Setting up your tenants for success is an essential part of any property management business. Bookkeeping, property maintenance, and marketing your properties can all fall to the wayside if you’re busy chasing down rent checks and following up on lease agreements. By leveraging technology, you’ll be able to automate redundant parts of the business, giving you the time and control to not only manage the business, but also to grow it.
What Is Tenant Management Software?
Tenant management software simplifies property and tenant management with online rent collection, tenant screening, and maintenance tools. And with the help of automation, the right software can help boost your bottom line, reduce operational costs, and improve tenant retention.
Technology helps tenants, too. It can remind them of upcoming bills, provide multiple payment options, and offer a clear line of communication with you, so nothing gets lost in long email chains and text threads. Before we dive too deep into the details of the benefits of tenant management software, let’s talk about the specific features you should look out for.
Key Features of Tenant Management Software
With so many software options out there, the best software solution isn’t necessarily the most popular, nor the highest rated, but the one that fulfills the specific needs of your business. So before you find the right software for you, conduct an audit. Take stock of which activities will help grow your business, and which tasks are slowing you down. Use this as a guide to map out which features help solve your biggest challenges, then identify which software excels in those areas.
Tenant Portal
A tenant portal serves as your tenant’s home base. A place where they can do everything from sign lease agreements to pay rent to submit maintenance requests. This gives tenants a one-stop shop to handle all their responsibilities.
A portal also allows you to push maintenance announcements, manage maintenance requests, store important files, and automatically remind tenants of upcoming payments. It’s a two-way communication tool that keeps you organized while keeping you and your tenants on the same page.
Lead-to-Lease Tools
The lead-to-lease process is a multi-step process that guides a prospective tenant through the steps to becoming a renter. From syndicating your listings to signing lease documents, each step can be labor-intensive, especially when you don’t have one tool to manage the entire process. For example, an effective lead-to-lease tool will allow a prospect to apply, get a background check, sign the lease, and pay their deposit within one platform—without you having to re-enter the data or jump from one platform to another.
Online Rent Collection
One of the biggest reasons Apple Pay and Amazon have been so successful is the one-step checkout process. Similarly, providing tenants a simple option to pay will encourage on-time payments, improve cash flow, and reduce processing time, getting your money into your bank account faster.
The best online rent collection tools also automate deductions, allow you to collect late fees, and track payment history in one place. A comprehensive tool will also collect all your transaction data and pass it onto your accounting system.
Rental Listing Management and Marketing
Even the best rental properties don’t sell themselves. They require competitive marketing tactics to attract high-quality renters.
The first way to do that is with listing syndication. The best tenant management software enables you to upload your properties with one touch to all the major listing sites, update all the information on one dashboard, upload photos once, and even collect leads.
A property website is a great way to build your brand and get more applicants, as well. Your tenant management software can help you build a branded website that not only displays your listings, but gives tenants access to messaging boards, tenant portals, and communication tools, as well.
Maintenance Requests
Tenant management software allows property managers to schedule, track, and manage maintenance requests and repairs. It serves as a project management tool to help organize and prioritize maintenance tasks while keeping all the data in one place. For example, your vendor payments should be recorded in your accounting system, while alerting tenants of any important status updates automatically.
Accounting and Taxes
Accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, tax preparation, and expense tracking are all critical tasks to measuring the health of your business and identifying how to grow it. The best tenant management software ensures your books are accurate by recording every transaction automatically—every vendor payment, rent payment, fee collection, and more.
Purpose-built accounting software designed specifically for property businesses is essential because spreadsheets and generic apps don’t scale very well. While basic tools might manage one or two properties effectively, you’ll soon find yourself needing a reliable solution that records trustworthy data. Property management comes with unique challenges that generic accounting solutions fail to address, as well, particularly when it comes to following property-specific and location-specific tax codes.
Analytics and Reporting
Business performance benchmarks don’t stop at revenue. It should include data points that provide a holistic view of business activity, as well. For example, your tenant management software should provide in-depth answers to critical questions like:
- How many tenants are using online payments?
- Which tenants have not missed a payment? Delinquencies?
- How many maintenance requests are coming in? Are they being taken care of in a timely manner?
- What are your turnover rates and vacancy losses?
- How are tasks being distributed amongst your team?
1. Buildium
Great All-in-One Property Management Software for Tenant Management and More
Buildium® is a comprehensive tenant management software that serves property portfolios of all types and sizes. Built with property managers in mind, Buildium handles the day-to-day and includes a full suite of lead-to-lease features packaged in a simple-to-use user interface.
Features
Buildium offers a wide range of tenant management features you can choose from. These include:
- A centralized Resident Center where tenants can pay rent, communicate with property managers, submit maintenance requests, access community message boards, and more.
- Automated online payments for rent, fees, and bills. Reduce payment processing time by up to 70%, allow tenants to set up recurring payments, and set up automatic reminders.
- A maintenance portal where residents can submit requests and upload photos directly from any device.
- Community boards where tenants can share news, activities, updates, and items for sale.
- A Maintenance Contact Center that will answer and managers your tenants’ maintenance calls 24/7, log incoming tasks onto Buildium, and dispatch preferred contacts during emergencies
- Secure document library where tenants can access leases and associated documents.
- Tenant screening, powered by TransUnion®, provides access to full credit, criminal, and eviction data.
Buildium offers a wide range of integrations, too. Buildium Marketplace is an ecosystem of partners that integrates with Buildium seamlessly. The Marketplace features tenant management solutions such as:
- ShowingHero®: Streamlines communication and automate leasing coordination and showings
- PetScreening®: Verifies assistance animal accommodation requests (like ESAs) and screens pets for housing-related risks nationwide
- Gravy®: Offers renters rewards like credit building and 5% cash back on rent each month for free to incentivize on-time payments and lease renewals
- Obligo®: Provides a flexible deposit alternative by allowing renters to skip paying a deposit for a small non-refundable fee
- ButterflyMX®: Provides a secure, convenient and affordable intercom system that is also accessible by smartphone
- Nutiliti®: Activates utility services (electricity, water, gas, internet) and manages tenant billing for property managers
- Citizen Home Solutions®: Manages communication and sets up power, water, gas, cable, internet, security, and other utilities
- Opiniion®: Provides tool, services, and support to measure and manage the tenant experience from move-in to move-out
Buildium’s other property management features include:
- A mobile app that allows you, your tenants, and your owners to text, pay, and communicate wherever you are
- Online marketing through a free website builder, listing syndication, online applications, tenant screening, and online lease signing
- Business performance metrics via a suite of reporting tools, as well as Analytics & Insights that report on a wide range of business metrics including tenant on-time payment rates, turnover, vacancy losses, and more
- Automated electronic payments and accounting, as well as 1099 eFiling
Pricing
Buildium offers three tiers of pricing. All plans include:
- Accounting
- Maintenance
- Online Portals
- Resident & Board Member Communications
- Task Management
- Violations
The three tiers accommodate the evolving needs of property management businesses at various growth stages:
Essential: Starting at $55/month, Essential includes Buildium’s core features. This is the best choice for property management companies who are looking for accounting and task management tools.
Growth: Starting at $174/month, this plan offers property managers looking to grow without worrying about scaling costs. It includes reduced incoming EFT, unlimited eSignatures, and actionable insights in the Analytics Hub.
Premium: Starting at $375/month, this plan serves property management firms looking to add automation into their workflows and increase efficiency. It includes everything in Growth, unlimited incoming EFT (fees waived), plus access to Buildium’s Open API and Priority Support.
2. Propertyware
Fully Customizable Software with Tenant Management Features
Propertyware® is a fully customizable property management tool that allows property managers to control every aspect of their portfolio. Built for portfolios with single-family homes, Propertyware offers tenant management tools for businesses looking to tailor the software to their liking.
Features
Customization is the name of the game for Propertyware. With custom fields, dashboards, and reports, it makes it easy to pull your business metrics for internal staff, owners, and investors. Its open API also makes it easy to integrate with other property management software or build their own.
Propertyware’s tenant management-specific features include:
- AI-powered tenant screening solution from Propertyware uses a credit scoring model that measures a tenant’s ability to pay and willingness to pay.
- Centralized tenant management with complete tenant profiles, ledgers, documents, and communication in one place
- Electronic signatures to get online applications, leases, management agreements, inspections, and turnovers signed quickly and securely
- Electronic payments for rent and fees via ACH, credit card, debit card, or by scanning a check
Pricing
Propertyware offers three tiers: Basic, Plus, and Premium.
- Basic starts at $1 per unit per month, with a $250 minimum.
- Plus starts at $1.50, with a $350 minimum
- Premium starts at $2 with a $450 minimum
All plans charge 2x the monthly subscription price for implementation.
3. TenantCloud
Software to Support the Rental Experience for Tenants
TenantCloud® is a well-reviewed property management software. While they provide tools that include lead management, financial reporting, team management, marketing, and electronic signatures, the core features are built around the tenant renting experience.
Features
TenantCloud’s has a handful of useful features for managing tenants and properties.
- Tenant screening includes a background check, credit check, and full report that includes criminal, credit, and eviction history.
- Customizable rental applications allow potential tenants to view, schedule a tour, send questions, or apply directly from the listing. You can also collect application fees if necessary.
- Build, customize, or upload lease agreements and invite tenants to sign electronically.
- Allow roommates to pay individual portions of rent, giving them access and control to lease information and transactions with their own accounts.
- Tenants can submit maintenance requests with videos, photos, and text descriptions.
- Rent reporting that logs on-time payments.
- Maintenance bidding allows you to get maintenance quotes from local service providers.
Pricing
TenantCloud has four pricing tiers: Starter, Growth, Pro, and Business.
Starter is $15.60/month and includes features such as lead generation, lead tracking, e-signatures, and accounting reports.
The Growth plan costs $29.30 per month and includes more sophisticated tools for creating and storing leases along with other documents, lead tracking CRM, owner portals, and property message boards.
The Pro plan is $50.40 per month and is the most popular option. It includes everything in the Starter and Growth plans, but includes tax reports, application customizations, Google Calendar sync, Quickbooks integrations, and vendor management.
Finally, the Business plan is dynamically priced depending on your needs. You’ll have access to team and task management tools, and auto-refresh for listings.
The Starter, Growth, and Pro plans allow for 10, 15, and 20 lead text responses per month, respectively. TenantCloud’s more expensive plan includes a custom number of text at “volume pricing.”
In terms of support, tech support begins at the Starter plan, while phone support is only available beginning with the Pro plan.
4. Doorspot
Tenant Management Software that Covers the Basics
DoorSpot® is a no-frills tenant management software for property managers, investors, and landlords with multi-property portfolios. On top of their centralized tenant management tools, they also provide portfolio management and property maintenance features.
Features
DoorSpot’s tenant management features include:
- The ability to conduct background checks for prospective tenants, including motor vehicle history and criminal checks
- A communication portal to send email and texts directly from the app
- A search feature to help you look for tenants and all their information
- A tenant contact book with contact information, profile images, and other details
- A tenant portal where tenants can request maintenance service and users can log project description, pictures, and timeframes
Pricing
Doorspot’s Core plan is the basic plan for up to 200 units that starts at $54 per month for annual contracts. This plan doesn’t include credit card and ACH rent payments.
The Premium plan is for portfolios up to 500 units, starting at $83 per month.
High Volume plan is for larger portfolios and is priced upon request.
5. Rentroom
Tenant Management Software with Communication Tools
Rentroom® is a newer property management software that helps automate and streamline rent collection, maintenance, accounting, communication, and leasing. Although operated by a smaller team, it has a wide range of simple tools to help manage your tenants.
Features
Rentroom’s most important features include:
- Lead-to-lease tools, including customizable applications and links that embed directly into your website
- A grid-like interface to ensure applicants and prospects are moving smoothly down the pipeline
- E-signatures that allow parental guarantors and co-signers to support leases
- Customizable leasing templates that are saved in a tenant portal
- A tenant communication portal to communicate with tenants directly on the platform, or through SMS, phone, or email.
- Automated mass-communications to segments of your rental portfolio for important announcements
- Personalization tools to send targeted messages at scale based on your tenant’s information like pets, cars, or location
Pricing
Rentroom offers four pricing plans: starter, basic, growth, and max.
The Starter plan begins at $49.99 per month for under 15 tenants. This includes online payments, maintenance ticketing, rental syndication, tenant screening, reporting, vendor management, and basic support.
The Basic plan begins at $74.99 per month and includes everything in the starter plan, but offers unlimited properties, tenants, and users, and phone support.
The Growth plan starts at $149.99 per month and includes everything from the basic plan. Additions include custom rental applications, eLeasing, and communication centers.
The Max plan starts at $249.99 per month and includes everything from the growth plan plus advanced accounting, QuickBooks online integration, and a dedicated account manager.
6. RentRedi
Tenant Management Software for Smaller Portfolios
RentRedi® is a property management app designed for landlords and property managers with smaller portfolios. They offer a host of features to manage rentals, receive payments, screen applicants, and list properties.
Features
While RentRedi offers a handful of lead-to-lease features, here are the tenant management-specific features that stand out:
- Online rent payments including ACH, credit card, debit card, cash or via Chime®
- Direct integration with Sure® insurance to receive affordable renter’s insurance
- On-time rent payment reporting to TransUnion or Experian®
- Applications and e-signature via mobile
- In-app maintenance repair requests with videos and photos
Pricing
RentRedi’s pricing structure changes depending on your payment schedule.
A month-to-month contract begins at $29.95 per month. The 6-month contract begins at $19.95 per month. The annual contract begins at $12 per month. However, the RentRedi base plan does not include accounting features, so it may not be the best option if bookkeeping is a priority.
7. Avail
Software to Help Guide Renters from Applicant to Tenant
Avail® is a freemium-based property management software owned and operated by realtor.com®. It aims to help managers and owners find tenants, conduct background checks, sign leases, and collect rent on any device.
Features
Avail includes all the standard tools to run a property management business. Here are the key tenant management features that stand out:
- Renter profiles that help tenants avoid application fees, multiple credit check hits, and resubmitting personal information
- Online rent payments via autopay and report it directly to CreditBoost®.
- Split payments for roommates via the app
- Customizable rental applications that request residence history, employment and income verification, and more
- Thorough tenant screening that includes TransUnion credit reports, background checks, and eviction history
- Maintenance request submission via the app, which property managers can update, handle, track
Pricing
Avail is a freemium product. The free version is called Unlimited, and includes everything we discussed in the previous section. The Unlimited Plus version, which costs $7 per unit, includes upgrades like waived ACH payments, customizable rental applications, and a website builder.
8. ResMan
Tenant Management Software for Affordable Housing and Multifamily Units
ResMan® is a low-cost tenant management software designed for multifamily and affordable housing managers. They offer standard accounting, budgeting, maintenance, and reporting tools on top of tenant management features.
Features
Resman’s main tenant management features include:
- Chatbots that combine automation and live human interactions with live agents
- Resident credit builder that helps renters build their credit score by making on-time rent payments
- A tenant portal that gives residents the option to submit and manage maintenance requests, access important documents, make payments, see events, get package notifications, and communicate with owners or managers
- Resident screening that uses a risk evaluation model that takes criminal records, identity, employment, residence history into account
Pricing
ResMan’s pricing isn’t listed at this time. You’ll have to contact their sales team to receive a custom quote.
Which Tenant Management Software Is Best for You?
As you can see, each software solution offers something different. The best way to determine the right fit for you is to match up your business priorities with the capabilities of each platform you’re evaluating.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive suite of tools that makes it easy to not only manage tenants, but run your entire business more efficiently, Buildium is one of the best options out there. From tenant portals to background checks and accounting, Buildium is an all-in-one solution that grows with your business. If you have existing tools you love, Buildium has a vast marketplace of integration partners and an Open API, so you don’t have to change what’s already working for you.
To be confident in your investment, we recommend putting whatever software you’re considering to the test. Buildium offers a no-risk, 14-day free trial, so you can see what more efficient tenant management looks like in action.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose the right tenant management software for my needs?
The first step is to write down the most important and time-consuming tasks of running your business. Performing an audit will help you prioritize where your biggest inefficiencies are and help you focus on software that delivers the most value to you.
From there, test out your top contenders through a demo or free trial. This can give you a better idea of what it feels like to use the software for specific tasks on a day-to-day basis. Some tools can be tricky to properly utilize right out of the gate, so be sure that there’s adequate customer support, onboarding, and training resources available to help you get the most of the software.
How can tenant management software help me grow and scale my business?
Tenant management software can help automate or speed up the most critical parts of your business. It allows property managers and owners to be more productive without extra overhead. It ultimately sets tenants up for success – which can lead to more on-time payments, happier tenants, and lower turnover.
How much does tenant management software cost?
The prices of tenant management software can vary depending on your needs. There are plenty of free tools to get your feet wet, but most robust tools will have a monthly fee. The best way to save is to sign up for annual plans or work directly with a sales team to get a customized quote to fit your needs.
Can tenant management software integrate with other tools or platforms?
In order to fit the specific needs of your business, the best tenant management software will offer a robust network of partners or integrations that plug directly into your workflow without any additional code. They should also have an open API to allow you to pass your data onto other software outside of their integration offerings.
