3 Ways To Keep Track Of Your Tenants Rent

If you are a landlord and own several properties, it can be challenging to keep track of all your rental properties and who is paying rent. Today there are several ways to keep track of your tenant rental property.

If you are a landlord, there are some basic methods that you can use to keep track of your tenant’s rental payments. Most people will use the three primary ways: a manual, a computer excel sheet, and rental management software. Today there are a lot of excellent computer software programs to help landlords manage their property.

Basic Methods To Keep Track Of Your Tenants Rent

There are three methods that most people use to keep track of tenants’ rental properties and the rent that is paid. Some of these methods will take much longer than others for you to understand how to use them.

Manually Keep Track

Some landlords may keep track manually of rental payments each month. They may have a book where they write down who has paid what rent, how much, and what time.

In today’s world, when we have computers and computer systems, this is a very old-fashioned method since if you lose your book, you have lost your entire record. But some landlords may find this is the best method or a hybrid approach between having a book to mark off what was paid and a computer program to keep track of rental payments.

Use A Computer Spreadsheet

Many landlords use simple computer spreadsheets to keep track of their rental property payments. They may list the property they own and who pays what each month.

We are a fan of google drive as google sheets allows you to do some excellent spreadsheets and, at the same time, will enable you to share google drive with someone else, such as your accountant, or even if you have a property manager helping you.

Rental Management Software Systems

Today there is a lot of computer software you can use to help you manage your rental payments. Here are a few things to consider when looking at a computer software

Cost – Some computer software systems are expensive and not set up for someone with a few properties. So if you have just a few properties, it may be costly to use computer software.
Learning Curve – All computer software will have a learning curve to them. The software may tell you how easy it is to manage or learn, but I have found in my own experience that most software that deals with financial matters can usually take a while to learn. You must decide if you have the time and ability to learn new computer software.
May Not Do All You Need – Even with the best software in the world, it may not do all you need. So you may find you have a computer system that does part of what you need and not all.

Requires Upkeep – All computer software will need you to do some data processing and upkeep. It will require that you reconcile all your accounts.
Some Softwares Cost On Tenant – The tenant will need to pay the cost for some software programs. For popular software programs such as Turbo tenant, the cost is on the tenant to pay. Many tenants may not like it unless you put this in or deduct it from their rent. Most tenants do not want to feel they have to pay extra from the agreed-upon cost.

Today there are many property management software you can choose from. The idea is to find the one that fits you and the types of properties you have.

Our Top 3 Picks For Rental Management Software

There is so much rental management software out there on the market. Most of these we have chosen can be used for smaller property owners with just a few or hundreds of units.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop is an easy-to-use software that works in a variety of currencies. You will need to pay to use the door loop, but they will give you a discount if you buy an annual plan.

DoorLoop is known to be easy to use, but the basic plan does not have many features that some of its other programs have. If you are a small property owner, DoorLoop may be the best option as the monthly cost is not very expensive.

DoorLoop has portals for tenants, owners, accounting and financials, marketing, and various integrations with other software. They also offer some training and support.

You can find out more about DoorLoop by clicking here.

SimplifyEm

SimplifyEm is a property management software that real estate professionals designed. The software is excellent for anyone who wants to manage between one to 2,000 units.

If you have more than 2,000 units, this is not the software for you, as it only goes up to 2,000 units.

One advantage of SimplifyEm is that if you have under ten units, the prices can be as low as 25 USD per month for online software to manage your properties.

SimplifyEm has excellent reviews from people with all types and sizes of units using the software. They also offer good phone support if that is a consideration for you in choosing software.

You can find out more about SimplifyEm by clicking here.

TurboTenant

TurboTenant has a unique pricing model that puts the cost on the tenants’. For landlords, it is free no matter how many units you have. If you have tenants who do not mind these fees, or you can do a deal with them for the fee, it may be an option as they have a lot of great features.

One advantage of Turbotenant is that it is pretty straightforward software.

Here are a few things:

Free for landlords no matter how many units you have.
Tenants pay $55 for the application process and screening.
Credit card payment is charged an extra 3.49%.

They offer renters insurance starting as low as 8 USD per month.

Besides the renters, the landlords can also purchase additional features and options. Because the landlord can also buy a lot of different options to help them with their property management, this may be an excellent option for small landlords.

You can find out more about TurboTenant by clicking here.

No matter what method you choose, you need to use a technique that will be easy, allows you to be consistent, and you will not lose track of all the rental payments. So no matter what method you choose, it must be something that will not be messy or disorganized but helps you be organized.

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