Do I need property management software?
You may not need property management software at all: with one rental, a spreadsheet and a folder usually work. You need it when you lose track of who has paid, which repair is still open, or where a document is. Each of those takes time to untangle, and a missed payment or a repair left too long can cost you money.
Can a spreadsheet run one rental?
Yes. One rental, or two with tenants who pay on time, runs well on a spreadsheet, a folder, and one place where repair requests arrive. To manage one rental property this way, set it up like this:
- A rent ledger with a row for every charge and every payment and a running balance. The free rent ledger template has the columns.
- A folder for each unit with the lease, the move-in checklist and its photos, notices, and receipts. The guide to what records a landlord should keep lists the rest.
- One way for tenants to report repairs, such as an email address or a form, and a written record of each request. The free maintenance request form and repair log covers both.
- A calendar entry for the lease end date, any rent review, and routine checks such as smoke detector batteries and furnace filters.
If you'd rather keep it all in one spreadsheet for landlords, give it one tab per tenant for the ledger, one tab for expenses with the date, payee, amount, property, and what each one was for, and one tab for lease dates and contact details. For the expenses tab, you can start from the free income and expense spreadsheet, which has those columns and a list of rental categories.
Once a month, check the ledger against your bank deposits. The guide to tracking rent for several tenants walks through it. If this all takes you an hour a month and nothing slips, keep it.
When do you need property management software?
You need it once the spreadsheet has stopped working, which is when you have to search, rebuild, or ask someone before you can answer a simple question about your rentals. These are the usual signs:
- You can't say who has paid this month until you check the bank.
- A tenant asks for their balance, and working it out takes an evening because of partial payments and late fees.
- You scroll back through texts to find the plumber you used last time.
- A tenant asks "any update?" about a repair, and you don't know, because the vendor told you by phone.
- You find a lease or an inspection photo by searching your email.
- There are two versions of the spreadsheet, and you're not sure which one is right.
- Someone else needs the records, such as a co-owner, a bookkeeper, or a friend covering while you're away, and you email them copies.
Any one of these now and then is normal. If several happen every month, look at software.
Is property management software worth it?
For a landlord, property management software is worth it when the hours it saves you are worth more than its price. Work it out with your own numbers:
- Add up the hours you spend each month on jobs software can take over: matching payments to the ledger, answering status questions, passing messages between tenants and vendors, and finding documents. Leave out work no software does for you, such as the repair itself.
- Multiply those hours by what an hour of your time is worth to you.
- Compare the result with the monthly price at your tenant count.
Example, with made-up numbers: you spend 3 hours a month on those jobs and value your time at $30 an hour, so they cost you $90 a month. Rentals369 costs $59 a month for up to 3 tenants, or $49.17 a month billed yearly. At $30 an hour, it pays for itself if it saves you about 2 of those 3 hours.
For your break-even point, divide the monthly price at your tenant count by what an hour is worth to you. At 10 tenants Rentals369 costs $87 a month, so at $30 an hour it has to save you about 3 hours a month.
If your number comes out lower than the price, keep the spreadsheet. A free plan is another option if your tenants don't mind paying a fee when they pay rent online. The guide to what property management software costs lists prices for nine products at 3 to 100 units.
What software adds that a spreadsheet can't
A spreadsheet holds what you type into it. Software also gives tenants and vendors their own way in, and keeps each message, photo, and date with the tenant or unit it belongs to. Here is the same work done both ways:
| The job | Spreadsheet and folder | Property management software |
|---|---|---|
| Rent balances | You type each charge and payment and keep the formula right. | Rent charges are scheduled, you record each payment, and every tenant's balance is kept for you. |
| Repair requests | They arrive by text, call, and email, and you copy them into a log. | Tenants send requests with photos from a portal, and each one keeps its status, vendor, and visit. |
| Updates for tenants | You pass on each one by phone or text. | Tenants check a repair's status and visit time in their portal. |
| Messages | Spread across your phone and your inbox. | Filed with the tenant and the property. |
| Documents | In folders and email attachments. | Filed with the property and the tenant, next to the lease. |
| Due dates | In a separate calendar you have to remember to check. | Kept on the repair or the tenant record, with overdue work listed for you. |
| Sharing the records | You email copies of the file. | Each person signs in and sees only their part. |
| Cost | Free. | $0 on free plans with fees, or a monthly price. |
In Rentals369, tenants use a portal in their web browser, with no app to download. They send repair requests with up to 30 photos and see the booked visit. You set a priority and a due date, overdue repairs are counted on the Today dashboard, and the vendor accepts the job and books the visit. Every reply you send also reaches the tenant by email. For the full picture, read what property management software is.
When Rentals369 is not the right fit
Rentals369 is the wrong choice if you need rent collected online, want vacancies listed on rental sites, or have one rental and want to pay nothing. In more detail:
- Online rent collection. Rentals369 does not process payments: it records the payments you receive. Avail, Innago, RentRedi, TenantCloud, TurboTenant, Buildium, and DoorLoop all collect rent online.
- Listings. Rentals369 does not post vacancies to rental sites. Applications hand screening off to TransUnion SmartMove, RentSpree, Zillow Rental Manager, or Apartments.com.
- One rental, at no cost. A spreadsheet is free, and so are the free plans from Innago, Avail, and TurboTenant.
- Full bookkeeping. Rentals369 keeps rent and property records, not a general ledger. It sends a one-way copy to QuickBooks Online if you use it.
- An iPhone app. The Rentals369 app is for Android. On an iPhone you use Rentals369 in the browser.
If none of those rules it out, see how it works for independent landlords with 1 to 20 units, or compare it with eight alternatives.
Common questions
How many units before you need property management software?
There is no set number. What happens each month matters more than the unit count: a landlord with one rental, a co-owner, and frequent repairs can outgrow a spreadsheet sooner than one with four tenants who pay on time and rarely call. Use the signs in this guide, not a unit count.
What is the cheapest way to manage one rental?
A spreadsheet, a folder for the lease and photos, and one email address or form for repairs cost nothing. Free plans such as Innago, Avail Unlimited, and TurboTenant Free also cost nothing for the software, and they charge fees to tenants who pay rent online and to applicants who are screened.
