19 Powerful Tools Every Landlord Should Know About

Are you a landlord searching for ways to make the process of buying, selling, and managing your rental properties easier? The recent boom in technology tools and software solutions for property owners offers a variety of helpful options.

From apps streamlining the mortgage application process to tools that assist with repairs, maintenance, and landlord insurance, these tools make managing residential rentals more efficient than ever.

Buying and Selling

Online tools and apps can provide benefits such as enabling communication with future buyers or sellers. Buyers can review properties and collect information easily without physically seeing the property. Features such as push notifications can also engage a potential buyer’s interest and help them make quick decisions based on their needs.

Roofstock

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Investors looking for a more active role in their investment properties will appreciate Roofstock’s online marketplace. Simply create an account, and then you can start selling or purchasing rental properties. Roofstock’s custom filters make it convenient to find a property based on its location, return, price, and more.

Yieldeasy

Best for multi-unit properties, Yieldeasy will source, analyze, and market apartment buildings. Yieldeasy provides essential tools to help secure a property sale, such as title, property management, and financing tools.

Get started with Yieldeasy in 3 easy steps: create your online account, onboard your deal onto your account, and start tracking and managing.

Zillow

With Zillow, you can browse current housing listings in a given area, discover property values, and make offers quickly. You can filter by popular amenities, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and type of rental.

Additionally, Zillow provides helpful information and insight on trends in each area so investors can make well-informed decisions when purchasing or selling rental properties.

Lending

With lending apps, you can access a wide range of options to find the best fit for your real estate project. Investors seeking both residential and commercial properties can use these tools to analyze their investments before going all in.

As the property investment market continues to get more competitive, using technology can provide you with faster communication and comparison calculators.

Mortgage Automator

Mortgage Automator is perfect for those with few to no employees or those just starting in real estate property investment.

Mortgage Automator’s standard plan includes a platform that creates and organizes documents, but you can also upgrade your plan if your business increases. You can also assess and approve draw requests, view fully automated yearly statements for borrowers and investors, and have collection reminders sent automatically.

LendingPad

LendingPad is a one-stop platform where you can access third-party information, audit history, disclosures, and more all in one place. Their lender version permits a lender, bank, banker, or credit union to track loan inventory, do warehousing activities, and perform banking functions. Other features include data transfer, archiving options, and unlimited users.

Landlord Insurance

Obie

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After buying a property, financing it, properly managing the rental and keeping it well maintained, investors need to protect their property with landlord insurance.

Obie is ideal for real estate investors seeking comprehensive, yet affordable insurance coverage. With its technology-driven approach, Obie simplifies the process by utilizing data and algorithms to provide investors with industry-best rates and personalized recommendations based on each individual’s needs and budget.

Obie provides you with the coverage you need to protect your rental property. Visit Obie’s website and get a free quote in minutes.

Tenant Screening Services and Background Checks

As a landlord, you need to feel confident that your tenants are trustworthy and will take good care of your rental properties.

Tenant screening and background checks can help landlords make informed decisions about potential renters. When it comes to landlord tools, many online services are available for conducting tenant screenings and background checks quickly and easily.

E-Renter

E-Renter offers an affordable basic plan with a range of content, including Social Security number verifications, criminal background checks, sex offender searches, bankruptcies, liens, and judgments.

Their online service quickly provides reports within one hour by accessing databases from across the U.S. The company also offers 2 upgraded plans for landlords who want additional information, such as an applicant's FICO score and identity verification.

SmartMove

SmartMove’s tenant screening solution is tailored especially to smaller-scale property owners, helping them make the most informed and efficient decision when choosing tenants.

Property owners can gain access to credit, criminal and eviction reports, customized leasing recommendations, and more. Their tenant screening system allows applicants to “push” their credit report directly to the landlords while protecting consumers' personal information.

First Advantage

First Advantage offers customers a comprehensive selection of rental, previous landlords, and utilities debt history information, along with criminal background checks in all U.S. states.

In addition, the company provides FCRA-compliant identity fraud protection services. An extensive database captures details about eviction filings, court orders, judgments, and lease disputes — all of which may not always appear on credit reports.

Property Management

The real estate industry is competitive, so every advantage you have as a landlord helps give you an edge. That includes being responsive to and communicating with tenants and offering digital payment options.

Property management apps make payments easier for tenants since they can pay directly from their phones and set up automatic rent checks.

Doorvest

Doorvest helps landlords own single-family homes without any experience. Answer some questions about yourself, customize your ideal investment property, and lock in your financial goals to create a Doorvest account with your exclusive property matches.

Once you find your perfect investment, Doorvest will purchase your home, fix it up, and place a long-term tenant in it, with maintenance and rental income guaranteed for the first year.

Avail

Landlords can advertise their property on the top rental listing websites with guidance from Avail. Stay current on potential tenants by getting notifications sent to your inbox and dashboard. You can also schedule showings straight from the app, request rental applications, and ask pre-screening questions.

Belong Home

Belong Home is a property management company. They begin managing your residential property as soon as you sign with them.

Their services include screening and placing residents, marketing your home, and making necessary repairs. With Belong Home’s mobile app and online platform, you can view financial statements, collect your earnings, and approve requests.

Green Doors

Green Doors is an all-in-one landlord solution with features such as rental applications, lease creation and signature templates, online rent collection and payments, and financial reports. Their analytics monitor portfolio performance, cloud document storage capabilities, and custom-branded owner and resident portals.

Also, with Green Doors’ unique white label branding feature, you can promote your business by having portals tailored to match your company’s look.

Repairs and Maintenance

When it comes to emergencies and repairs, tenants want answers right away. As a landlord, you must take care of any issues quickly and seamlessly. Mobile apps can increase your response time and your tenants’ satisfaction rate.

Innago

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Innago is a free app for landlords providing personal support, the ability to track work orders, screen tenants, and more. They have representatives on call 24 hours a day, and you save money by not having to pay a monthly fee or get caught up in a long-term contract.

Tenants benefit from paying via ACH or credit card, and landlords benefit by being able to charge late fees.

Buildium

Buildium is a cloud-based software that landlords and property managers use to communicate with tenants, renew contracts, and take care of work orders. Tenants can make online payments, view notifications from landlords, and submit maintenance and repair requests.

Landlords who manage single and multi-family rentals, affordable housing, student housing, or commercial real estate can use Buildium.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop maximizes tenant communications by allowing landlords to post announcements, receive maintenance requests, and collect rent payments.

Landlords can track all lease agreements automatically, including rent schedules, renewal dates, and monthly charges. Tenants can use the portal to submit maintenance requests, look at pending requests, and make online rent payments.

Bookkeeping and Rent Collection

Landlord tools and apps are extremely helpful for keeping accounts orderly and tracking rent collections.

Access to online payments, leases, and ledgers makes budgeting and tax season much easier since you can conveniently pull the records when needed. Online rent payment and rent status options help landlords maximize their potential earnings while encouraging tenants to pay their rent on time.

Stessa

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With Stessa's automated system to help organize transactions, you can quickly and easily create financial reports to help keep your accounts in order and increase rental property profitability.

The app also streamlines your finances with an FDIC-insured checking account so landlords can enjoy annual percentage yield rates without hidden fees or maintenance costs. You can also onboard incoming tenants, send automatic reminders when rent is due, and receive auto updates once rent is collected.

Baselane

You can do your banking, rent collection, reporting, and more with Baselane’s easy-to-use app. While bookkeeping and collecting rent can be complex, their landlord software simplifies the process. It provides helpful, free tools, such as unlimited reports, automated transaction importing, viewing payment history, and tenant auto-pay.

AppFolio

AppFolio is a web-based program that streamlines the duties of a landlord, such as bookkeeping, posting online payments, collecting rent, and more.

With AppFolio, landlords can share tax forms and reports, track contributions and distributions, and review performance metrics. Landlords can also use marketing tools on the app to enhance their property listings and increase their chances of attracting more tenants.