Just because the majority of landlords in the United States are individual owners who own only a small number of rental units doesn’t mean that you as a landlord should do all the heavy lifting on your own. There are plenty of rental property management systems out there that you can use to make your job much easier. But there is a problem: how should you choose between different types of property management software?
For example, AppFolio vs Yardi can be a very hard choice to make. Both are very prominent and important property management software options. Is one really better than the other or are they more or less the same?
How can you know which one would better suit your style of managing rental properties? The main problem is that these two types of software have many similar features. However, there are some features that distinguish them and make them both unique in their own ways.
Making the wrong decision can be detrimental to the task of managing rental properties, so it is important to choose correctly. Keep reading and learn more about choosing between these two types of software.
What You Need to Know About AppFolio
AppFolio is perhaps the most popular rental property management system around. While Yardi has been around longer than AppFolio by a couple of decades, there is something about AppFolio that makes it stand out from the competition. The trick likely has to do with the fact that Appfolio is very flexible.
Many rental property management systems can only do so much. They might only allow you to keep track of a small number of residential rental units. This, of course, wouldn’t be ideal if you need to keep track of a much larger number of rental units or if your units are commercial or for student housing.
While Yardi and AppFolio are both good choices, let’s first consider the unique features that AppFolio has to offer. For one, AppFolio is a very good choice if you’re looking for overall rental property management. In a way, it is like a big umbrella that will cover the majority of your rental property management problems.
The software is also very easy to use and there’s no chance that you’ll get lost or confused when using it. It also boasts a large number of features that make your job easier than ever. For example, suppose you’re dealing with a few vacant units on your rental property.
Having vacant units is never good because they can quickly drain your funds due to the maintenance they require. Traditionally, you would have to go online and list each of those individual vacant units to have any chance of getting them filled. AppFolio, however, does all of this heavy lifting for you.
Other AppFolio Features
As long as you have the units in the AppFolio system, all you will need to do is click a button or two, and voila! Your vacant units will be listed on various rental websites where potential tenants will find them at once. This software also makes it very easy to collect rent from your tenants, manage leases, and so on.
AppFolio even allows you to screen tenants. This, of course, is important for various reasons. The last thing you want is to allow tenants that have criminal backgrounds or bad credit histories into your rental units.
In general, AppFolio allows you to cut out pesky 3rd-party sites so you can focus more intensely on your rental property. As for the cost, there is a base fee of $250 per month for this software. The total cost is usually a bit more because you’ll have to pay a certain amount of money per rental unit you own.
The amount you pay will generally be larger if you own a very large rental property or several rental properties. But how does AppFolio compare to Yardi, you might ask?
AppFolio Property Management vs Yardi Voyager
There are actually several types of Yardi that you can choose from, but Yardi Voyager is by far one of the most popular variations of this software.
When it comes to AppFolio and Yardi Voyager, you will notice that there are several similarities between them but there are also a few important differences. It is these differences that make the choice between these two software types so important.
In particular, Yardi Voyager tends to be a bit more specific compared to the overall coverage that AppFolio has to offer.
By that, you should know that Yardi Voyager tends to be best for landlords who own larger rather than smaller rental properties. Even so, Yardi Voyager is still quite flexible and it works for a wide variety of different property types.
This includes both commercial and residential rental properties as well as community rental properties. Yardi Voyager also comes with plenty of features that all make your job as a landlord easier. For example, this software allows you to manage all sorts of property analytics, leases, and so on.
It also makes it easier for tenants to pay rent on time. However, you should know that there is not just one type of Yardi Voyager. It actually has two specific subsets: one version for commercial properties and one version for residential properties.
What if you manage both commercial and residential properties, you might ask?
The Details
All you need to do is integrate the two versions of the software and you’ll be good to go. Consider Yardi Voyager Residential, for example.
This type of software is best for managing affordable housing properties, senior housing, and other similar types of housing. On the other hand, the commercial version of the software allows you to manage much larger pieces of property such as parks, airports, and more. These property types, of course, require different features compared to regular residential properties.
Yardi software offers these additional features to make your job much easier. This is where AppFolio can’t quite compete. While AppFolio is great for ordinary commercial and residential rental properties, it can’t measure up to Yardi Voyager’s ability to manage very large pieces of properties like airports and so on.
AppFolio Property Management vs Yardi Breeze
As mentioned before, there are several types of Yardi software.
While Yardi Voyager is one of the most popular variations, Yardi Breeze is also quite substantial. As you have seen, the only downside of Yardi Voyager is that it is better for very large properties or a large number of different properties.
For that reason, it won’t be of much help to you if you are renting out property on a smaller scale. This is where Yardi Breeze comes in. Yardi Breeze is still quite flexible and offers plenty of features, but it is not as large-scale as Yardi Voyager.
In a way, this makes Yardi Breeze quite a bit more similar to AppFolio. More than that, Yardi Breeze is far cheaper than Yardi Voyager since, by nature, there is not as much property to manage. This is not to mention that Yardi Breeze is famous for being very easy to use no matter what kind of property you need to manage.
In particular, Yardi Breeze is very good at managing both commercial and residential rental properties. However, this software goes above and beyond and also manages storage units, manufactured homes, affordable housing, and so on. As with Yardi Voyager, Yardi Breeze has two main variations.
One is simply the basic Yardi Breeze while the other is an upgraded version known as Yardi Breeze Premier. Not everyone needs Yardi Breeze Premier, but you may find that the extra features it has to offer are quite useful. For example, the upgraded version offers all sorts of additional analytics and data for your tenants and rental units.
Yardi Breeze Premier
The upgraded software makes it much easier to keep track of lease documents, online applications, invoices (which you can automate as you see fit), and more. But what about the price, you might ask? The first thing you should know is that there is a $100 base price that you will need to pay every year.
In addition to this base price, you will need to pay a single dollar per month per residential rental property that you own. Overall, this makes Yardi Breeze slightly more affordable than AppFolio. It is also considerably more affordable than Yardi Voyager.
However, if you are dealing with commercial rental property, you should know that the base price is instead $200 per year. Whatever the case, Yardi Breeze is quite a solid contender against AppFolio. Both have similar features and similar prices, although Yardi Breeze is slightly more affordable.
If you are still unsure how to choose between these two different types of software, you can always try them both. You might try Yardi Breeze one year and then switch to AppFolio the next. After trying out both types of software, you can see which is easier for you to use and which is more convenient overall.
AppFolio Management Software and Yardi Genesis2
The last type of Yardi software you should know about is Yardi Genesis2. Again, as with the other types of Yardi software, this type of software also focuses on a particular type of rental property. In particular, Yardi Genesis2 is best for rental property managers that only own a small number of rental properties. This makes it somewhat similar to AppFolio, but Yardi Genesis2 tends to cover properties that are even more small-scale than what AppFolio covers.
However, in some cases, this Yardi software may also cover mid-size properties. Whatever the case, you will find that Yardi Genesis2 is just as easy to use as any other type of Yardi software. The interface for the software is very clear and it is nearly impossible to get lost or confused when exploring it.
Besides helping to manage your properties, Yardi Genesis2 also makes it easy for you to lease your properties as well. If you want to market your property, the software can help you with this too. There is a major downside: new Yardi customers cannot get this particular software.
What You Need to Know
Instead, the company prefers to market its Yardi Breeze software. This is because Genesis2 is an older version of Yardi before Yardi Breeze came out. However, if you happen to already have Yardi Genesis2, you should take advantage of it and learn how to use it.
It is very similar to Yardi Breeze Premier. It has many property management options that you can enjoy, all of which make your job as a property manager much easier. When compared with AppFolio, AppFolio is obviously much easier to obtain and it is a much more modern option.
Even though Yardi Genesis2 used to be a good option from Yardi’s line of property management software, it may not be such a good option anymore due to the fact that it is an older software. If you’re set on trying out a Yardi property management software, it may be better to opt for Yardi Breeze or Yardi Breeze Premier instead if you don’t want to try AppFolio.
All About AppFolio vs Yardi Property Management Software
When it comes to AppFolio vs Yardi property management software, you have seen that they are both very good choices. AppFolio tends to be a bit more expensive than Yardi, but it makes up for its cost with its many useful features. Yardi, on the other hand, has many different variations such as Yardi Voyager, Yardi Breeze, Yardi Breeze Premier, and so on.
One is not necessarily better than the other and the choice will depend on what you are looking for. Contact us here to learn more.
