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Which property management software is best?

... searching for this is not an easy task.

Apart from having to search for so many features and make sure that they are exactly what your business requires, you also have to choose from the many choices that offer virtually the same thing.

Since this kind of software can have such a huge impact on your business, it is vital that you take time for your decision. Good property management software can do many things, like streamline the operations of your business and make it more efficient.

In this guide, we will be going over three choices that are surely capable of transforming any business. These three choices are:

  • DoorLoop
  • Buildium
  • SimplifyEm

Although all of these choices can be very useful for property managers, only one is the best for your business.

Below, we have outlined the most important aspects of each property management system. Then, in the end, we have included our top pick for the best all-around property management software.

Finding the Best Property Management Software

The first step in finding the best property management system for your company is to know exactly what you need.

When searching for the best choice, some of the most important things to consider include:

  • All the features offered
  • How much it is going to cost
  • How they compare to competitors

Finding the answers to all of these questions will make it a lot easier to find the perfect fit for you.

Below, we have gone through each property management software category, going through each feature and how they help your business succeed.

By the end of this guide, you will have the answers to all of these questions regarding Buildium vs. SimplifyEm vs. DoorLoop.

So, without further ado, let's get into the features.

Accounting

Most property management software offer some kind of integrated accounting suite. Typically, this suite includes tools that keep track of all financial aspects of a company. This way, there is no longer a need for any third-party financial software.

Buildium

Buildium

The Buildium property management services offer accounting tools sure to please many real estate investors and property managers. Some of these tools include online payments, various payment methods, payment tracking, and bank reconciliation.

SimplifyEm

SimplifyEm

SimplifyEm is a rental property management software that offers a wide collection of accounting tools, some that even find ways for property managers to save money. Some of the most notable include professional owner reports, like a full income, expenses, and tax reports.

If these features sound difficult to navigate, SimplifyEm offers training, documentation, webinars, and guides to help you figure everything out.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop

DoorLoop is the leading property management software in the market and it offers a complete suite of accounting features, including online rent payments via their convenient tenant portal, multiple payment methods such as credit card and ACH, bank reconciliations, and a complete chart of accounts to keep track of everything (and get rid of QuickBooks).

Tenant Portal

A tenant portal is a very useful feature that streamlines communication between the tenants and the property managers. This is an essential feature for managing rental properties as it maintains a healthy relationship between both parties and increases customer satisfaction.

Buildium

From within Buildium’s “resident center,” tenants can pay rent, association, and other fees, and view payment history.

Tenants can also submit maintenance requests themselves and even attach photos via their smartphones. Then, they can follow that maintenance request as it’s assigned to a vendor and track it from beginning to completion.

SimplifyEm

Gives the tenant the ability to execute all rental payment transactions straight from the portal. They also have access to a complete transaction history of online rent payments that they can use in the case of a dispute.

They can even do an online payment export to an excel spreadsheet. Using excel, attach unlimited documents to generate the most accurate report possible.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop's tenant portal offers a unique variety of features to the tenant and to the property manager as well. Some of the features include debt collection, online maintenance requests, tenant screening, and much more.

Communications

Another useful feature that comes standard with most property management software is some sort of communication aspect. These features allow easy communication between all the different parties including property managers, property owners, and tenants.

Buildium

From within the Buildium app, you can send single or bulk emails to tenants and even mail physical letters with the EZMail service.

You can also communicate with tenants and vendors directly through SMS messaging, both individually and in bulk.

SimplifyEm

Through the tenant portal, users can communicate back and forth with their property managers and property owners. All of this can be done from any web-based desktop (Windows desktop or Mac desktop).

DoorLoop

DoorLoop's property management software offers features to quickly and easily communicate directly with tenants. You send any information via email or SMS text messaging services. This means that you are not tied to only one method of communication with DoorLoop.

Plus, with the ability to keep the communication history, tenant disputes will be brought down to a minimum.

Maintenance

A solid maintenance management system is vital to make sure that your properties are in good shape at all times. They can also save property managers a ton of time as they do not have to spend so much time dealing with maintenance requests coming from the residential properties.

Buildium

In Buildium, you can create work orders, attach videos and documents, and send them to vendors, all from your smartphone or desktop. You can also get status updates for those work orders sent to your smartphone.

And when orders are complete, you can pay vendors from right within the Buildium app, allowing you to keep everything in one convenient place.

SimplifyEm

With SimplifyEm, you can automate and schedule maintenance requests for your properties straight from the platform. Then, you can pay the vendor as well and keep track of vendor documents, sharing tenant requests with your team to refer back to the same vendor.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop makes maintenance management something very simple by giving property managers access to a plethora of features. Some of the features include automatic maintenance requests, vendor management, complete control over the service, and real-time data that generates request receipts.

Owner Portal

With an owner portal, you can typically print checks for owners and also generate various reports. You can also do things like lease management and streamline owner communications as a whole.

Buildium

Buildium allows you to generate reports for owners or give them access to those reports and print checks.

SimplifyEm

On SimplifyEm's owner portal, you can do things like generate owner reports as well as send emails and letters out from the same platform.

DoorLoop

Using DoorLoop's owner portal, you can give owners access to a variety of reports as well as print checks directly from the app. It also contains various lease management features and advertising tools to more effectively market all of your properties. You can also keep track of all your tenant and lease information from a single platform.

Pricing

After you know all about the features that come with each one of your options, the next most important part is to know how much they are going to cost. For many property managers, the main dealbreaker is the price of software, so make sure to pay attention to this section.

Buildium

Buildium pricing

Buildium's pricing model is slightly different, with its price being dependent on the different features that you would like.

Their starter plan, Essential, is $52 per month and comes with most of the standard features you’d expect including:

  • Tenant portal and online payments
  • Accounting
  • Communication tools
  • Maintenance management

However, you’ll to invest in the higher-tier Growth plan at $160 per month:

  • Live phone support
  • Analytics and insights
  • Onboarding
  • And eLeasing

Lastly, Buildium’s highest-level Premium plan comes in at $479 and includes a few premium features and benefits:

  • EFT transactions are waived
  • Priority support
  • Open API

SimplifyEm

SimplifyEm Pricing

SimplifyEm's pricing plan is similar to most other companies, offering various different plans depending the amount of units you are managing. The first, and cheapest plan, covers up to 10 units and is a flat $35 a month. From there, the price increases for every 10 units that are added to the plan, with the 100 unit plan costing $110 a month.

After that, there is the P100+ plan that adds $10 per month for every 10 units added to the plan. Finally, the largest and most expensive plan, the P2000 plan covers up to 2000 units and costs $2010 per month.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop

If you want the basic features, DoorLoop's features start out at $59 per month for up to 20 units. However, the real savings come when you choose the Pro or Premium plans.

DoorLoop’s Pro plan comes in at $199 per month up to 20 units and includes features such as:

  • Owner portal
  • Bank reconciliations
  • And custom website

The Premium plan comes in at just $169 for up to 20 units and includes features such as:

  • Gmail and Outlook add-on
  • API access
  • And website portal integration

Best Pick for Property Managers

As we promised, we will now be presenting our top pick for the best all-around property management software.

The suggested software that we have chosen includes things like:

  • Very positive user reviews
  • A comprehensive set of features for mixed portfolios
  • Owner and tenant portals
  • Dependable customer service and live support
  • Affordable pricing
  • Features that allow you to track maintenance requests, screen tenants, and much more

And the obvious choice comes out to be: DoorLoop.

So, if you’re looking for other property management software that can streamline, optimize, and even automate many of your property management processes, try DoorLoop.

From commercial properties to residential, it it has a door, you can use DoorLoop! Schedule a free demo today and see what it can do for you!

Try DoorLoop today.

Want to compare more property management software systems? Download this free whitepaper to get the inside scoop on the most popular picks!

David is the co-founder & CMO of DoorLoop, a best-selling author, legal CLE speaker, and real estate investor. When he's not hanging with his three children, he's writing articles here!

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