Back in the day, if you wanted to increase your chances of selling a property, you’d have to call the local newspaper, pay a little bit for a classified ad, and wait by the phone. A straightforward process, right? Not at all.
While many real estate professionals still work this way, if you’re reading this post you probably know that’s not the most efficient and up-to-date method.
Software that Leaves You to Be The Agent
Property management and real estate software help property owners, real estate companies and real estate developers manage commercial and residential properties, allowing their users to handle online applications and lease agreements, posting for new vacancies (and their fulfilments), automatically collect rents, screen for tenants, and more.
In short, you can use this software to make sure your time and efforts are directed towards the most important things: Growing your portfolio, getting new customers, and closing deals.
So, What Should You Get?
In today’s market, looking for software —especially when you don’t know exactly what you should look for— can be incredibly challenging. Because of this, we’ve compiled a list with some of the most popular tools and their strengths and weaknesses; to help you choose the one that can fit your current property management needs better.
Pros: Yardi is one of the most popular real estate tools in the market, and it’s most frequently used by medium-sized agencies. In fact, Yardi seems to shine whenever there’s big work to do: Known to be ideal for simultaneous property management and development, its users also recommend Yardi for companies with plenty of properties to manage, allowing you to break down expenses all the way down to the nitty-gritty details.
Cons: This tool, like any, has its downsides, so we have to address them: While extremely recommended for medium and big-sized companies, small ones might need to find other options. This is due to Yardi’s interface being “difficult to use, or even messy” according to reviewers, therefore requiring time and effort in order to make the most out of it.
Final verdict: Recommended for developers and medium- to large-sized companies. It may not be the best for small agencies and independent agents.
Pros: AppFolio is the ideal tool for property managers who like to list their properties all over the web. With tremendous compatibility and interconnectivity, this interface allows users to input and change their data using centralized software, which then distributes it according to their preferences. Being the enormous time saver it is, AppFolio also allows mobile access, which results in improved service quality for tenants.
Cons: This tool’s greatest liability seems to be its financial statements interface, which “still lacks the options and flexibility” to break down all of the details that a bigger real estate agency or developer requires, according to reviewers.
Final verdict: Ideal for companies that only manage rentals or do not need to constantly issue out financial statements.
Pros: Management and records are Buildium’s strong suit, providing users with an interface that’s easy to use and update. Database lovers may also benefit from this tool’s tenant information center, and highly-organized users will without a doubt take advantage from their day-to-day task management feature. However, Buildium’s strongest feature may be their subscription scheme, which allows users to work on a monthly subscription basis with access to 24/7 customer service.
Cons: While Buildium is marketed towards smaller users, which heavily rely on communications with their customers, this tool does not perform too well in this area. Users cite problems with using the email and file uploading features; as well as some interconnectivity issues that may make you want to hold on the human side of your customer service.
Final verdict: Great for beginners and small companies, but keep in mind that you may not be able to handle all of your communications through Buildium.
Purchasing new software for your company or private practice may feel like a big commitment, which is why reviews are always your best friend. We hope you’ll benefit from this post, and that we’ve helped you move towards making better, bigger deals.
Carlos Cano is a marketing strategist from Mexico. He’s also a musician, a publish author, digital nomad, and regular contributor to TrustRadius, where he shares his knowledge of the latest trends in B2B news and software.
