If you're in the property management business, you know how hectic the day-to-day can get. It seems like there's always a fire to put out. Owners and tenants are calling around the clock, and things always seem to be breaking. Staying organized and on top of things can be a real challenge in this industry. If you're looking for help, you've come to the right place.
Today, I'm sharing my top five favorite tools that we use to manage hundreds of units!
1. ShowMojo ShowMojo is a game changer on the leasing side of the business. This tool automates the entire process, allowing potential tenants to book appointments online at their convenience. This helps significantly reduce the back-and-forth emails and cut down on a lot of the texts and calls.
ShowMojo integrates with your calendar and sends reminders to both you and the prospective tenants before the showing. It even provides feedback after the showing, helping you stay informed and make better decisions. One of my favorite features is the ability to prescreen prospective tenants. So, in theory, you're only showing the units to qualified people. Now, it's certainly not a perfect software, but it does cut down on a ton of the manual work, and our leasing team really loves it.
2. Asana Asana is a powerful project management tool that helps you keep track of all your tasks and projects in one place. It's not property management specific per se, but it is easy to tailor to your needs. It's perfect for property managers who are juggling multiple responsibilities at all times. And let's be honest, that's all of us.
You can create to-do lists, set deadlines, assign tasks to team members, and track progress in real time. It really helps us stay organized and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. We currently run our weekly and monthly meetings on Asana, and we have a couple of other Asana boards for tracking ongoing projects and issues.
3. LeadSimple LeadSimple is a CRM and process workflow software specifically designed for property managers. It helps you manage leads, automate follow-ups, and track conversions on the CRM side. It allows you to build out custom workflows for all your processes to make sure everyone is following the process to a tee, and again, that nothing slips through the cracks.
We've been using LeadSimple for a few years now, and we find the more and more we utilize it, the more we're able to streamline things. I will admit, the software isn't the most user-friendly, but overall we love it and it's really become fundamental to what we do on a daily basis.
4. AppFolio AppFolio is an all-in-one property management software that simplifies every aspect of the property management business, from accounting and rent collection to maintenance and tenant communication.
AppFolio pretty much does it all. Again, it's not the most user-friendly software out there, but overall we've found it very easy to navigate. My big problem with AppFolio was always that it had a closed API, and it really didn't integrate with anything. But luckily, that changed a while back, and now they're doing some really cool integrations with some of the other industry-leading softwares out there.
AppFolio is a little bit on the expensive side, but I'm a believer in "you get what you pay for," and if you're going to be managing a decent-sized portfolio, I highly recommend just paying a little bit extra for high-quality management software like AppFolio. Now, I did a video a little while back comparing the top three property management software solutions. So, if you're interested, you can click on that link below.
5. EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) EOS, or the entrepreneurial operating system, is a comprehensive framework that helps you run your property management business more effectively. It's not property management specific; it's actually used all over the world by thousands of businesses, and it can probably be used for any type of business out there.
We implemented this about four or five years ago, and it has completely changed my life—not just the business, literally my life. Prior to EOS, my day-to-day was a bit of a dumpster fire, just running around and reacting to whatever was most urgent. But after implementing EOS, we've been able to systemize the business, grow the team, and 3X our revenue in that same amount of time.
Now it focuses on six key components: vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction. By implementing this system, you're going to gain clarity on your business goals, improve team alignment, and create a culture of accountability. And I know that kind of sounds like fluff, but I can tell you that it really works.
EOS is one of my favorite topics. If I can help in any way, if you have questions or you want to implement it, hit me up. I'd love to talk about it.
Conclusion There you have it—my top five tools for property management. These tools have made a significant impact on my business and my life, and I hope they can do the same for you.
If you found this blog helpful, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. Also, if you currently use any of the tools I talked about today or you have any tool that you use and love but I didn't mention, drop it in the comments below. I'd love to take a look. Thank you!
