Let Property Management Software Protect Your Rental Property Investment

As your rental property portfolio grows, so does the need for an integrated online property management software system. Historically it’s been the desire for more in-depth financial information that drives a rental property manager or owner to abandon their basic accounting software for property management software.

Today it is more important than ever for all rental property managers and owners to use the same type of property management software as the larger real estate management companies. There is more pressure to find reliable, rent-paying tenants, with the real possibility of increased bad debt and the need for collections, and the ever-looming threat of tenant landlord litigation.

Given today’s economic outlook, the need to qualify your prospective tenants is of tremendous importance. Today’s online tenant credit screening services allow you to access information in minutes. With a complete property management software system, tenant screening information is automatically integrated into your tenant records. Later, you can review tenant payment history and tenant maintenance history and make smart decisions about renewing that lease.

Providing tenants with electronic rent payment options, such as ACH or credit cards, helps to lower delinquencies and keep rental income at its optimum level. With integrated rental property management software, electronic rent payments reduce data entry and trips to the bank. Automatic scheduled rent payments ensure that rent is received on time and eliminate past due balances.

With bad debt potentially on the rise, automated debt collections tools will also prove invaluable to rental property managers and owners. The right Web based property management software offers integrated access to national debt collections firms. These are the same systems that larger apartment property management companies have been using for years.

Of course, some of these online property management tools are available separately. Yet integrating all of these services with one point of data entry can protect you from another, even more alarming threat - tenant landlord litigation. No matter how unjustified, the mere whisper of a lawsuit is enough to terrify any rental property manager. While litigation is a serious concern for real estate firms of all sizes, it can be particularly frightening for the smaller property managers and owners who lack the legal team of a regional or national real estate management firm.

Tenant credit screening services provide a valuable tool by serving as a consistent, accepted process for making decisions. When you can show the use of quantitative tools for rejecting a tenant, you can be more confident in the leasing decisions you make. More importantly, having one point of data entry will help ensure all rental application data is captured and no mistakes are made.

What about cost? Historically cost has been a barrier to this type of software used by larger property management companies; today the Web makes access to new online solutions much more affordable. In many cases these online services, as well as services like Internet advertising and electronic rent payments, can be included in one low monthly fee. Hardware, server, upgrade, extra license, and other costs are eliminated as well, leading to considerable savings.

As the Internet has been the great leveler across many industries, all rental property managers and owners can now afford the property management software that larger real estate management companies have been using for decades. The affordability of Web based property management software is a trend with a positive impact on all rental property managers and owners. Property management systems no longer have to be reserved for the larger companies with deep pockets. They can be used by anyone who wants to protect their real estate investment.