To collect rent online,you should be sure that the software you choose fits your needs as a landlord. Whether you’re a small rental business or you run a real estate empire, there are three main benefits that utilizing online rent collection can offer for you and your tenants.
#1: Flexibility
Your tenants have busy lives, and so do you. Having to coordinate those schedules to meet and exchange rent checks can be borderline impossible. With online rent collection, there’s no need. Your tenants can pay rent right from their mobile device or desktop, and you receive those payments shortly after they submit it. Depending on what software you choose, you can see those funds in your account in as little as 24 hours.
Online rent collection not only offers flexibility in where your tenants can pay from, but also how they choose to pay. They can complete an ACH rent payment, which takes funds directly from their bank account and deposits them in yours, or they can input their credit or debit card information to pay from those.
When you offer multiple ways to pay rent, your tenants are more likely to pay the correct amount, on time. Also, depending on which software you choose, tenants may have the option to have their rent payments build their credit score. This is a great option for those looking to build credit and who always pay rent on time. Extending this option to your tenants is a great way to not only increase the amount of correct, timely payments you receive, but also to show that you care about them being able to pay how they choose.
#2: Reminders and Automated Payments
Here’s a common scenario: it’s the fourth of the month, and your tenant realizes that they completely forgot to pay rent. Even worse, they’re beyond your allotted grace period, and now they have to pay a late fee on top of the rent amount. Your tenants are only human, and things like this happen. Reminders are a fantastic advantage of online rent collection software since it cuts down on the likelihood of this oversight occurring. When you have a notification on your mobile device reminding you to submit your rent payment, it’s harder to forget to do so.
Your tenants may not even have to manually submit their rent if your rent collection software offers automated payments. Once your tenant sets up automated payments through your property management app or website, their rent payment is automatically deducted from their account on the day they want it to be, and in the amount they choose. Not having to take direct action when paying rent is a great advantage for landlords, because there is less likelihood of your tenants simply forgetting to pay and submitting late.
#3: Detailed Records
Have you ever thought a tenant forgot to pay when they didn’t? Or has a tenant ever said they submitted a payment when you know they haven’t yet? With detailed, automated records, these disputes are much easier to solve than they were with manual recordkeeping.
Handwritten or manual bookkeeping can be tedious, and there’s a strong chance you’ll overlook something. With automatic records, your property management software will keep a very detailed ledger of all the transactions that go through your company. One of the most useful parts of this is that the ledger will tell you exactly what your tenant’s payment covers: if Sally pays extra one month, you can see why. Maybe she is paying for her rent plus her new pet’s deposit or compensating you for her new parking spot.
Having all this data and information at your fingertips and without any direct action on your part will make being a landlord much easier and more organized.
Final Thoughts
It’s possible to collect rent online free with all the advantages listed above. Try companies like Innago for all these benefits and more at no cost to you. But be sure to do your research before settling on any one company over another—your business is unique, and property management software is not one size fits all.
