The Best Property Management Software of 2022

The best property management software is built to empower landlords to meet the demands and expectations of the people they serve. This statement comes from essensys’ newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Bernard.

According to Bernard, long term occupancy will come about not by the length of the lease, but by how well the needs of occupants are met. In the end, it all comes down to the human experience. To be productive. To be safe and secure. To be certain. A frictionless, fertile space for enterprise.

With these things in mind, we—with some help from our peers in the industry—have compiled a list of, what we think is, the top property management software in 2022 so far. Please note this list is based on Mr. Bernard’s criteria of excellent user experience, productivity, and security.

SparkRental

SparkRental is a website that helps middle-class people replace their salary with passive rental income (i.e. reach financial independence/retire early with real estate). One of the ways we do that is by offering online property management software designed specifically for mom-and-pop landlords, looking to automate their rentals while they work an unrelated full-time job.

Our software lets them post vacant rental listings on up to eight websites (such as Apartments.com and ForRent.com) with one click, run tenant screening reports, create and customize state-specific lease agreements, and collect rent online by either ACH (bank transfer) or credit card.

We also offer tracked communication and messaging for an easy written record, and we are about to start reporting rent payments to the credit bureaus. That helps renters build their credit, while creating an extra incentive to pay rent on time. We offer a free account option where you only pay for the services you want, or a Pro subscription with more bells and whistles, plus discounts on the per-item pricing.

For larger property managers with portfolios over 50 units, we recommend either Buildium or Appfolio. Both offer excellent customizability, and a wide-ranging feature set. They cost significantly more than our software, and many smaller landlords and property managers find their complex features a bit overwhelming. They are more designed for agency-level property managers, rather than solo managers or small teams.

– Brian Davis, Co-Founder of SparkRental

RezDox

The best property management software for multifamily will depend upon how many assets you manage. Large corporations use Yardi, OneSite, MRI, or Entrata. When you are a small business owner, or just getting started those programs can be expensive.

If your residential portfolio is smaller, I recommend RezDox, which is a pay as you grow system; the first home is free, and you pay an additional one-time fee for each additional home. Property managers can capture the details of each home’s maintenance and improvements along with dashboard reporting. RezDox is the only system that captures the equity growth from upgrades and will soon be able to score each home’s overall health or useful life for its major systems.

– Trachelle Spencer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RezDox

RentRound

RentRound is a property manager comparison site and the other is a consultancy firm that works with large banks such as Barclays & Bank of New York.

For me, RentRound is by far the most efficient property management software to use. It is cloud-based so it always allows accessibility and functionality.

It also helps maintain a digital paper trail to make sure there is good bookkeeping for compliance purposes. It is best for residential and commercial property managers that are looking to improve communication with landlords and tenants.

The software allows you to keep track of all your contacts and never miss a query. It also offers online accounting which is a big win for property managers.

– Raj Dosanjh, Founder of RentRound

Cozy

This is the best property management software for small-time landlords. Cozy is the only free property management software that provides us services for credit/background checks (paid by tenants directly), rent collection, and marketing as well. Unlike most property management software, there is no cost to use Cozy. Within Cozy you can also track maintenance requests and organize and track property expenses. The value of Cozy is that it is free.

Yardi

This is the best enterprise property management software. Yardi has allowed us to streamline our business and pull in lease signing and maintenance requests as well. It is built for having multiple users (handymen, leasing office, etc.) and is built for larger operations with more complexities. Yardi also builds in online portals for rent payments and is able to syndicate listings to more partners.

In our years of rental property management, we can only recommend these two services. Although we have used others, Cozy and Yardi are the best depending on your size and needs.

– Andrew Kolodgie, Owner of The House Guys