Property management can be a complex and time-consuming task, especially if you have a large portfolio of properties to manage. Specialised property management software can help to streamline your operations, save you time and money, and improve your overall efficiency.
What is property management software?
Property management software refers to software applications and platforms designed to help property managers and landlords manage various aspects of their rental properties and tenants. The software aims to automate and streamline essential property management tasks to help improve efficiency and organisation.
This complete guide to property management software will look at everything you need to know about choosing, implementing, and using property management software.
What are the benefits of using Property Management Software?
Improved organisation and efficiency – Software centralises all information and documents related to the properties and tenants, enabling property managers to access what they need instantly. Automation of tasks like rent collection also optimises operations.
Better tenant screening -The ability to thoroughly screen tenants using credit/background checks within the software itself helps landlords avoid problematic tenants and void periods.
Reduced errors and risks – Automated calculations for rents, taxes, income/expenses etc eliminate manual errors. Software can also generate reports that provide insight to make informed business decisions.
Time savings – Property managers save considerable time across tasks like collecting and tracking rent, creating maintenance work orders, communicating with tenants etc. This enables them to focus on other high-priority tasks.
Enhanced visibility – Detailed reports and metrics on occupancy, maintenance costs, revenue etc provide transparency into the operating and financial status of the property portfolio.
Reduced paperwork – Documentation like leases and invoices are maintained digitally within the software, avoiding paperwork hassles.
Better financial control – Software tracks all income and expenses, and some allow live integration with bank accounts for easy account reconciliation.
Higher tenant satisfaction -Tenants benefit from portal access for maintenance requests, online rent payments and direct communication with landlords.
Accessibility – Cloud-based software allows property managers to perform tasks on-the-go via mobile devices from anywhere at any time.
In summary, property management software improves productivity, reduces costs, minimises errors, provides valuable insights, and results in better service for tenants – ultimately boosting profitability for property owners.
Why not just use Excel to manage your portfolio?
Many smaller agencies and self-managing landlords still use and prefer general-purpose tools like Microsoft Excel to manage their portfolios. This can often be due to a combination of familiarity, cost, simplicity and a general sense of control. However, Excel’s lack of scalability, automation, data centralisation, accessibility, security and ability to integrate with other software means that larger businesses look to purpose-built property management software as their portfolios grow.
How much does property management software cost?
Property management software costs in the UK can vary greatly depending on the size of your portfolio, and which types of properties you manage. Overall, basic software access or licensing can start at around £50/month, but robust enterprise platforms for large portfolios can cost over £200/month. Per unit pricing typically ranges between £1 and £7 per month.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of what you could expect to pay depending on where you sit on the portfolio scale:
Individual Landlords (1-10 properties/units): Basic software for individual landlords starts around £50-100 per month. This often provides core tools like maintenance tracking, accounting, inspections and document storage.
Small Agencies (10-100 properties/units): Smaller boutique agencies managing a portfolio between 10-100 can typically expect to pay £100-300 per month for a mid-level platform with features like tenant portals, custom branding and advanced reporting.
Large Agencies (100+ properties/units) For agencies with larger portfolios expect prices from £150+ per month. Enterprise offerings from larger software will often include greater automation, inventory management and data analytics.
Some things to bear in mind:
- Per unit pricing is common, usually ranging from £1-7 per unit per month. Per unit costs decrease the more units are managed.
- Implementation and setup fees range from a few hundred pounds for smaller portfolios to thousands for extensive customisation and data migration.
- Discounts may be offered for annual contracts paid upfront rather than monthly payments.
- Additional fees may apply for features like credit checks, document storage space and premium support. Check out our blog on how to choose the best accounting software for property management.
What is the best property management software in the UK?
There are many excellent property management software options available for landlords and agents in the UK. These software solutions offer a wide range of features to help property managers of all sizes to streamline their operations, save time and money, and improve their overall efficiency. To help you out, we’ve picked 5 property management software solutions.
Here is a brief overview of each solution:
Arthur is a cloud-based property management software solution that offers a comprehensive range of features, including tenant management, rent collection, maintenance tracking, accounting and reporting, and marketing. Book a demo and see what Arthur can do for you.
Alto is a cloud-based property management software solution that is designed for use by landlords and letting agents. It offers a range of features, including tenant management, rent collection, maintenance tracking, accounting and reporting.
Reapit is a cloud-based property management software solution that is designed for use by letting agents, property managers, and estate agents. It offers a range of features, including tenant management, rent collection, maintenance tracking, accounting and reporting, and CRM.
Propman is a cloud-based property management software solution that is designed for use by landlords and property managers of all sizes. It offers a range of features, including tenant management, rent collection, maintenance tracking, accounting and reporting.
Veco by Eurolink is a cloud-based property management software solution that is designed for use by letting agents and property managers. It offers a range of features, including tenant management, rent collection, maintenance tracking, and accounting and reporting.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of what you should look for depending on the size of your portfolio:
Individual Landlords (1-10 properties/units)
If managing less than 10 properties, opt for basic and affordable software, charging on a per-unit/property basis, which will handle essential activities such as tenant checks, rent collection and accountancy.
Features to look for:
- Maintenance request logging
- Rent collection and invoicing
- Right to Rent checks compliance
- Tenancy agreement templates
- Financial statements and accounting
Examples: Landlord Vision, Rentila, Landlord Studio
Small Agencies & Large Landlords (10-100 properties/units)
For agencies managing between 10-100 units, look for software with more robust functionality, particularly automation and self-service around rent and for managing repairs and maintenance, to save your property managers valuable time.
Additional features to look for:
- Online portals for tenants and owners
- Automated rent demands and notices
- Repair reporting and maintenance Management
- Custom reporting and analytics
- Contractor and vendor management
Examples: Arthur Online, Fixflo
Large Agencies (100+ properties/units)
Larger agencies with over 100 properties need advanced software with features such as:
- Role-based access and permissions
- Automation for processes like renewals
- Yield analysis and forecasting
- Integration with credit checks and listing sites
- Custom workflows and branding
Examples: Alto, MRI, Reapit
How to implement property management software
Once you’ve identified the software that’s right for you, now comes the bigger challenge of onboarding and implementing your chosen software within your organisation. This is crucial to get right to maximise the benefits of the system, ensure user adoption, maintain data accuracy, comply with legal requirements, improve user proficiency, enhance tenant and landlord satisfaction, facilitate scalability, save costs, and gain a competitive edge in the property management industry.
Here are some tips for onboarding and embedding property management software:
- Plan ahead – Create a project plan and timeline for implementing the software. Determine goals, scope, resources needed, roles and responsibilities.
- Involve key stakeholders – Depending on the size of your organisation, include property managers, maintenance staff, accounting, IT support, executives etc. Get their input on needs, desired features, and training.
- Clean up data – Review and clean up existing data in current systems to prepare for importing into the new software. Remove duplicates, consolidate records etc.
- Migrate data – Work with the software provider to migrate and import your existing data from other systems. Test and validate that all data is transferred over accurately.
- Set up configurations – Customise system preferences, settings, user roles etc. Set up workflows, approval processes, and automation rules based on your operations.
- Integrate with other systems – Streamline operations and avoid double entry of information by connecting and integrating the property management software with accounting, payment platforms, and portals.
- Develop training plan – Create training materials and FAQs. Provide both live and self-paced training opportunities to teach employees how to use the software.
- Run parallel testing – Keep existing systems in place during the initial testing phase to ensure accuracy before switching over fully.
- Get user feedback – Solicit ongoing feedback from users during roll-out to identify any gaps, challenges or customisations needed.
- Refine and update – Optimise configurations and enhance adoption over time based on actual usage, new requirements and changes to your business. Keep the software aligned with evolving needs.
The bottom line
In the increasingly competitive world of property management, the use of software has become a necessity for efficiency, organisation, and growth. By understanding the key features, choosing the right solution, and implementing it effectively, you can transform your business and take it to new heights.
Looking for even more info? Try our in-depth guide to why your agency may need property management software.
Stay in the loop with property industry news and more guides like this sent directly to your inbox by subscribing to Arthur Insights.
