If you’re a landlord, managing multiple properties can quickly get out of hand. Luckily, there’s a variety of apps designed to streamline everything from tenant screening to rent payment. We’ve rounded up the best rental property trackers available today.
By having the right rental property tracker, you can stay organized and profitable.
Keep reading to find out who made our list, why we picked them, and how to use these property management apps to maximize your profits.
10 Best Rental Property Trackers
There’s no shortage of rental property trackers available to help the busy real estate investor. And each property management app has its own specialty.
Some services focus on rental property expense tracking and bookkeeping. Others enable you to interface with clients to collect rent, process maintenance requests, and securely exchange documents.
We’ve investigated the software available and selected ten apps worth checking out.
- Personal Capital
- Buildium
- Stessa
- Rentec Direct
- Quicken Home & Business
- Landlordy
- Rentler
- RentTrack
- Landlord Studio
- PropertyTracker
1. Personal Capital
- Free income tracking
- Holistic wealth management app that goes beyond your rental cash flow
- Easy enough for beginners to use
Personal Capital is one of the most popular finance apps out there. The app treats your real estate as an investment, rather than just a business or side hustle. Although you won’t get features such as a tenant portal or a special email inbox, you’ll be able to see how your rental income affects your overall net worth.
For property owners, the app integrates with Zillow so you can link up your various properties. The app then pulls all of your financial data, including your cash flow and property values, and factors those into your overall net worth.
You’ll also find yourself using Personal Capital to monitor your spending and plan for retirement. It will also manage all of your other investments, too.
Many of Personal Capital’s features are free. However, for a fee, the company does offer asset management for investors who deposit a minimum of $100,000.
2. Buildium
- The most comprehensive property management app currently available
- Convenient tenant portal manages payments and maintenance requests
- Not difficult to use
Buildium is one of the most popular property management apps on the market — and for a good reason. This tracker streamlines the entire management process, from screening potential tenants to collecting and tracking rent payments.
The app also features a tenant portal that allows your renters to send payments and submit maintenance requests. Buildium even offers communications tools that enable you to send bulk emails and texts to your tenants and contacts lists.
However, although Buildium offers a myriad of features, that doesn’t mean it’s tricky to use. In fact, we found Buildium’s platform relatively straightforward and intuitive.
How much you pay depends on how many units you manage, here is a breakdown of their current plans:
- Essential: Prices Range from $52 – $244 per month for up to 150 Units
- Growth: Prices Range from $166 – $5,600 per month for up to 5,000 Units
- Premium: Prices Range from $5,172 – $165,600 per year for up to 5,000 Units
Note that Buildium will give you a 10 percent discount if you choose to pay annually rather than monthly.
3. Stessa
- Mostly free service
- Great for collaborating on properties with others
- Integrates with Roofstock so you can buy and sell properties
If you’re looking for a solution that will not only help you track your current properties but find new real estate opportunities, check out Stessa.
Stessa’s parent company is Roofstock, an online real estate investing platform. You can use Roofstock to select and buy new rental properties and then use Stessa to manage them.
Stessa operates on a mostly free model, with some a la carte reporting services. Using Stessa, you can track an unlimited number of properties, access performance dashboards, and even collaborate with partners and family members.
Then, when you’re eventually ready to sell, you can use Roofstock to find a purchaser for your property. This Stessa/Roofstock combination is a complete solution for real estate investors.
Learn More:
4. Rentec Direct
- Unlimited U.S.-based customer service
- Full ledger accounting and Quickbooks synchronization
- Includes a custom website so you can market your properties
Rentec Direct is a software company that offers two products for managing properties.
- Pro was designed for landlords and investors who manage multiple units.
- PM is intended for property managers who need trust accounting features.
With either plan, users have access to a variety of features to help with both the financial and operational aspects of their real estate investments.
For example, Rentec offers full general ledger accounting, an in-depth reporting system, and a built-in 1099-MISC e-filing solution. You can also use the app for running credit reports and background checks on potential tenants.
Rentec Direct also has some nifty features to help you market your vacancies. The service will help you set up a website with a lead-tracking tool to reach prospective tenants. Rentec will even automatically post your listings to popular sites like Zillow and Realtor.com.
How much you pay depends on how many units you manage, here is a breakdown of their current plans:
- Pro: Price Ranges from $45 – $2,750 per month (up to 2,500 units)
- PM: Price Ranges from $55 – $3,000 per month (up to 2,500 units)
Note that Rentec Direct will give you a 10% discount if you choose to pay annually rather than monthly. You can also contact Rentec Direct if you need to manage more than 2,500 units for special pricing.
5. Quicken Home & Business
- Top choice for existing Quicken customers
- Easily connect with TurboTax
- Dedicated customer support team
Quicken’s Home & Business software helps landlords stay on top of day-to-day tasks. For example, you can maintain contact information for tenants, track statements and loans, and even check metrics such as occupancy rates and rents received. You can also track payments and expenses.
When tax time comes, you’ll be in good hands because the service links to Quicken’s proprietary and super-popular tax service, TurboTax. As a result, it’s straightforward to transfer and manage your tax paperwork.
Quicken doesn’t charge an arm and a leg, either. To get the property management features, you’ll need to upgrade to the Home & Business plan. The list price is just $119.88 per year, but Millennial Money readers currently get a 10% discount for a total of $107.88 per year.
6. Landlordy
- Easy-to-use app that integrates with your mobile phone or tablet
- Free option for landlords who manage just one property
- Charges a one-time fee, rather than a monthly subscription
Landlordy is a user-friendly mobile app that makes it easy to stay organized and on top of your finances. The app helps you track expenses, maintenance records, safety inspections, and various other crucial info about your properties.
Landlordy integrates with a variety of tools that already exist on your smartphones, such as your camera, messaging program, and email. It enables you to directly communicate with tenants or your accountant. You can even send invoices to tenants right through the app.
And since Landlordy stores all of your data on your phone rather than on a server or in the cloud, you don’t need to hassle with logging in with a username and password.
If you manage multiple units, you’ll probably find Landlordy too simple for your needs. But for the smaller-scale rental investor, it’s great. It’s also much cheaper than Buildium and some other services.
How much you pay depends on how many units you manage, here is a breakdown of their current plans:
- Free: Free for landlords who manage just one unit
- Mini: $14.99 for two units
- Plus: $49.99 for up to ten units
- Pro: $99.99 for unlimited properties
Note that these are one-time fees, rather than monthly recurring fees!
7. Rentler
- Mostly free for landlords
- Streamlines tenant payment collection
- 24/7 customer support
Rentler is a property management software that enables landlords to view their entire rental lifecycles from a single dashboard. Best of all, you can use most of its services for free. Extras like legal forms can be purchased a la carte.
The service helps landlords with a wide variety of otherwise tedious tasks, such as listing properties, collecting applications, running screenings, and collecting payments. It also lets you track maintenance requests, so you’ll never miss an important update from a tenant.
Another cool feature is a rentability tool, which lets you see exactly how much you can rent your place for.
8. RentTrack
- Best suited for payment collection
- Rent reporting can help build tenant’s credit scores
- May increase the chances of timely payments
RentTrack is an app that lets landlords collect rent and track tenant payments online. The company’s main goal is to provide property owners with tools that save time and grow revenue.
The service also helps tenants build good credit. The app reports each rental payment to the three major credit bureaus. That’s an extra incentive for your renters to pay their monthly bills on time!
9. Landlord Studio
- Streamlines expense tracking for tax purposes
- Helpful for managing tenant payments and communication
- Low-cost, with three account tiers
Landlord Studio is a comprehensive property management app that lets you track all your rent payments and finances in one place.
One of Landlord Studio’s most useful features is a rent collection service, which enables tenants to easily pay rent online. The app also offers tenant screening, email, and SMS invoicing, along with an automatic late-fee feature.
LandlordStudio is also inexpensive, here is a breakdown of their current plans:
- Start: Price Starts at $6.99 per month for one unit
- Growth: Price Starts at $17.99 per month for one unit
- Scale: Price Starts at $29.99 per month for one unit
10. PropertyTracker
- Relatively low-cost
- Enhanced bookkeeping services are available
- 30-day free trial option
PropertyTracker helps landlords track properties and assets from an easy-to-use mobile app.
The app also serves as an expense and income tracker and features performance reports and appreciation trends, among other things.
Here is a breakdown of PropertyTracker’s current plans:
- Baltic Ave: Free for up to 10 new properties per month
- Marvin Gardens: $347/year for unlimited property tracker access
- Boardwalk: $1,298/year for unlimited property tracker access and access to an exclusive group of like-minded investors
How to Maximize a Rental Tracker
Only Use Reputable Apps
As always, be cautious about trusting third-party apps with your financial or real estate information. The last thing you want to do is give an app unrestricted access to your financial portfolio without first making sure that it’s trustworthy.
Before downloading any app, read its reviews and make sure that it’s from a legit provider. There are plenty of solid property trackers out there. So there’s no sense in settling for a second-tier service.
Browse Various Property Management Tools
We’ve covered a variety of rental property trackers in this list. For some real estate investors, just one of these solutions will meet all of their tenant and real estate management needs. Others may need to combine two or more services. You don’t have to be exclusive to a single provider.
Write Off Your Expenses
Chances are, you can write off your real estate app and software costs. As an investor, it’s crucial to write off every possible tax-deductible expense. When in doubt, ask a qualified accountant or tax advisor. This isn’t something you should be guessing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are rental property trackers?
Rental property trackers are an app or software solution that helps landlords track the costs, revenue, and operations of their real estate investments. Some trackers might include additional services, such as tenant screening, communication platforms, and advertising options for your listings.
Do you need an app for rental property management?
You don’t need to have an app, but it certainly helps. Most people are on their phones constantly these days. So it makes sense to have a management app right alongside your other solutions. Apps also enable you to connect with your business from any location.
That said, many landlords have done just fine with a good, old-fashioned spreadsheet.
Which are the Best Rental Property Trackers for You?
If you’re a property owner, having a good rental property tracker (or two) can make your life easier. There are many free services to try. But if you choose to pay for a premium service, you can probably write it off at tax time.
Once you’re using a tracker app to streamline your business, you can focus more on growing your investments. You could have a million-dollar real estate empire in no time!
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