Did you know that over 14 million individual investors own between one and four rental property units? Managing properties is by no means an easy task. For landlords who own multiple properties, taking care of them can feel like a job all by itself. If you’re a landlord or real estate investor looking to make managing your properties easier, you should consider real estate software.
What is Real Estate Software?
Real estate software, also known as landlord software or property management software, is a digital tool for landlords and property owners to manage their properties.
This software is used to gain new clients, close deals, and build a business presence.
What Are the Advantages of Real Estate Software?
Property management software is a lifesaver for landlords and real estate investors. It makes the management and accounting tasks of real estate simple and efficient. This property managers software can also be accessed from any smart device, removing the limitations of being on a desktop computer.
Let’s take a look at the most important benefits property management software can provide.
Business Advertising
Advertising is an essential part of every business. The more people who are aware of your business, the more potential sales you can make. In real estate, this means more deals closing.
Real estate software makes advertising your rentals seamless. Let’s look at an example.
Suppose one of your properties has a sudden vacancy and your team members were unaware. Without real estate software, you would have to manually list your property, filling out tons of paperwork in the process. This makes listing your property very time-consuming.
With real estate software, advertising a new vacancy happens seamlessly. In a matter of minutes, your property gets listed on major IDX websites, such as Zillow or Apartments.com. Forms are also signed and organized electronically, meaning they don’t take up physical space or interrupt your real estate business.
Maintenance and Repair Management
Managing multiple properties is itself a full-time job. Maintenance and repairs can quickly rack up and it’s easy to lose track of which property needs what.
With real estate software, all maintenance and repairs are accounted for and documented in one location. You can set and receive maintenance requests, schedule repairs, and implement transaction management while communicating with tenants with ease.
For example, suppose a pipe bursts in one of your rental units. With management software, your tenant can notify you immediately of what happened. They send a photo or video of the damage through the software portal and your team can instantly schedule a repair.
If you own multiple properties and are looking for software that helps specifically with that, check out Appfolio.
Tenant Screening
Screening tenants can be a lengthy process, especially if you own multiple properties. Without management software, you’ll be stuck doing screening manually. Credit checks, background checks, and criminal history reports can take days or weeks to complete.
Real estate software makes it easy to screen tenants properly with screening reports. In no time at all, a potential tenant’s entire renting history is available to you. Let’s look at how a typical screening would go.
The Screening Process
First, the potential tenant fills out an application, which can be done through the management software you choose.
Next, you choose what type of checks you would like to make on the potential client to pay rent. You can check their background, credit, rental history, criminal history, and more. Based on all the information given, a report is sent back to you instantly.
You can then decide if you choose to accept or deny the applicant and notify them immediately of your decision. If the applicant is accepted, all e-documents are also immediately available for them to sign.
In most cases, you have the choice to either pay for the screening yourself or include it as part of the tenant application fee. If you’re looking for landlord software than can provide comprehensive background checks, give Hemlane a glance.
Streamlined Accounting
Accounting is the not-so-fun part of being a landlord or property owner. Property management has a ton of moving parts, and each of them must be accounted for. Property management software makes this accounting process very simple.
Real estate software gives you access to all records and information available for your properties. This means tax records, income records, payment records, debts, and more. With everything all in one centralized digital location, you’ll have any file or record you need when you need it.
For example, suppose one of your older properties has to be audited.
Without management software, you would have to keep all records stored in one or a few physical locations. Since your property has a few years’ worth of records, you have to produce hundreds of files. Many of these files could have been lost over the years or even stolen.
With real estate software, nothing gets lost. Everything can be stored for years with data and file backups in case of emergency. Buildium has an excellent accounting platform designed for both rookie and veteran real estate owners.
Data Analytics
Unbelievably, data is starting to have a huge role in the real estate market. Like in so many other businesses, leveraging data analytics in real estate yields a competitive advantage.
Property management software affords you business insights you otherwise wouldn’t have. With these insights, you can make data-driven decisions on how to manage your current properties and expand by purchasing new properties.
Consider Real Estate Software Today
Real estate software makes managing your real estate business much easier. It gives you the ability to manage your assets from anywhere, while also expanding your business to new heights with data analytics.
If you enjoyed what you have read here and want to know more about the latest technology in real estate, come check out our blog.
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