Choosing Property Management Software the Smart Way

Face it, you don't need more headaches - property management is hard enough by itself. Now you have to find a good software program to get your growing business organized. Hand scribbled notes and mountains of paper are a thing of the past -- hopefully.

Get the important stuff first, and then sweat the details

You can rule out 50% of the property management software on the market if you focus first on what you 'really' are looking for. The two main mistakes many people make is (1) buying software that is overkill for their needs (thus wasting money and time) or (2) going for the cheapest alternative and getting software that has defects and doesn't fit their need (thus wasting money and time). Let's look at the differences:

Overkill: Do you need software to manage your properties and your office too? Let your property management software do what it does best - manage property. For your office accounting and payroll, there are plenty of inexpensive products that are perfectly good for both large and small businesses. However, if you use another accounting software for your office expenses, you may want your rental property software to export your bank deposits and checks to your office management software. Other features that add to the cost that you may not need include budgeting, double-entry accounting, asset and liability accounting, and tenant background checking. Some features, such as tenant background checking are really done by well-known Internet companies, but the software vendor just buys the service first, and marks up the cost to you. The prices for property management software can range from $100 to $10,000 (or more), so don't buy more than you need. However, if you do buy a version that supports a smaller number of rental units, make sure that you can easily upgrade to the larger version at a reasonable cost (hopefully the difference in cost between that smaller and larger versions) and won't be required to re-enter any of your precious information again.