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When it comes to choosing the best property management software for your business, the process can get tricky.
There are tons of things that you must consider before making your decision, like what features it brings or the price. And the hardest part is that there are hundreds of options out there to choose from.
But which one should you choose from?
In order to make this decision, you must find which tool is the best fit for your property management company, and which one is most cost-effective.
In this guide, we will go over three very powerful property management software that can completely transform the way that your business operates. These options include:
- DoorLoop
- Appfolio
- Propertyware
Although all of these web-based property management software do a good job at streamlining the tasks that need to be done, only one can be chosen as the best.
Read on to find out which one of these options is going to be best for you.
How to Find the Best Property Management Software
Finding good online property management software is not too difficult. The hard part is finding the one that best fits your needs.
In this guide, we will break down each software into the features that they offer for property managers as well as the pricing.
It is essential that you read through the entire guide as we will be explaining every aspect of each property management solution. Then, in the end, we will present our pick for the best all-around choice.
So, if you want to find out which choice may be the best for your property management company, be sure to stick around to the end.
To begin, let's go over how the features of each of these options stack up against each other.
Accounting
Each software offers a unique set of property management tools to keep track of and manage all financial aspects of a company. This way, you will not have to worry about investing in any other third-party software to handle your financials.
Appfolio
The Appfolio property manager hosts a comprehensive set of accounting features. Some of these features include online rent payments, multiple payment methods, billing, and invoicing.
One unique feature that they offer is a late fee calculator.
Propertyware
When it comes to accounting, there is not much of a difference between Propertyware vs. Appfolio. Some of the features that Propertyware offers as part of their accounting suite include custom reporting, budget management, accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
All of these features may be difficult to understand and figure out. For this reason, Propertyware offers a variety of online webinars, documentation videos, and guides to help you with the process.
DoorLoop
DoorLoop offers a complete suite of accounting tools to manage all aspects of your real estate business's financials. Some features include online payments via their tenant portal, ACH and credit card payments, and a complete chart of accounts.
With these features, you have no need to invest in third-party accounting software to manage your financials. You can even try the chat training to get a better grasp of all of the features.
Tenant Portal
A tenant portal is a very useful feature that allows property managers to streamline processes like collecting rent and managing maintenance requests.
Appfolio
Appfolio offers access to a complete tenant portal where tenants can do a variety of things. Some of the things that the tenants can do from this portal include making online payments.
Propertyware
Proeprtyware also offers a tenant portal that allows for seamless communication between the tenant and the property manager. From this portal, tenants can also submit photos and videos of maintenance requests straight from a web-based desktop or the iPhone mobile app (also available on Android mobile).
DoorLoop
DoorLoop offers a convenient tenant portal complete with everything you may need to handle your business needs. Some of the features that come with this tenant portal include online rent payments and late fees, maintenance management, quick and easy communication, payment history, and many more features.
Communications
One very important aspect of successfully managing properties, especially residential properties, is to be able to quickly communicate with the tenant. With good communication, the user can save time in things like handling maintenance requests and requesting rent.
Appfolio
The Appfolio property manager allows you to quickly communicate with tenants regarding anything. Appfolio also offers features based around associations, like event management and a calendar.
Propertyware
With Propertyware's tenant portal, any tenant can quickly get a hold of their property manager. They can achieve this from either the website or any smart device.
DoorLoop
DoorLoop's property management software offers features to quickly and easily communicate directly with tenants. You send any information via email or SMS text messaging services. This means that you are not tied to only one method of communication with DoorLoop.
Maintenance
A comprehensive set of maintenance management requests allows property managers to easily track all maintenance done on a rental property. Some software also allows you to assign maintenance requests to a vendor straight from the platform.
Appfolio
Appfolio allows you to communicate directly with tenants on maintenance orders, create custom work orders, and even assign them to vendors. Then, from the same platform, you can send payment to the vendor.
Propertyware
Propertyware also offers a complete maintenance management system that allows tenants to submit custom work orders straight from the app or the website.
DoorLoop
With DoorLoop, tenants can submit maintenance requests from any smart device. Then, the property manager can assign requests to vendors and even pay them at the same time.
Owner Portal
An owner portal is a feature that allows for seamless communication among property managers and owners. With this feature, you can do things like generate reports, track online leases, or find owner statements.
Appfolio
With Appfolio's owner portal, you can do things like generate reports and print checks for the property owners.
Propertyware
Similar to Appfolio, Propertyware's owner portal allows quick and easy communication among property owners.
DoorLoop
Using DoorLoop's owner portal, you can give owners access to a variety of reports as well as print checks directly from the app. It also contains various lease management features and advertising tools to more effectively market all of your properties.
Pricing
Now that we know more about some of the features that these property management software companies offer, let's look into how much money you would be investing for each.
Each of these pricing models is very similar, with the only difference being the actual price that you would pay.
Appfolio Pricing
Appfolio uses the standard pricing model where their features are split into two different plans, Core and Plus. The only unique feature of their pricing model is that the price is different depending on the property type.
The price of the plan depends on what you are managing, whether it be:
- Residential Properties
- Commercial Properties
- Community Associations
This model may not be the most effective for mixed portfolio property managers as they will be paying different prices for each property.
Their basic residential plan starts at $1.40 per unit per month, with their Plus plan starting at $3 per unit per month. Their commercial and association plans range from $0.80 to $1.50 per unit per month.
Although these prices sound pretty affordable, it is important to note that each plan has minimums attached to it. The basic plan has a $280 monthly minimum, while the Plus plan has a $1,500 minimum.
Propertyware Pricing
Propertyware prides itself on having very transparent pricing with no hidden fees or extra payments for features. Their services are split into three different plans, the Basic plan, the Plus plan, and the Premium plan.
The Basic plan starts out at $1.00 per unit, per month, with a $250 minimum. The Plus plan starts out at $1.50 per unit, per month, with a $350 minimum. Finally, the Premium plan starts out at $2.00 per unit, per month, with a $450 minimum.
Again, this may not be the best option if you have a smaller portfolio because you will still be paying the price for more properties.
DoorLoop Pricing
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DoorLoop's starter plan comes in at $59 per month for up to 20 units, making it a very cost-effective option with competitive features.
However, the savings don't stop there. The prices for the higher tier Pro and Premium plans are considerably lower than the alternatives on this list. Apart from being cheaper, these plans come with a complete set of features. Also, DoorLoop provides support for a variety of properties like small residential properties, commercial properties, student housing, and many more.
DoorLoop's Pro plan comes in at $119 per month up to 20 units and includes features such as:
- Owner portal
- Bank reconciliations
- And custom website
The Premium plan comes in at just $169 for up to 20 units and includes features such as:
- Gmail and Outlook add-on
- API access
- And website portal integration
Best Choice for Property Managers
Finally, after a thorough review of user ratings, user reviews, features, and pricing, we have narrowed down our choices to one.
Our pick comes with an excellent set of features, including:
- Responsive Customer Service
- Stellar Accessibility
- Affordable Pricing
- Positive User Reviews
Available on a plethora of platforms, DoorLoop has everything that you will ever need to manage your rental properties.
Schedule a free DoorLoop demo today and see what it's all about!
Want to compare more property management software systems? Download this free whitepaper to get the inside scoop on the most popular picks!
Frequently Asked Quesitons
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