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There are a few things that can be massive time sinks when it comes to the management of rental property, such as:
- Staying on Top of Your Finances
- Choosing a Good Accounting System
- Conducting Regular Property Inspections
- Reviewing Tenant Satisfaction
- Analyzing Your Investment's Return
But perhaps none of them are more challenging than keeping up with property maintenance.
Whether planned or preventive maintenance of an HVAC system or a sudden, unexpected request to fix a toilet, managing maintenance is always time-consuming and rarely glamorous.
Property maintenance management software seeks to lend a hand by simplifying and even automating some processes for property managers and owners.
Let’s first look at what property management software can do to get an idea of the kind of advantageous features you can expect.
Property Maintenance Software
When talking about property management maintenance software, we’re really talking about two different types of software:
- Property management software
- Maintenance management-specific software
Think of it a little like property management software vs. dedicated accounting software like QuickBooks.
If you’re unfamiliar with property management software, it’s designed to give you tools to manage every aspect of your properties (depending on the tool, some have more/less features).
For example:
- Rent collection
- Accounting
- Leasing and screening
- Listing
- Maintenance management
- Tenant communications
While QuickBooks generally offers more accounting features than even the best property management software, it’s not designed specifically for property management.
As a result, it can feel limiting in many ways.
In a similar way, property management software like DoorLoop is designed to help you with all your property maintenance management needs, while maintenance management software will be more general.
Both will do the job, but if you'd rather have a tool that can do more for you than just maintenance and is specifically designed for property management, property management software is likely a better choice.
Notable Features
Before we get to some of the best options for property management maintenance software, let’s talk about what features you should be looking for.
These are seven maintenance management features to look for in any kind of property maintenance tool:
- Work order creation: You should be able to create maintenance tasks, edit work orders, and schedule preventive maintenance.
- Tenant maintenance requests: One of the best features of a property management tool like DoorLoop is that tenants can send in maintenance requests themselves conveniently from the app.
- Tenant communication: In addition, tools to communicate with tenants on those maintenance orders (such as SMS messaging) is key.
- Vendor assignment: You should be able to assign that work order to a vendor.
- Vendor payment: You should also be able to pay that vendor once the job is complete.
- Word order history: Once a job is complete, you should be able to view it and all previously completed work orders from one central place.
- View work orders on mobile: You should also be able to view all of the above on mobile, so you can handle work orders and maintenance requests on the go, whenever and wherever you are.
With all of these features together, you have a full suite of maintenance management tools designed to streamline your entire work order system.
Our Top Picks
Below are five of the top property management maintenance tools available.
Each software section includes the following:
- A quick summary highlighting the system's unique pros and cons
- Notable features
- Pricing
Together, they should give you a clear idea of whether that tool does what you need and want it to and is worth looking into.
1. DoorLoop
DoorLoop is an all-in-one property management software with a robust set of maintenance management tools.
You get access to tools that allow you to perform these major property maintenance tasks:
- Create and manage work orders with a complete order history
- Easily allow tenants to send in maintenance requests
- Communicate with tenants in real-time on those requests
- Assign to a vendor and issue the payment when they complete the order
- Track it all via a convenient mobile app
You also get access to other great property management features:
- Automatic rent payments
- A complete property CRM for managing all your leads and tenants
- A robust suite of property accounting tools
- Tenant portal and owner portal
- Automatic listings
Pricing
DoorLoop starts at just $49 per month for up to your first 20 units, which is very affordable considering what it has to offer and when compared to other software on the market.
2. ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan is a maintenance management solution designed for service professionals dealing with large-scale property management.
Users report high satisfaction ratings as well as good usability of the software itself.
However, being a maintenance-specific software, it doesn’t offer any of the typical features you’d expect from a full property management tool.
Features include:
- Work order creation
- Order database
- Scheduling
- Work quotes
- Recurring maintenance appointments
Pricing
ServiceTitan doesn’t list its pricing publicly, so you’ll have to contact the sales team for more information.
3. Service Fusion
ServiceFusion is a maintenance management solution designed for small- to mid-sized businesses.
It serves everyone from property management companies to appliance maintenance specialists, so it's not designed specifically for property management (nor does it have other property management features). However, users report good ease of use.
Features include:
- Work order creation
- Order and customer database
- Contract management
- Quotes
- Scheduling
Pricing
Service Fusion starts at $149 per month and goes up to $399 per month for the premium-tier plan.
4. FMX
FMX is a dedicated maintenance management software with a large list of features, including strong scheduling tools.
It boasts high ease of use, but being a maintenance management-specific platform not designed specifically for property management, it lacks other property-related features like online rent payments, leasing, and screening.
Features include:
- Work order creation
- Preventative scheduling
- Recurring appointments
- Quotes
Pricing
FMX doesn’t list its pricing online, so you’ll need to contact the company directly to get a demo and find out more about its pricing model.
5. UpKeep
UpKeep is an enterprise-level maintenance management solution for those looking for something with more robust maintenance management features.
It isn’t designed for property management, so you’re missing many useful features. But it does offer unique maintenance-related features, such as being able to assign priority levels to work orders and automatically delivering work orders.
Features include:
- Work order creation
- Automated workflows
- Real-time work order tracking
- Work order analytics
Pricing
UpKeep’s basic plan starts at $45 per month for features like inventory management, preventive maintenance, and monthly analytics and reporting.
DoorLoop
Do you want to learn about preventative maintenance and how it can help you cut costs in the long run? If so, give this article a read!
The best maintenance management tool is the one that does facilitates this and does what you need without complicating your existing software stack.
So, think about not only what a software can do but also how it will affect your business’s overall process.
A dedicated maintenance management software may have a few powerful features you want, but if it’s just yet another software, it could just end up complicating things.
A dedicated property management software like DoorLoop can not only help you handle all your maintenance needs but also streamline the following and more:
- Leasing
- Rent collection
- Accounting
- Listing
- Communication processes.
Schedule a free demo today and see what it can for you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
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