Topic: Looking for a Property Management Software

Looking for a comprehensive and cost effective Property Management Software. Please provide your ratings on your current software in addition to the pro's and cons.

Example:
Name: XYZ software
Company: extreme software
Company website: www.extremesoftware.com
Trail Offered: 30 day
Cost: $999
Pro: Easy to use, assists in establishing accurate budgets,includes individual and multi late notice notifications, etc...
Con: No support, bugs, no full reports, no mail merge capabilities, etc...



Any input would be greatly appreciated

Hi Angel,

Quickbooks Pro
Pro: Universal accounting, no double entry in property management and accounting software, easy to do reports and taxes, cheap, many other users doing property management with it, no annual licensing requirements
Con: not a fully custimized property management focused solution, requires some industry specific reports to be done offline

Ron Seay
www.TheSeayGroup.com

Hello Ron,
Thanks for the immediate response. The software must incorporate sections for multiple rental properties, ability to generate monthly reports, in addition to 3-day notice reminders, late fees, etc... The amount of software for the industry has grown over 500% in the past five years. Unfortunately, only 10% provides the necessary tools, and ease of use. Time is of the essence, so I hope to hear from more of our members to gauge real time opinions.

Have a Merry and a Happy!

Yardi:
Pro: The gold standard. Does it all.
Con: Costly. Steep implementation and learning curve

Propertyware:
Pro: In the "cloud". Easy to use. No updates needed. Accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.
Con: In the "cloud". Not easily customized but overall a good system for the money.

Most all systems will interface with Quickbooks. Quickbooks as a stand alone system, even with the purchase of off-brand add-ons, was/is not intended to be a professional property management solution.


Daniel Peery // CIRC - Commercial Investment Research Center // (573) 234-4886 // This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. // www.CIRCLoan.com

Just a thought- it seems that a lot of people in the industry put so much thought into property management software. What it can do, how much time it saves etc. What I do not see is the same thought and concern going into the screening company. I have seen in the past where some have paid too much attention to what a product may or may not look like, instead of the helpful information. For example: company A has this software it can tell you how many people stopped in & applied that day. Whereas company B's report saved me from renting to someone with previous evictions and a $3000 rental collections.

Maybe I am just partial but I think more thought should go into the information, the substance of the report, not what it looks like and so forth.

Take Care :)

We are switching to appfolio right now getting ready for a 1/1/10 launch. LOVE IT!

PRO: everything! It is web based so you can access it from anywhere. great staff that is so helpful and loves their product. they are in development and constantly tweaking it to make it better. includes all updates. ACH, maintenance, tags, reporting, the list goes on and on.

CON: while it is not cost prohibitive, you do pay a monthly (annual with price break) fee. maintenance module is not conducive if you service properties outside your portfolio. We use quickbooks for that.

PRICE: I think it is $1-2 per unit. somewhere in that range.

Check out this review...

We would highly recommend this software!!

The Video is really very good.

Anyone with experience using propertyware vs appfolio? Weighing my options currently between these two solutions.

(Since this message was left anonymously, we can't contact directly, but whoever posted this review, will you please contact us ? Thanks!)

It's funny that you post right now because we are getting ready to switch our property management software right now. We have been using Rent Manager but I have a free trial period with Buildium and I like it so far. I thought it looked good because of the same reasons you switched to Propertyware. I didn't look into Propertyware but Buildium is only about .35 per unit/month. I'd like to know if anyone is using Buildium and what their experience has been like.

Hi Kallie,
What property management software do you recomend

Thanks
Jason

We use Yardi software

Recommend or use? Two different answers I'm afraid.

I would recommend Yardi if your accounting needs were similiar to ours.

I have been using Buildium for five years. I would NOT recommend it, if you're a serious, professional property management company. They have a lot of weaknesses, but you won't see some of them until you start to get into it. But, definitely look at their reports and you'll begin to see some fundamental weaknesses in their accounting module.

Anonymous,

I would love to help with any issues you may have with Buildium, but, alas, your identity is unknown.

For property managers who are interested in software to manage their businesses more efficiently and profitability, please visit us at buildium dot com and take a free trial and see for yourself.

Thank you for the comment, Anonymous!

Jim Gallant
Content Strategist
Buildium

Curious to know how the appfolio users who have recently switched are finding the service?