leasing process optimization and closing leases much more quickly thanks to making it much easier for every level of your management company to function. Meanwhile, ACE provides conversational virtual leasing assistance that can field not just calls but texts and chats even when there’s nobody at the office to answer.
While ResMan is often used in the commercial real estate industry, it’s also become highly popular with investors, owners, and operators of affordable and multifamily residential dwellings, making it good for inclusion in this list. Based around a single platform that aims for intuitive use, ResMan makes use of both scalable and open architecture that focuses on streamlining comprehensive property management, reporting, and accounting abilities while also remaining highly flexible thanks to its expanded product suite. Known for making complex tasks simpler thanks to its well-designed user interface and user experience, ResMan focuses on offering higher efficiencies and time savings across the entirety of your residential property management duties.
Looking for something that doesn’t require you to maintain and manage massive amounts of digital infrastructure in your office? TenantCloud is the answer. A cloud-based property management solution that is ideal for aiding landlords who want their rental properties to perform to their maximum potential, this free and comprehensive solution offers property managers every tool they could possibly need to keep their organization firing on all cylinders at all times. TenantCloud covers just about everything, from screening applications, posting listings, collecting rental payments over the internet. On top of that, its user-friendly interface makes the complete rental process as streamlined as possible to ensure landlords get the most return from their investments from maintenance to backend accounting and much more.
Offering the ultimate in integration while also providing an easy to manage and intuitive user experience, AppFolio makes it easy to run your entire residential leasing portfolio through one thoroughly modern management platform. AppFolio has the tools your property management team requires to keep both residents and owners happy by providing top-level service. This management platform is ideal for many different residential environments, from single-family homes, multifamily complexes, community associations, and much more. Highlighted features like built-in screening, support for online leases, applications, and payments, online self-service portals for both owners and renters, mobile inspections, maintenance requests, accounting and reporting, bulk text messaging, and seamless mobile app connectivity round out AppFolio’s capabilities.
