Managing a rental property involves overseeing tenants, finances, and maintenance requests. From the paperwork and accounting to property inspections, handling the daily operations takes a lot of work. Rental property owners often turn to property managers when they lack the time or expertise to maintain the properties and deal with individual tenants. But the technology now exists to keep everything organized and running smoothly.

Rental property management software centralizes the tools necessary to communicate with tenants, manage lease applications, collect payments, track expenses, and handle maintenance requests. It streamlines the management tasks landlords or property managers need to perform to create a pleasant experience for the tenants and increase the property's value.

Property management software centralizes lease and resident data, ensuring accurate and up-to-date property ledgers. It helps property managers and landlords run and manage rental properties more efficiently, as the tool also automates day-to-day tasks like rent collection and maintenance requests.

This article outlines five of the best rental property management software in 2024. Read further and find out which one matches your requirements and budget.

#1 TurboTenant

Overview

TurboTenant simplifies the entire rental process and property management with its user-friendly features. It is known for its clean interface and easy-to-use tools for marketing rental listings, screening tenants, creating lease agreements, and collecting rent online. The platform also includes an integrated accounting system, e-signature capabilities, and a mobile app for landlords to stay updated on the go.

This property management software is intuitive to use and requires minimal setup effort. Once a listing is posted, landlords can manage leads in one place, and the software handles reminders and cancellations once availability is set. It provides insights into potential tenants' rental, criminal, and eviction history at no extra cost to the landlord. Additionally, it helps property owners coordinate and track maintenance requests once a tenant has moved in.

TurboTenant is also beneficial for tenants. It helps them build their credit history, stay in touch, and pay rent on time. The platform can automatically reports on-time rent payments, allowing tenants to improve their credit scores and achieve financial goals, such as getting approval for a car loan or mortgage. It reduces late rent payments by incentivizing on-time payments.

This rental property management software is free to use, yet some of its features are locked down to the Premium plan. Charged at $9.92/month, TurboTenant can save landlords time, effort, and money with features that simplify the rental process for property owners, property managers, and tenants.

Features

Online Rent Collection

Landlords have the option to establish automated late fees for tenants to ensure timely rent payments and TurboTenant sends email reminders to tenants regarding any impending or outstanding charges. The rental property management software also provides a comprehensive overview of payments through the Payments Dashboard, which is fully integrated with accounting systems to keep all accounts current.

Automated Property Marketing

TurboTenant uses AI to create an attractive title and description for rental property listings. The software then shares the listing with major rental listing websites that attract high-quality leads, helping landlords fill vacancies quickly. Landlords can also manage incoming leads, schedule showings for potential renters, and send rental applications through the app.

Rental Application Forms

Landlords can use rental application forms to assess potential tenants more effectively. Applicants provide personal information, preferences, housing history, past addresses, and contact details of previous landlords. This helps property owners determine whether the applicant is trustworthy and suitable for the vacancy. With the Premium plan, landlords can also use the Income Insights tool to verify applicant-reported income by comparing it to data from TransUnion, one of the three reputable credit bureaus that collects and maintains consumer credit reports.

Lease Agreement Generation

TurboTenant simplifies the creation of lease agreements, an essential part of the property management process. Landlords can easily input standard information such as lease terms, duration, monthly rent, etc., as well as any unique details about the rental unit. This allows them to generate a legally binding lease that can be sent to the tenants within minutes.

Showing Schedule

Property owners or managers can set the time or availability for showings directly on TurboTenant. The landlord app reminds them whenever an applicant is scheduled for a rental property showing.

Maintenance Management

Landlords who subscribe to TurboTenant's Maintenance Plus can put maintenance requests on autopilot. They also gain access to top-rated, fairly priced vendors in the rental location when a professional is needed to resolve the issue. If not, the software allows users to manage maintenance requests easily and work with their own handyman to resolve issues.

Reasons to consider:

• Automatic payments

• Unlimited listings

• Ease of use

• State-specific leases

Reasons to avoid:

• Most features are exclusive to the paid Premium plan.

#2 REI Hub

Overview

REI Hub makes investment property bookkeeping more efficient and less stressful for rental property owners and real estate investors. It works well for multi-unit properties and short-term rentals, as well as mid-term and long-term rentals, and it is built with smart automation to keep an accurate record of rental income and expenses. This accounting software connects to the owner's bank account and automatically imports transactions, eliminating manual data entry and facilitating a convenient bookkeeping experience.

REI Hub displays the rentals on a property-by-property basis. Landlords can easily view the performance for each unit or the entire portfolio from the accounting software. They can also track leases and store receipts, as the bookkeeping platform keeps all key records in one location.

REI Hub also tracks property loans and automatically splits the monthly mortgage payments into principal, interest, and escrow amounts, resulting in a true picture of the rental property's financial impact. Property owners can view or export all major reports from the accounting software, ensuring a transparent account of all expenses, including the rents received.

The accounting software offers a 14-day free trial, with no credit card required. The price ranges from $15/month to $80/month. REI Hub grants access to all features for all subscription plans. For landlords who own a large portfolio of rental properties, the Professional plan is the best choice for its unlimited units.

Features

Automated Mortgage Accounting

Property owners can set up a template for their mortgage payments. REI Hub automatically splits it into principal pay down, interest expense, and escrow contribution. It can eliminate the errors caused by manual calculations through its smart automation.

Rules and Recurring Transactions

REI Hub offers a Rules system to match transactions based on description or amount to specific properties and revenues. Property owners can leverage this system to spend less time dealing with recurring transactions and organizing them for cost reconciliation and faster bookkeeping.

Receipts and Document Storage

This accounting software keeps the records safe in the cloud. From receipts to lease agreement forms, landowners can easily upload them using REI Hub. Moreover, they can access full financial reports and tax-ready IRS schedule e-reports from the app. It gives a comprehensive financial report for Profit and Loss, Statement of Cash Flows, and the Balance Sheet.

Fixed Asset Tracking

Besides tracking leases, REI Hub can also track Fixed Assets (including capital expenses) and accumulated depreciation. Landlords can know which items like appliances and furniture need preventive maintenance or replacements.

Reasons to consider:

• Property-centric bookkeeping

• Pre-configured for easy IRS Schedule E-reporting

Reasons to avoid:

• Limited for bookkeeping solutions

#3 Rentec Direct

Overview

Rentec Direct consolidates the tools needed to manage rental properties of various sizes and complexities, from payment collection and bookkeeping to tenant screening and reporting systems. It also provides a free professional website to promote a company and listings online.

Rentec Direct caters to landlords and property managers. It operates on the cloud, so anyone can access the property management software online and through any device. It provides a user-friendly interface, ensuring a seamless experience when managing leases and tenants or tracking portfolio performance.

This property management software maintains a lower price than many competitors, starting at $45/month for 25 units. It offers a 10% discount for annual subscriptions.

Rentec Direct offers free setup and onboarding, including a Tenant Portal Mobile app, so tenants can easily pay their rent online, submit maintenance requests, or purchase renter's insurance through their mobile devices. Interested customers can avail a free trial of the rental property management software for 2 weeks.

Features

Online Tenant Payments

Rentect Direct automates the rent collection through online payments (eCheck/ACH/credit card), which takes the hassle out of manually collecting rent each month. The rent collection app tracks and records every payment made by tenants who can also set up recurring payments to avoid paying additional charges.

Tenant Portal

Tenants can submit work orders, make electronic payments, or stay in touch through the tenant portal. It also displays their statements, lease agreements, and property notices. It improves renter relations and increases retention.

Tenant Screening

Landlords and property managers can directly pull credit and criminal background reports by using the rent property management software. It can also show nationwide eviction searches, SSN validation, and other information at the click of a button. Tenant screening keeps them protected from renters who have low credit scores or grave criminal charges.

Reasons to consider:

• Award-winning

• Bank-grade security

• Free professional website

• Insurance protection

Reasons to avoid:

• Setting up properties and their perimeters takes some time.

• UI could be updated

#4 AppFolio

Overview

AppFolio streamlines and automates real estate management. It is an intuitive and scalable platform with three distinct plans for running a rental property portfolio. The pricing starts at $1.50 to $5 per unit/month. Interested customers can also customize the plan by selecting value-added services like a leasing CRM, online payments, smart maintenance, premium listing, etc.

Features

Centralized Communication

Property managers can easily contact residents via text, email, and even mail by using AppFolio. Every communication gets stored in a system of record for easy retrieval. The platform also offers an online portal where renters can submit online requests, make payments, or request maintenance. It also offers a dedicated mobile app where users can easily stay connected while on the go.

Online Maintenance Workflows

AppFolio can also show the status of work orders, ensuring issues are resolved quickly to maintain a satisfactory experience for the tenants. Property managers can also manage online maintenance requests and communicate with the in-house maintenance team through property management software. It also provides other tools for maintenance management, such as a unit turn board, common area maintenance, mobile violations, and tracking.

Robust Accounting System

AppFolio integrates a robust accounting system that captures every transaction in one centralized database and generates actionable insights through advanced automation. The rental property management software can read PDF invoices, identify key information, and record any input into the system through its smart bill entry, improving data accuracy and increasing efficiency for admin-related tasks.

Moreover, anyone using AppFolio can build custom analytics, integrations, and data processes. It gives enterprise-level control to read/write access to its database through its API and industry-leading documentation validated by its partners.

AI Leasing Assistant

AppFolio frees valuable time through its AI leasing assistant. It can respond quickly to leasing inquiries and handles showing schedules automatically. It removes distractions for the leasing team and impresses prospects with helpful answers.

Reasons to consider:

• Flexible pricing

• Automated workflows

• Customizable

• AI assistant (excluded from the standard plan)

Reasons to avoid:

• It may be more expensive due to excluded features

#5 DoorLoop

Overview

DoorLoop simplifies property management for landlords and property managers by automating tasks like tenant and lease tracking, rent collection, accounting and reporting, etc. It provides a dedicated onboarding specialist and world-class support for its customers with free educational resources to help them manage any portfolio. The prices start at $59/month for the first 20 units.

All of its plans have free updates, training, support, and data migration. Customers can cancel at any time and export their data to another property management software.

Features

Owner Portal

DoorLoop offers an owner portal where users can securely share files and provide timely updates. It is secured with military-grade encryption. It also gives access to tenant inquiries like maintenance requests or important messages. Moreover, it also contains a real-time dashboard that displays any outstanding balance, profit, and loss snapshots.

Work Order and Maintenance Management

Property managers can create work orders directly from DoorLoop, determine urgency levels, and track their progress in just a few clicks. It keeps them proactive in addressing maintenance requests submitted via the tenant portal so they can hire a vendor to resolve the issue promptly.

Reasons to consider:

• Secure

• Dedicated mobile app and onboarding specialist

• QuickBooks integration

Reasons to avoid:

• Limited document storage for the starter plan

• No option to change currencies for each tenant

Conclusion

Running a rental property business takes a lot of effort and expendable resources. From collecting rent to addressing maintenance requests, landlords and property managers need a toolset that can remove the pain points of property management.

Each solution outlined offers a unique selling point like an AI assistant, professional website, or state-specific leases. Choose the best rental property management software that fits the budget, provides the most seamless user experience, and has the features for different use cases.