DoorLoop vs. Property Vista: Choosing Canada's Best Property Management Software

Marketa Hubspina

January 25, 2024

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If you're a property manager looking to improve efficiency in your property management business, then look no further than a cloud-based solution like rental property management software.

Today, property management software isn't so much a bonus to have in the industry; it's a must-have if you want to stand a chance against your competition and fulfill the growing needs of your tenants and property owners.

The property management software industry itself has boomed over the years, though. So it can be difficult to determine which platform suits your real estate property portfolio, as there are so many options now.

Which will provide you with best-in-class functionality for rent collection, financial management, financial reporting, online rental applications, tenant communications, service requests, payment processing, and other features that can boost your resident experience and automate tedious manual tasks?

We know how difficult and important this decision can be for individual property managers or property management companies, which is why we have researched some of the best cloud-based property management tools out there like MRI Software, Building Stack, Condo Control, Yardi Breeze Premier, DoorLoop, and Property Vista.

To help guide your decision-making process, we've compared DoorLoop vs. Property Vista this time with Canadian property managers in mind.

We'll go over what makes a good property management software and how the broad and powerful features of DoorLoop and Property Vista can help you.

In the end, we'll provide an overview on their pricing plans as well to aid in your final decision.

What Makes a Property Management Solution Good?

Having an advanced property management solution like rental property management software is clearly good, but what sets the programs apart from one another and better than others?

The answer basically boils down to finding which property management software completely fulfills the needs of modern property managers.

Today's property managers juggle a multitude of tasks, from maintenance requests, rental payments, and tenant communications to property listings and marketing.

It's a lot to deal with, which is why having an end-to-end solution that helps automate tasks from the very beginning to end of the rental process is a boon.

However, every property manager and property management company operates differently and sometimes needs one thing more than the other. This is why you should seriously evaluate what your particular business needs, as that can influence the key features you'll be looking for in property management software.

To help get you started, here are some factors we recommend considering when shopping around:

What's your budget?
What are your goals for growing your business and expanding its property portfolio?
What is your portfolio type (e.g., residential properties, vacation rental business, commercial real estate, student housing, etc.)? Is it a mixed portfolio with some or all of those?
What is the structure of your business? Do you do it all yourself, or do you have a team of many property managers handling different things? Do you have a separate accountant?
Do you have dedicated service teams whom you want in the loop for service requests?

There are, of course, many other factors that can be influential as well. But these questions can get you going in the right direction.

DoorLoop vs. Property Vista Features

Now that you have a general idea of what you may be looking for, we'll dive into the key features that our two contenders for real estate property management software offer.

Accounting

We'll start with the biggest headache: accounting. Whether you do the financial management yourself or have an accountant on your team do it for you, making sure that your property management solution includes bookkeeping and accounting features and accounting integration is crucial.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop's bookkeeping and accounting features are built to replace external software so that you can do it all from one platform. Since it's a cloud-based property management tool, you can access it regardless of where you are or what device you're using as well.

Its complete suite of accounting features includes rent and other fee collection, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliations, report generation for cash flow and other important information, a full chart of your accounts, property owner statements, and more.

Because DoorLoop is a leading easy-to-use software, its accounting tools are also built to be user friendly so that the complexities of financial management are made easy.

Property Vista

Property Vista boasts impressive accounting features as well. Its centralized accounting tools let property managers see their overall financial status easily so they can identify opportunities for business growth. You can also generate financial reports on profits and losses, transactions, accounts payable and receivable, and more.

Like DoorLoop, you can track rent and fee payments as well.

Leasing

When it comes to property management, leasing features are also critical. After all, lease agreements are the bridge between you and your tenants and are what maintain both parties' rights and your income.

DoorLoop

When it comes to lease management, DoorLoop's offers broad features. For potential tenants and new tenants, you can accept rental applications online, complete them with eSignatures, and collect fees related to the application, security deposits, and more.

Much of this can be done via a custom website that you can get with DoorLoop as well. Using that website, you can advertise and market your property listings too.

For current tenants, you can track paid or overdue rent, charge late fees, and more. This is all done entirely automatically as well so that residential property managers, short-term rental managers, and other types of property managers can collect rent effortlessly.

Property Vista

Property Vista similarly offers and end-to-end solution for lease management. You can promote vacancies on Property Vista's internet listing service, accept online applications, and complete lease agreements with electronic signatures.

If you plan on offering any concessions, you can integrate them into your leases too.

Tenant Portal

Having a tenant portal is a great way to enhance the resident experience, regardless of which type of real estate you manage. Tenant portals offer a convenient way for renters to set up automated rent collection, contact property managers, and submit maintenance requests.

Naturally, for property managers, these portals serve well to keep communication, service requests, and rent collection seamless so that there is little work to do on your end.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop has an all-in-one tenant portal where residents can perform all of the aforementioned tasks and more. They can submit maintenance requests, view progress on those work orders, make rental payments, set up automated payments, view the history of their payments, and communicate with their landlords and property managers.

They can do this either through DoorLoop's website or through its mobile app as well, making it very convenient to access.

Property Vista

Property Vista lets any property manager communicate with their tenants via email or text through its tenant portal. With the same tenant portal, property managers can send announcements to their residents, track rent payments, and get maintenance requests.

Marketing

Marketing is what helps your property management company grow. For that reason, it's a good idea to find a property management software that not only handles all aspects of the leasing process but also helps you get new tenants in the door.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop offers multiple ways to market your property management company and listings.

With DoorLoop, you can create a professional website for your business. There, you can not only list your property vacancies but also accept online rental applications and collect relevant application fees.

Beyond your company's website, however, DoorLoop also offers property listing syndication. With just a few clicks, you can create a property listing and then launch it across popular platforms like Zillow and Apartments.com. That way, as many prospects will see your vacancies as possible and you can quickly fill them.

Property Vista

With Property Vista, you can create a listing website for your vacancies. You can also use LeadManaging to get access to a call-tracking and UTM tracking system. Integrate with phone, email, and SMS to be notified of leads in real time, and track relevant marketing and leasing KPIs.

Maintenance

Your property management software should have maintenance request management. It's simply that important.

With maintenance features, tenants can easily submit work orders to you so that you can quickly address issues before they become big (and costly) ones. This not only protects your investment but also helps to boost retention and make your renters satisfied.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop's maintenance features are primarily in the tenant portal, which is part of the DoorLoop app and website. From there, residents can submit maintenance requests, upload photos and relevant information or documentation, and communicate with their property managers.

On the property management side of things, property managers can edit those work orders, assign them to vendors or dedicated service teams, get status updates, and communicate with the involved parties so that everyone's on the same page from start to finish.

Property Vista

Property Vista handles maintenance through its Inspector App. There, you can take photos, record inspection information, and sent tenants any necessary alerts.

Meanwhile, tenants can send maintenance requests and add pictures as needed. Both parties can stay in the loop with real-time status updates.

Pricing

Now for the final feature that any property management company or individual property manager must keep in mind when choosing property management software: cost.

Property management software companies handle their pricing models in various ways, so we broke down how DoorLoop and Property Vista do it below.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop's flexible pricing model is built with landlords, property management companies, residential real estate businesses, vacation rental businesses, and other types of real estate management firms of all sizes in mind.

It has three pricing plans: Starter (starts at $59 per month), Pro (starts at $119 per month), and Premium (starts at $169 per month). Each of these options gives you up to 20 units to start. There are no contracts, and if you want to save money by switching to a yearly plan, you can. If you need more units, regardless of if it's now or later, you can easily add them and expand.

DoorLoop's Starter plan includes everything property managers need: accounting, customer service relationship (CRM) management, maintenance requests, eSignature, a tenant portal, and more.

If you want an owner portal, tenant announcements, customizable property management software, API access, and other features, you can upgrade to one of the higher tiers.

Property Vista

This is where Property Vista can get expensive, especially if you're a smaller landlord or property management company.

Property Vista's property management software has two pricing plans: Essential ($1.50 per unit per month) and Premium ($2.50 per unit per month). Both of these plans are billed annually, and both of these plans require a minimum portfolio size of 500 units.

The Essential plan includes marketing, leasing, rental applications, a tenant portal, and some other features. If you want accounting and work orders, however, you'll have to upgrade to Premium.

Final Consensus: What's the Best Rental Property Management Software in Canada?

So which Canadian real estate management software is best?

Both DoorLoop and Property Vista are strong contenders, and either is a great choice, depending on what you're looking for.

However, we believe DoorLoop is a very customized solution that can meet all your property management needs.

Property Vista advertises itself for multi-family residential real estate and student housing. This means that if you're looking for software to manage industrial, commercial, or other types of real estate, Property Vista may not fit the bill.

DoorLoop, however, is built for anything that has a door. So regardless of your portfolio type and if you manage long-term rentals, short-term rentals, or anything in between, it has what you need.

Most notably, however, DoorLoop supplies it all from one single app. Whereas other platforms (like Property Vista) use multiple apps for the property management software itself, maintenance, tenant portals, and more, DoorLoop uses just one cloud-based platform.

The cloud-based software and mobile applications are available on all types of devices as well, whether PC, Mac, iPhone, Android mobile, or something else.

So if you're looking to improve the resident experience for your properties, boost occupancy rates, make your business more efficient, save time, and make more money, we think DoorLoop's property management software might be a great choice for you.

We encourage you to schedule a free demo with DoorLoop today so you can see for yourself how the cloud-based program can take your business to the next level.