Must-Have Software for Landlords and Property Managers

Must-Have Software for Landlords and Property Managers

Let’s face it—as a property manager, you need to cover all the bases from leasing and maintenance to finance. With 11 million independent landlords in the United States, the property management industry in America generates roughly $88.4 billion in annual revenue.

Even with that kind of cash flow circulating, some property managers and landlords are still relying on disparate, as well as web and paper-based tools to keep track of expenses.

This isn’t necessarily the “wrong” way to stay on top of rental property finances, but there is certainly a better way to balance your books. Rental Property Management Software will help you save time, increase returns, and grow your rental investment portfolio.

What is Property Management Software?

As a property manager, you have a lot on your plate. You have to manage the lease cycle , operate within a budget, process legal documents, and make sure your tenants’ rent comes in on time, among other things.

Juggling responsibilities that are so varied and, in many cases, manual, is no easy task—unless you have the right tools to help you.

Property management software can save time spent on manual processes while meeting the unique accounting, financial, and management demands of commercial and residential properties.

Simply put, Baselane’s all-in-one property management platform for landlords and real estate investors is designed to simplify and make day-to-day responsibilities easier for your rental property finances.

Why Use Property Management Software?

Property management software helps you say goodbye to dozens of logins and manual spreadsheets without missing a beat on banking and finances.

Whether you’re a small-scale landlord who oversees five units or a large-scale landlord managing five thousand, you can make your job a whole lot easier with automated tools and actionable data for a true financial picture of your properties.

What Property Management Software products and features to look out for?

Look for the following products and features in property management software: Banking, Bookkeeping, Rent Collection and Insights.

Banking

Property management software can have you see all of your finances in one place by connecting your bank account to Baselane’s platform. With Baselane, you can either bring your own bank or sign-up for Baselane’s no fees, high-yield landlord friendly bank account. If you use an existing bank, Baselane supports integrations with over 11,000 banks and credit unions to account for every single dollar in your property portfolio.

Bookkeeping

A simple, consolidated ledger for all your transactions, Baselane’s smart categorization helps you track the performance of your rental properties in real-time. Expense management features of property management software can help make bookkeeping a breeze, and get you ahead of tax time by tagging transactions to Schedule E categories and assigning them to each of your properties.

Rent Collection

Receive monthly rent directly into your bank account. Tenants can use Baselane to make one-time payments or set up recurring rent payments via credit card, debit card or bank transfer.

Insights

Total cash flow control. Drill into the details of your rental income and expenses by category and property to make data-driven decisions that increase your rental property returns and help you grow your business.

Baseline offers an all-in-one financial platform that centralizes everything you need to manage the entire rent cycle. With features like tenant and lease tracking, full general ledger accounting, automated rent collection, fee reminders, and on-demand reports. You can grow your portfolio on your terms without sacrificing the quality service your residents expect.

Signing up for a Baselane account takes less than 1 minute and is completely free for landlords, rental managers, and real estate investors.

Can I Collect Rent Online?

Collecting rent is a vital part of running a rental property. Yet, surprisingly, not everyone has this process nailed down.

In today’s modern age of digital payments and technology, there’s no longer a reason to be running around collecting cash and checks. These labor-intensive forms of payment may keep your cardio game strong, but they aren’t doing you or your tenants any favors when it comes to convenience.

With Baselane, you can collect online rent payments, fees, and security deposits. Tenants can make a one-time payment or set up automatic withdrawals using any bank account, debit, or credit card.

All payments are processed using 256-bit bank-level SSL encryption and deposited directly into your account within 2 to 3 business days.

You can also forget about the mental gymnastics of remembering whose rent is overdue. Baselane keeps your tenants on track with reminders and receipts, sending you real-time notifications for deposits and late payments.

How Do I Make Expense Management Easy?

Landlords deal with dozens of expenses for maintenance repairs, utility bills, renovations, and more.

Multiply those expenses across several properties, and now you’re swimming in spreadsheets trying to collect enough receipts to help you stay afloat. When you’re drowning in financial statements that have more holes than Swiss cheese, it’s time to automate your accounting.

Property managers and owners use Baselane to store, sort, retrieve, and summarize financial data all in one simple, consolidated ledger.

Piles of receipts and boatloads of balance sheets are replaced with automated expense tracking across all relevant bank accounts and credit cards, by connecting your bank account securely via Plaid.

With Baselane’s landlord banking tools, you can use sub-accounts to separate funds by property, security deposits, future renovations, and more.

Final Thoughts: Software for Property Owners and Landlords

Consolidating your banking, bookkeeping, and rent collection all on one convenient platform makes managing rental property finances easier than pouring your morning coffee.

With the all-in-one financial platform from Baselane, landlords and property managers can eliminate bottlenecks and wasted time to increase returns.

FAQs

What should I look for in rent collection software?

With so many different options available, it’s easy to get lost in a black hole of rental property software. That’s why we’re giving you our tried-and-true tips of what to look for.

Rental property management software should allow your tenants to easily schedule payments and accept a large number of institutions or forms of payment.

If your software isn’t secure, neither is the banking information it's integrated with. When researching rent collection platforms, you’re going to want to choose a software solution that discloses their encryption technology.

Your rent collection software should be user-friendly. Look for solutions that offer a dashboard overview to easily track rent deposits and overdue balances with a minimal learning curve for you and your tenants.

How can I manage expenses across my rental properties?

Baselane offers you one platform for all your properties and their respective expenses. Manually add, hide, or split transactions, attach receipts, and even leave some notes for later.

Now, you’ll be able to control your cash flow, track expenses, and understand your property performance to identify savings opportunities.

Taking the guesswork out of property metrics, Baselane offers automated insights, including cap rate, ROE, and cash-on-cash return.

Why can’t I manage my property finances manually?

It may seem like a good idea at first to manage your property finances manually, especially if you like the “old-school” approach of pen to paper.

But with multiple spreadsheets for tenants, property locations, and dozens of maintenance requests, it can quickly become a headache for you and your renters.

It’s clear Baselane understands how beneficial streamlining expense management is.

With Baselane, a single click will lead you right to smart categorization with a Schedule E form and property tags, so that monthly cash reconciliation and tax time will be a breeze.

This software gives you the tools you need to manage your finances like a pro with complete confidence that your numbers will always add up.

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Financial Technology, Real Estate Investing, and Property Management, Accounting and Tax, Finance
Saad started his career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) working for a top-tier accounting firm. He was responsible for helping audit alternative investment funds. He later worked at a hedge fund where he was responsible for preparing financial statements and implementing new technology. He also ran a successful private tax practice for five years.

After completing his MBA at Duke, Saad joined The Boston Consulting Group to do management consulting. At BCG his experience spanned several industries and growth projects across Pharma, Retail, and Technology companies. His passion for democratizing finances led him to Plaid, a fintech, where he worked with large Banks and Financial Institutions to make finances and money easier for all.
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Must-Have Software for Landlords and Property Managers
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Must-Have Software for Landlords and Property Managers
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