Becoming a successful landlord is by no means a small feat. It’s not just about choosing the right property to attract tenants, it’s about being able to manage those properties with the care and attention that they deserve. In the past, this was all done through spreadsheets, paper leases, and endless phone calls, and the only way that many landlords had to keep up was to rely on property management firms. The high costs of using these services can cut the potential profit of being a landlord down to razor-thin margins.
Thanks to the spread of digital technology, platforms like TurboTenant have provided a new solution. These rental management tools are designed to make the day-to-day of property management so simple that any DIY landlord can handle it all themselves much more easily, but does it work?
About TurboTenant
Founded to make rental property management much simpler for DIY landlords, TurboTenant is a property management software provider and support team that is designed for everyday property owners, rather than large-scale corporate investors.
They have designed a Cloud software solution and mobile app that brings together a wide range of tools to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of managing properties in one place. Serving more than one million landlords nationwide, the team operates out of Colorado, with a growing number of offices throughout the country that can provide more dedicated local support, as well.
Why Property Management Platforms Matter
Property management is an essential part of being a landlord. There are many responsibilities at every stage of the property’s rental lifecycle that require attention, from finding new tenants to collecting rent to managing maintenance and repair requests. Traditionally, landlords would either have to handle all of these manually, which could be highly time-consuming, or rely on outsourced property management services, which could be highly expensive.
Modern property management platforms like TurboTenant provide a solution that’s a lot more efficient and affordable. With a host of easy-to-use, intuitive tools, it provides clear tools to manage much of the work that comes with property management, even automating some of them to make them even more streamlined.
How TurboTenant Works
TurboTenant is a Cloud-based software platform and a mobile app that provides immediate access to an extensive range of features that give landlords the ability to manage rentals in the way that best suits them. This includes property marketing, tenant screening, lease creation, maintenance task tracking, and a whole host of organizational tools without the high costs of traditional property management. In fact, many of its features are entirely free, while subscription packages allow for more advanced property management.
One of those advanced offerings is the additional support provided directly by local teams, who are able to help with tenant placement, maintenance coordination, local market expertise, and more. As such, while the software can help DIY landlords manage many of the day-to-day needs property managers would otherwise be paid to handle, they can still get access to the human expertise that they might need from time to time.
TurboTenant’s hybrid approach allows landlords to take on as much of the responsibility of property management as they would like, and then streamlines, automates, and simplifies it to make it much easier to handle.
How TurboTenant Could Benefit You
If you’re a landlord looking for a way to better manage your properties, TurboTenant can help in a wide variety of ways, so let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits:
- Free core platform: Many of the platform’s core features are completely free for landlords, unlike working with a property management company or some of its more expensive subscriptions. It allows users to advertise listings, collect applications, manage tenants, collect rent, and more, without steep upfront costs that eat into property owners’ profits.
- All-in-one functionality: Rather than requiring users to sign up and use multiple different tools with multiple subscriptions, TurboTenant combines a range of tasks into one centralized platform, for advertising, screening, leases, payments, and more. This makes property management significantly less complex.
- Easy-to-use interface: Designed with simplicity in mind, TurboTenant streamlines its features to make it easier for even landlords with limited technical expertise, with clearly organized features and easy setup processes.
- Strong tenant screening tools: With comprehensive tenant screening options, landlords can make more informed decisions and potentially reduce future issues with tenants.
- Mobile accessibility: The mobile app allows landlords to manage their properties on the go, no matter where they are.
Are There Any Drawbacks?
No matter the solution you choose, there are always some cons to go with the pros, so here are a few things to consider about TurboTennat:
- Best suited for DIY landlords: While owners of small-to-mid-sized portfolios will appreciate the wide range of features, they do not offer quite the enterprise-level features for much larger, institutional rental organizations.
- Limited international availability: TurboTenant primarily focuses on the US rental market, so international landlords might find fewer region-specific tools or compliant templates.
- Some features required paid upgrades: Although the free version offers an impressive array of features, some customization and enhanced support features may require you to upgrade to a paid option.
- Learning curve for new users: Although generally user-friendly, with great onboarding, the sheer amount of features can take some new users a little time to get used to.
- Customer support prioritizes paid users: Although TurboTenant provides support seven days a week, users with premium subscriptions do get priority access.
Is TurboTenant The Right Tool For You?
As one of the most accessible and practical property management platforms on the market, TurboTenant is very well suited to the needs of the majority of independent landlords. Its ability to combine a huge range of features, from rental advertising to online rental collection, in one place, and to streamline or even automate it, makes it a truly impressive alternative to paid property management companies.
It may not be suited for the biggest portfolios, and additional expert assistance might come at a slightly higher cost, but even the free software can help landlords manage their properties without the time, effort, or money that it might otherwise take, so it’s worth checking out at the very least.
