Michael Smith is a veteran on retirement who has just moved into a new home. He wants to rent out his old home, and so he has been researching, trying to come up with the best management plan. He figures that software will make managing the outlet so much easier, but doesn't know where or what package to purchase. If you are in Michael's shoes, then this article is for you.

Landlord software is software used to manage buildings, apartments, tenants, rent, and maintenance routines. It is also called property management software in many places. Michael needs a landlord software, in order to manage his property well.

In choosing landlord or property management software, you have to take into consideration a number of factors. I will talk about a few.

Know Your Budget

You should spend sometime thinking about the maximum amount of money you are prepared to spend on a property management software, because some packages are quite expensive. While some applications are products requiring a one time fee, others are services which require that you pay a service charge each month. Some packages require that you pay a one time fee which is less than $100, while others require that you pay this same amount each month. Whatever your budget, finding a package that meets your needs shouldn't be too difficult.

Know Your Needs

Folks say that if you don't know where you are going then any direction will take you there. In looking for a landlord software, you do have a purpose, or at least believe you do. However, if you don't decide firmly what you want and what you don't want, then you might be swayed by the compelling advertisements out there and end up buying a wrong package. List the features you need, so that you won't purchase the wrong package.

Search for information

Once you know what you want there are a number of ways to get the best software. Searching for landlord software or property management software online using a search engine should be a good starting point. You would find websites of various vendors or service providers. Review the information you find to see if they meet your needs. Many of the vendors or service providers will allow you to at least use the software free of charge for a number of days, giving you plenty of time to evaluate whether the software meets your needs.

However, sometimes none of them will meet your needs. That is the time to look for custom software. There are many custom software developers out there who can develop a solution that will meet your needs. Custom software, however, is more expensive than the prepackaged applications or services that are out there. With prepackaged software, the cost of development is shared because the software is developed and sold to many people, sometimes thousands. However, when you go for custom software, the custom software development company will be developing the software for only you, so you will have to bear all the costs, and this can cost you anything from $10,000 to $100,000.

Another way to find a good software is to speak to a landlord or property manager who has been in the business for a long time. They may recommend a better software than you even thought of.

There are some things you must consider when purchasing landlord software. I will touch on a few.

Desktop vs Cloud Software

When purchasing property management software you can choose between a Windows based desktop version which will reside on your desktop and a cloud version which you would access over the internet. The advantage of using the cloud version is that you can access it wherever you find yourself, so long as you have an internet connection. Your data and that of your tenants will be hosted by the cloud software provider. With the desktop version, you don't need internet to run the software, and all your data resides on your desktop, and so you will have to make regular backups because if you don't you can lose all your data.

Payment Collection

How do you want your customers to pay for the rent? You may consider billing your customers online, taking cash from them, or providing them with a website or an app that they can use to not only pay their invoices but also check their prior payments. Sometimes you may want to bill your tenants for additional services such as parking space for their cars. There are good packages out there that will allow you to do just that.

Maintenance Tracking

Many property owners have to constantly grapple with tenant complaints. Therefore, having software which allows you to log customer complaints and maintenance schedules will be a time saver. Think about this feature when looking for landlord software.

Revenue and Taxes

Many property owners are required by law to file their tax returns, and preparing such tax returns can be daunting, but with the right software package, this shouldn't be difficult at all. Some allow you to export you reports to accounting packages for onward processing.

You now have more than enough information to help you select a good package. You may be surprised by how easy managing rental properties can be when you use software. No other method makes it easier, so always use software. This should be a good starting point.