Property management is one of the fastest growing sectors, with a near-10% yearly increase. The housing market is one of the most reliable investments out there. So more and more people invest in property every year.
With all the profit comes some challenges. Mainly, how to keep on top of your tenants and properties. That’s why so many use property management solutions.
As property prices continue to rise, owners need to make the most of what they have. With software like Appfolio, you can stay on top of everything for less.
Appfolio pricing includes features like online payment methods, communication, and even future projections. Here’s our guide to just some of the features Appfolio offers. We’ll also cover reviews of the software, and how much it actually costs.
Read on to see how Appfolio could help you!
What Is Appfolio?
Appfolio is a software-as-a-subscription-service product. That means you pay a monthly fee to use it, rather than buying the program upfront. Therefore, property portfolios of all sizes can benefit from it.
The software itself is designed to take the legwork out of property management. It’s an all-in-one solution to oversee your portfolio and outstanding tasks.
Appfolio is also all cloud-based. That means it’s not only secure, but accessible from anywhere. From the dashboard, which you can download as an app, you can view every detail about your properties.
Appfolio Software Features
Appfolio helps with tenant applications, management, maintenance, and even property listings! Especially when you have dozens of properties under your belt, simplifying these processes can save you huge amounts of time. Here’s a little more detail about the most impressive features.
Resident Management Features
Managing tenants can be one of the most time-consuming parts of property management. Keeping all communication and maintenance records in one place simplifies resident management.
Online Portal
Even for your tenants, Appfolio makes sure everything is in one place. On the tenant portal, they can pay their rent, submit requests for maintenance, and view all their rental documents easily. That means they’ll be getting in touch less often, buying you back precious time.
In-App Communication
Communicating with all of your renters over the phone, email, and even text is exhausting. Worse, it’s hard to keep track of. Communication can get messy, with over-the-phone agreements being remembered differently by both parties.
To solve this, Appfolio has an entire communication module in its software. Every interaction with your tenants is stored in one place, for both parties to see.
Maintenance Dashboard
Everything to do with property maintenance can be viewed in one place with Appfolio.
All information from maintenance schedules to approved vendors is kept on one dashboard. That makes navigation and decision-making much easier. Current maintenance projects can even be tracked as they go.
Best of all, you can make use of Appfolio’s maintenance call center. Based on the information you provide, it can automatically dispatch vendors when tenants call with problems. And of course, all of the payment processes are automatic if you want them to be.
Property Inspection Data
Keep all of your inspection data in one place. Whether that is:
- Property photos
- Property descriptions
- Task lists
- Inventory lists
- Maintenance records
They’ll all be in one place. That makes not only uploading information but also keeping up to date as easy as can be.
Applicant Management Features
The applicant management features on Appfolio streamline the rental application process. They allow you to view all applications in one place. You can even sign the rental contracts online, where they’re stored safely.
Online Rental Applications
The entire application process can go through Appfolio. You decide which information you would like tenants to submit. Then the software handles the rest.
You’ll be provided with a list of applications, already filtered to your preferences.
Online Lease Agreements
Once an applicant is chosen, the automation continues. All of their details are transferred by the software into an online lease. Of course, this lease is completely customizable by you.
Both parties can then sign the lease online. That starts the contract without you needing to meet in person.
Tenant Screening
Many property managers have certain standards they’d like their tenants to meet. For example, they may have preferences about credit history, eviction history, or criminal records. Especially now that the eviction moratorium is over, many property owners are interested in this information.
By screening tenants beforehand, Appfolio filters applicants before the selection process even begins. It consolidates this process to one place, and will automatically filter applicants for you.
AI Leasing Assistant
Appfolio offers an artificial intelligence assistant as an optional feature. By handling so much communication for you, it saves you huge amounts of time. When letting out a property, it can automatically respond to inquiries and schedule viewings in your place.
Plus, all the data it gathers contributes to your analytics.
Technical User Features
With everything optimized and in one place, Appfolio’s technical features make your life easier. All the processes necessary for day-to-day property management are streamlined on the platform.
Integration and Automation
Appfolio allows you to create a listing through their software. Then, it can be automatically uploaded to 80+ rental property search sites. That’s right – you only have to upload the information once, and the software will do the rest of the work for you.
Appfolio also offers access to more exclusive sites. You can pay a little extra to get listed on pay-to-list sites, as well as getting priority listings on others.
Customizable Online Listings
Over the years, Appfolio has figured out the most streamlined way to allow you to upload listings. They provide a template for new listings, but it’s still completely customizable. Fill in everything from square footage to availability date, choosing which fields you do or don’t need.
Then, use the automation features to upload your listing anywhere you like!
Accounting and Online Payments
Appfolio’s accounting software helps you manage all of your property finances in one place. Income, expenses, invoices – it’s all there.
Plus, the AI software can read documents to find the needed information. It then sorts your bills accordingly.
Best of all, the software can link to your bank accounts. Not only that, but it can automatically clear deposits if the information is correct, or adjust them if it’s not.
Access to Powerful Analytics
Access to analytics is vital to making sound financial decisions. Appfolio provides this service with their Plus package. The data analyzed include predicted occupancy, lead conversion, and rental demand.
These interactive features allow you to make adjustments to your pricing as needed. Their projections also help you make an informed decision about where to invest next.
The RentMatch Feature
RentMatch is a comparison feature on Appfolio that helps keep your prices competitive. It analyzes the average rental prices of units similar to yours and in the same area. Then, it suggests whether your prices should change to stay competitive, while still getting you the best rent possible.
Custom Property Marketing Sites
Appfolio also offers a website hosting and building service. If you would like your portfolio marketed in one place, Appfolio can build and activate that site for you.
The website feature also comes with analytics. They enable you to track its performance and engagement. Monitoring which properties are most viewed can inform how you adjust your portfolio.
Appfolio Pricing
Appfolio pricing isn’t the cheapest out there. As you can see from the features above, there’s a reason they can charge a premium. For the specifics, here is the cost of using Appfolio, as well as the fees your tenants will encounter.
Property Management Prices
Appfolio has three core pricing categories. These are each paid per month, per property.
- $1.40 for residential properties
- $1.50 for commercial properties
- $0.80 for community associations
However, Appfolio does have a minimum number of units and a monthly fee rule. You must pay at least $280 per month to use the service, and have at least 50 units registered. Based on those numbers, you’ll be paying more than $1.40 per property until you reach around the 200 mark.
Either way, the prices for Appfolio show, it is clearly structured to be used on large portfolios.
For those with such a portfolio, you may consider their “Plus” package. It provides access to many more features.
This subscription level costs $3.00 per month for each property. Appfolio recommends it for use on portfolios of over 1,000 properties.
It includes features such as workflow, revenue management, as well as performance insights. These analytics can help to streamline the management process and identify areas you could improve your property management. The minimum monthly fee for Appfolio Plus is $1,500.
Extra Features
Appfolio also offers optional add-on features. Rather than integrating them with their packages, they’ve kept them separate for when you need them. Here are the most helpful of these tools:
- Tenant screening
- Liability and renters insurance
- Website hosting and/or set up
- Maintenance call center access
- An AI leasing assistant
- Online payment platform usage
These add-on tools are just another way the management software is completely customizable.
Fees for Tenants
If you choose for your tenants’ online payments to go through the platform, there will be some fees you should make them aware of. Some property managers reduce the price of their rent to include these fees. Otherwise, they can be charged as a separate payment.
- $9.99 per debit card transaction
- 2.99% of credit card transactions
- $3.99 per electronic cash payment
There is also a fee of $5.00 for tenants when submitting an application.
Appfolio Reviews
Appfolio has been around since 2006. This long history of property management makes it one of the most advanced and widely used products out there.
Not only that, but users absolutely love it. Across dozens of sites, users usually rate the software over 4 stars. Often the average is 4.5-4.7!
With all of its outstanding features, you can see why. Having everything all in one place is just too good to pass up.
One of the main drawbacks in user comments seems to be the cost for Appfolio subscriptions. These may be coming from users with smaller property portfolios. If they have less than 200 properties, they may end up paying more per unit.
Understandably, that would put smaller portfolio holders off the service. But that’s not who Appfolio designed their software for, even though they do welcome all users.
If you fit within the category of a larger portfolio, you will most likely get on very well with the software. Larger portfolios enable services like analytics, property management bookkeeping, and AI assistants to really have an impact on your day-to-day workload.
Best of all, the service sometimes offers a free trial. If you are worried about the price or whether you’ll really benefit from the features, look out for when their free trial offer comes around.
Make the Most of Appfolio
Like all software, Appfolio becomes more powerful the more you know how to use it. That’s when Appfolio pricing becomes truly worthwhile.
Its user-friendly interface is designed so anyone can use it. But that doesn’t mean a little training won’t help.
Appfolio training services show you how to unlock the power of every feature. After all, what’s the use of automation and customization if you aren’t taught how to use them?
Managing your property portfolio has never been simpler. Talk to our team today to see how Appfolio training can help you with your property management needs.
