If you haven’t started using property management software for your real estate business yet, now is the time to start. Property management software is designed specifically to help landlords save time and money — and it’ll make your tenants’ experience better too.
Good property management software will include several useful features that’ll make your job as a landlord more convenient and efficient.
Here are five of the best features that property management software can offer:
Table of Contents
Tenant Screening
One of the first steps of managing a property is also one of the most important. If you don’t screen tenants effectively, you could end up with bad tenants who cost you a lot more time and money down the road. The last thing you want on your hands is a costly eviction.
Property management software offers access to important information about prospective tenants, including credit history, criminal records, and past evictions. When it comes to performing in-depth tenant screening, you’ll also want to ask your applicants for customized information that will help you gauge whether they meet your standards (references, pay stubs, information on pets, smoking habits, etc.). Property management software makes it possible to easily receive and organize this information, which is especially useful when you have multiple applicants to keep track of.
Lease Management
Property management software allows you to digitally manage and sign leases and other documents. What used to take days to complete manually can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes. This means fewer showings, which saves you time and money.
When drafting a lease, you can create reusable templates that automatically insert key information such as start and end dates. And when it comes time to sign, studies show that electronic signatures reduce document turnaround time by 80%.
Digital document management also allows you to stay organized and easily and instantaneously access any documents you or your tenants may need.
Online Rent Collection
This is one of the most popular features of property management software, and with good reason. Collecting rent online saves you and your tenants so much time and hassle compared to cash or checks. You don’t have to coordinate schedules to receive rent in person, you don’t have to go to the bank to deposit the payments, and you don’t have to worry about losing physical paper money.
With features such as automated payments and reminders, online rent collection reduces the likelihood of late payments. And by giving tenants the option to pay via credit card, debit card, or ACH payment, property management software offers a ton of flexibility. It’s easy to see why nearly 80% of tenants prefer to pay rent online.
Communication with Tenants
Tenants consider communication with their landlord to be the highest priority as renters, but for landlords, it tends to be more of an afterthought. It’s important not to shrug off good communication, as it strengthens the landlord-tenant relationship, which in turn decreases the likelihood of having issues and increases the likelihood of having long-term renters.
Property management software makes it easier than ever for tenants and landlords to communicate with one another. Automated reminders, automated messages, and maintenance ticket chats allow both parties to remain open with one another while staying up to date on payments and requests.
Maintenance Management
Even though it isn’t fun to deal with, maintenance requests are inevitable as a landlord or property manager. On average, landlords get six maintenance requests per year. So when it comes to maintenance management, making things as easy as possible for everyone is the name of the game.
Property management software allows tenants to easily submit tickets with detailed descriptions and photos of the maintenance issue. This makes it easy for you as the landlord to assess the request and assign it to the appropriate vendor (plumber, electrician, locksmith, etc.).
Conclusion
These five features are some of the most critical to consider when making the switch to property management software. With these tools, you can save so much time and energy on tedious tasks, which will make life easier for you, your staff, and your tenants.
