In today’s tech-driven world, staying competitive as an independent landlord means embracing digital tools that streamline property management, enhance the renter experience, and help you compete with large apartment communities and property management companies equipped with marketing and finance teams. From collecting rent to managing leases and handling maintenance requests, technology offers powerful solutions that save you time and money, make your property competitive, and keep your tenants happy.
Whether you’re managing a single property or an entire portfolio, leveraging the right tech can simplify every aspect of your rental operations. Explore the top property management technologies landlords should use so you can boost efficiency, attract high-quality tenants, and maximize your rental income.
Table of Contents
- Electronic Rent Payment
- AI to Optimize Listings
- 3D Tours for Prospective Tenants
- Online Lease Agreements
- Tenant Screening
- Electronic Communication with Tenants
- Rental Property Expense Tracking
- Rent Comp Reports
- Online Maintenance Requests
- Rental Property ROI Calculator
- Online Lease Management
- Smart Home Technology
- Remote Security Monitoring
1. Electronic Rent Payment
According to PYMNTS, 77% of renters find that online rent payments are easier and more efficient than traditional methods like paper checks. Renters find electronic payment methods faster and more convenient since they can pay rent from anywhere at any time.
Collecting rent online saves landlords time and effort as well. Electronic payment platforms will automatically funnel a tenant’s payments to the landlord’s bank account, so landlords don’t have to take the extra step of depositing a check. The digital trail that electronic payment platforms provide also make bookkeeping easier by allowing landlords to access payment histories and receipts.
But electronic rent payment systems aren’t just convenient. Online payment systems have enhanced security that protects your and your tenant’s financial information, making them much safer than paper checks.
Electronic payments also help avoid late payments by allowing renters to set up autopay, eliminating the risk of a tenant forgetting when rent is due. This makes your cash flow more reliable and minimizes awkward conversations with your tenant.
2. AI to Optimize Listings
AI can make it easier and faster for landlords to create engaging property descriptions and optimize rental listings. You can input your property’s information and, with some chatbots, photos of your rental to generate an engaging property description.
Apartments.com makes it easy to use AI to enhance your listing. When you create a listing on Apartments.com and provide basic details about your property, you have the option to generate and use a property description based on the information you provide, such as the rental size, amenities, and photos.
Once you generate a listing description, apply it to your listing and adjust the tone to sound more like you. Keep your listing description short—no more than three paragraphs.
3. 3D Tours for Prospective Tenants
According to an Apartments.com renter survey conducted in May, 41% of renters are searching for a place in another city, and 64% of renters would use a virtual tour without a leasing agent to tour a property.
3D tours are particularly useful for renters with physical disabilities or renters moving long-distance. Being able to virtually “walk through” a property from afar allows renters to picture themselves living there, bringing property managers high-quality leads from a broader pool of renters and filling vacancies faster.
When renters can tour a property in person, they’re judicious with their time. Apartments.com’s renter survey from May revealed that, on average, renters expect to research nine properties, but only expect to tour five in person. Including a 3D tour in a rental listing can help you end up on a renter’s short list by grabbing their attention from the get-go.
3D tours can also save time in your busy schedule; if a renter chooses to schedule an in-person tour with you after clicking through a 3D tour, they’re likely more serious about renting your property.
4. Online Lease Agreements
Traditionally, a lease agreement would need to be printed out and hand-signed by both the renter and landlord. Unless a renter can meet you in person to sign a lease, a paper lease requires you to mail it to the renter, then have them sign it and mail it back. This can take a while, and you lose precious time if a renter changes their mind and you need to find a new tenant.
Online lease agreements can expedite the leasing process by eliminating snail mail waiting periods. Renters only need to log into an online portal to review and sign lease documents, reducing the days-long process to a few minutes.
Moving leases online is also better for legal reasons. While paper leases can get lost or damaged, a lease stored in an online file is easy to access and hard to get rid of. This makes it easier for tenants to reference their lease for rules and expectations, and easier for landlords to enforce lease terms.
5. Tenant Screening
The tenant screening process is a necessary step to protect your property. Effectively screening tenants can weed out risky renters who might not pay rent on time. While there are multiple ways to vet applicants, certified reports are the most bulletproof way to ensure you select qualified renters.
According to RentRedi, 88% of landlords screen tenants with a certified tenant screening report. A certified report consists of a background check, criminal report, rental history, credit check, employment history, and proof of income. All of this information gives you a peek into an applicant’s renting behavior and can point out any potential red flags that can cost you money in the long run.
With a proper tenant screening report, you can minimize the risk of having to evict a tenant. Evictions can be expensive; between legal fees, court costs, lost rent, and tenant turnover, an eviction can cost property managers thousands of dollars. While a large property management company’s multiple streams of income can offset the cost, evictions can hit private landlords hard.
6. Electronic Communication with Tenants
As with tenant screening, communicating with tenants online can help protect you legally by providing a record of your conversations. In the event of a legal dispute, you can easily find written proof of agreements between you and your tenants.
Online messaging technology for property management can also allow you to utilize templates designed to help independent landlords comply with housing laws. Downloadable templates help streamline communication during the application, move-in, and move-out processes, ensuring renters have the information they need and keeping you compliant with landlord-tenant laws.
7. Rental Property Expense Tracking
With many bills and receipts on paper, independent landlords who manage properties on their own may find it difficult to stay organized. Papers can get miscategorized or filed out of order despite best efforts to stay organized with labeled folders, making it hard to keep track of each property’s expenses.
Instead of manually tracking expenses across multiple spreadsheets or storing receipts in different folders, online expense tracking keeps everything organized in one place. Rental property bookkeeping platforms allow landlords to upload receipts and invoices, file expenses under different properties, sort expenses into tax categories, and receive tax forms for each property.
Online expense tracking platforms can also make filing taxes less stressful. Electronic expense tracking allows landlords to export expense reports and tax forms, streamlining tax prep and minimizing human error. By accounting for every expense, online expense tracking platforms can help landlords maximize deductions and increase their tax returns, putting more money in their pockets.
8. Rent Comp Reports
Rent comp reports compare similar properties in a specific area to help landlords evaluate the local market and determine a fair market price for their property. Without a localized frame of reference, landlords risk overcharging and driving away renters with a too-high rent price or undercharging and leaving money on the table.
Finding the middle ground is key for landlords looking to compete with larger property management companies. According to Apartments.com’s renter survey from May, price is the most important factor renters consider when looking for a rental, with location and safety trailing behind. When combined with rental ROI calculators, rent comp reports help landlords find the sweet spot between a competitive rent price and maximizing rental income.
9. Online Maintenance Requests
Online maintenance portals are available 24/7 and make it easy for renters to submit maintenance requests and upload photos or videos of what needs fixing. This property management technology improves your tenant’s experience by minimizing their existing frustration and allowing them to track the progress of their request.
On the landlord’s end, an online maintenance portal can keep requests from slipping through the cracks, boosting tenant satisfaction and reducing turnover and vacancy while helping keep track of maintenance costs.
10. Rental Property ROI Calculator
The return on investment (ROI) formula is simple enough:
ROI = [(Rental property income – Expenses) / Cost of investment] x 100
However, calculating ROI on financed properties gets complicated, and it’s easy to lose track of expenses like insurance, property taxes, and closing costs.
Rental property return on investment (ROI) calculators help landlords assess the profitability of a new investment property and set a competitive rent price by taking into account all expenses. Landlords should consult a rental property ROI calculator to consider whether they’ll see a return on their investment after covering mortgage payments, taxes, and maintenance expenses.
While the exact numbers vary depending on property type and location, taxes, and mortgage terms, financial advisors typically suggest aiming for an ROI of about 10% over the property’s rental life.
11. Online Lease Management
If you manage more than one rental, effective lease management is crucial. Shifting the process online keeps to-dos from getting lost in the shuffle and ensures each of your tenants feel valued, improving tenant retention and increasing your profit. Online lease management also helps you minimize vacancies and mitigate legal disputes that can damage your reputation and your revenue.
The Apartments.com Rental Manager suite streamlines residential lease management so that you can focus on making your property a great place to live.
12. Smart Home Technology
Tenant tech like smart locks, smart thermostats, and motion sensor flood lights all add to your rental’s appeal and help your property match the modernity of large apartment communities.
While keys can get lost and locks can be picked, smart locks operate on a programmable code. Combined with motion sensor flood lights, smart locks keep burglars away while making tenants’ lives easier. Many smart locks offer an automatic locking feature that secures the property when renters forget to manually lock the doors, and the lack of a key means renters won’t be locked out.
Smart thermostats can lower energy usage through precision temperature control and personalized scheduling. Renters can program a smart thermostat to adjust to their daily routine and reduce energy usage when no one’s home.
Smart home technology is appealing for renters as well as landlords. Smart locks make it easier for landlords to access a rental for maintenance or inspections, and auto-lock functions protect your property from burglary or vandalism. If you choose to include utilities in your rent price, smart thermostats can increase your profit if a tenant’s power bill is lower than what you’ve budgeted for.
13. Remote Security Monitoring
Smart home technology can also heighten your property’s security. Video doorbells and smart home security systems allow tenants to monitor the rental from their phone and act as a crime deterrent. In the case of a break-in, smart home security systems will verify an alarm and call 911 if there’s an intruder.
The verification step is especially important, as the Security Industry Association (SIA) reports that some cities have deprioritized home security alarms due to the prevalence of false alarms. These cities’ police departments now require audio or video evidence of a break-in before dispatching officers.
Use Apartments.com Rental Manager Technology to Modernize Your Property Management Processes
When you list your property on Apartments.com, you gain access to our Rental Manager suite. Here, you can do everything from creating a state-specific lease to maximizing your revenue with rent comp reports.
Collect rent online
Apartments.com’s online rent collection system simplifies payments for you and your tenants while keeping financial information secure. You can view and manage your tenants’ outstanding balance, recent payments, and previous transactions.
On the tenant’s side, they can make a payment in seconds with the click of a button. This efficiency makes it easier for your tenants to pay rent, in turn lowering the risk of late payments.
Create 3D virtual tours directly on your phone
According to CoStar Group insights, renters spend 71% more time on listings with a Matterport 3D Tour. Matterport 3D Tours expand your pool of potential tenants, and you can create them directly on your phone with Apartments.com.
When you upgrade your ad to a Premium listing, you can add up to four Matterport 3D Tours to your listing. Your rental’s ad size will also be larger within search results, gaining more exposure for more high-quality leads.
Contact support@apartments.com with any questions about upgrading your listing to Premium or adding virtual tours.
Conduct online tenant screening and background checks
Apartments.com’s online tenant screening system partners with TransUnion to give landlords a comprehensive overview of an applicant’s risk as a tenant.
Your applicants’ report includes a TransUnion ResidentScore, a numeric summary of a renter’s trustworthiness as a tenant that considers factors statistically tied to a renter’s ability to pay rent. Combined with a detailed credit report and background check, property managers can pick the most qualified tenant.
Download and use landlord forms and templates to communicate with tenants
Apartments.com’s downloadable rental property forms make your tenant communications faster and more professional.
These forms are useful property management tools that provide templated guardrails to streamline your communications from the moment you receive a rental application to the day your tenant moves out. Each template is compliant with federal housing laws, making your job easier without cutting corners.
Track expenses related to your rental property
Keep track of your property’s expenses with Rental Manager’s expense tracking dashboard. Organize your expenses by property, upload receipts, and assign each item to a tax category to make tax season less of a headache. When April rolls around, export the year’s expenses to CSV or PDF formats so you can take advantage of tax deductions and maximize your return.
Get maximum income with rent comp reports
Rent comp reports compare your rental to similar properties nearby so you can set a fair rent price based on the local market. This saves you from scaring away renters with a too-high price.
Your rental’s age, size, amenities, and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms all factor into setting a fair rent price. Comparing your property to others in the area can clue you in on the going rates.
Manage and track maintenance requests in real time
Apartments.com’s maintenance request tracking system helps you upkeep your property by making it easier for tenants to report maintenance needs. Keep track of maintenance needs on your dashboard and communicate with your tenant on open maintenance requests.
You can also create your own issue visible only to you. If you catch something during a rental inspection like a dirty HVAC filter or leaky faucet, create a private maintenance request with a description of the issue.
Make informed decisions with the Rental Property ROI Calculator
The Rental Property ROI Calculator does the heavy lifting for you and allows you to find the sweet spot between competitive pricing and turning a profit. Input the basic information about your property’s one-time and recurring expenses to pinpoint a reasonable rent price.
If you’re looking to invest in a new property, the ROI calculator can help you evaluate whether the property is worth the investment. By inputting the purchase price, mortgage terms, and the average rent of similar properties in the area, you can determine whether to take the next step.
Property Management Technology Trends Made Simple with Apartments.com
According to Apartments.com’s renter survey, 76% of renters use rental search sites like Apartments.com. Digitizing your processes can make you more efficient and improve your tenants’ experience, boosting tenant satisfaction and reducing turnover.
Tap into the latest property management technology trends. Get started on Apartments.com and show off your property to millions of renters across the country.
