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Buildium vs. TenantCloud: Which tool is right for you?

real estate software
by Jeff Rohde, posted in Investment Strategy

Buildium and TenantCloud are 2 of the most well-known online property management software solutions for real estate investors. Both offer various features and tools, including listing syndication of vacant units, tenant screening and leasing, online rent collection, and financial and tax reporting.

We’ll take an in-depth look at Buildium and TenantCloud, including the key features and pricing plans, to help landlords understand which service may be a better fit for their specific needs. Additionally, we’ll review another rental property financial management system called Stessa and why it might be a better choice for many landlords and property managers.

 

Buildium overview

Buildium is a property management software solution for real estate investors and property managers with one to 5,000 units or more. The software can be used for all types of residential property, including rental properties, student housing, and community associations.

Buildium was launched in 2004 by real estate investors with the mission of making property management uncomplicated and easier to control.

Residential pricing

There are 3 different Buildium pricing plans to choose from. All options include software modules for Accounting, Maintenance, Tasks, Violations, Resident & Board Member Communications, and Online Portals.

Essential

  • Starts at $55 per month
  • Basic tenant screening
  • Standard reports
  • Ticket customer support
  • Property inspections starting at $40/month
  • eSignatures $5/signature
  • Bank account setup fee of $99/account
  • Online payments fees of $1.00 for incoming and $0.50 for outgoing electronic funds transfers (EFTs)
  • Credit card fees of 2.99% per transaction

Growth

  • Starts at $174 per month
  • Basic and premium tenant screening
  • Standard reports
  • Ticket and live phone customer support
  • Free property inspections
  • Unlimited eSignatures
  • First 5 bank account setups free, then $99/account
  • Online payments are free for incoming EFTs, $0.50 per transaction for outgoing EFTs
  • Credit card fees are 2.99% per transaction

Premium

  • Starts at $375 per month
  • Basic and premium tenant screening
  • Standard reports
  • Ticket, live phone, and priority customer support
  • Free property inspections
  • Unlimited eSignatures
  • First 5 bank account setups free, then $99/account
  • Online payments are free for incoming EFTs, $0.50 per transaction for outgoing EFTs
  • Credit card fees are 2.99% per transaction

Software features

Accounting

  • Property accounting
  • Company financials
  • Online payments
  • Retail cash payments
  • 1099 eFiling

Business operations

  • Owner portal
  • Property inspections
  • Resident site
  • Maintenance request tracking
  • Analytics and insights
  • Document storage
  • Renters insurance
  • Open application programming interface (API)

Leasing

  • Rental listings
  • Showings coordinator
  • Rental applications
  • Tenant screening
  • Professional website
  • eSignature

Community Association Management

  • Accounting and budgeting
  • Online payments
  • Maintenance request tracking
  • Violations tracking
  • Board communications
  • Document management

A dedicated team at Buildium makes switching software and onboarding easy, and the company claims to employ industry-leading data security measures to protect customer data.

man looking for house on computer

TenantCloud overview

TenantCloud is an affordable and full-featured property management software solution that provides tools for listing vacant rentals, screening tenants, and collecting rent online. 

According to the company’s website, the company is currently used by more than 2 million landlords in all 50 states and 40 countries worldwide.

In January 2022, TenantCloud was ranked as the seventh-best reporting and accounting tool for landlords by Landlord Gurus, a company that provides advice to landlords and property managers. When creating the list, Landlord Gurus considered key criteria, such as income and expense tracking, bank account integration, reporting, and tax preparation.

Pricing

There are 3 TenantCloud pricing plans, plus a custom pricing plan for investors and property managers with sizable rental property portfolios. All options include an unlimited number of properties and units, an unlimited number of online rental listings, a 20% discount for customers who pay annually, and a free 14-day trial.

Starter

The Starter plan provides basic features and is a good fit for DIY landlords. Features include:

  • Listings
  • Scheduling
  • Applicants
  • Screenings
  • Rent payments
  • Maintenance requests

Growth

The Starter plan costs $32 per month and includes everything in the Starter plan, plus additional features, such as Google Calendar syncing and tax reporting:

  • Premium leads for online listings
  • Lead tracking for customer relationship management (CRM)
  • eSignature
  • Autopay for tenants
  • Tax reporting and more
  • Google Calendar sync

Pro

The Pro plan costs $55 per month and is recommended by TenantCloud as a good option for property managers and mid to large-sized portfolio owners. The plan provides additional functionality, such as an individual owner portal and QuickBooks Online syncing, and includes everything in the Free and Starter plans, plus:

  • Lease builder
  • Individual owner portal
  • Property manager tools
  • Management fees
  • Property message board
  • QuickBooks Online sync
  • Vendor network access

Business

The Business plan offers customized pricing based on features selected and may be a good choice for property managers, according to TenantCloud. The plan includes everything in the Free, Starter, and Growth plans, plus:

  • Team management and tools
  • Task management
  • Customization

Software features

  • Automatic listing syndication to TenantCloud listing partners, including Apartments.com, Rentler, and Zillow Group
  • Ability to create a custom listing website with landlord information, photos of vacant units, and a customized rental application
  • Rental applications online with a customized application template, screening questions, and receipt of application fees online
  • Tenant screening from TransUnion with 3 packages to choose from, including identity verification and background check
  • Landlord form templates for tenant lease agreements, owner agreements, state-specific documents, and notices to tenants
  • Ability to upload a lease agreement or customize one using the agreement template and request eSignatures from tenants
  • Ability to send and receive debit card, credit card, and Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments online or with a mobile phone
  • Autopay for tenants to set up recurring monthly payments directly from their bank accounts and enable automatic late fees
  • Ability to receive maintenance requests online, including videos and pictures from tenants for needed repairs, the ability to assign the job to a service professional, and track job progress

 

Buildium vs. TenantCloud

Both property software solutions are relatively inexpensive and offer a wide array of features. Here are some of the similarities and differences between Buildium and TenantCloud based on the main features that most real estate investors and property managers use.

Listings

Buildium offers a free website with every pricing plan. After posting a vacant listing to the owner’s website, listings are automatically syndicated and marketed through various online listing sites, including Apartment List, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, PadMapper, the entire Zillow Rental Network, and Zumper.

TenantCloud provides a free listing website with the Pro and Business plans with pricing beginning at $5per month. Listings are automatically posted to listing partners, including Apartments.com, HotPads, Oodle, Rentler, Trulia, and Zillow Group.

Tenant screening

Buildium tenant screening is processed by TransUnion. The tenant screening process begins once a landlord requests a background check. Full credit, eviction, and criminal history results appear on the owner’s dashboard. An applicant is notified if they have been accepted or rejected, and tenant information is added to the Resident Center to begin receiving rent payments online.

TenantCloud also partners with TransUnion to provide thorough tenant screenings. After a potential tenant submits an online rental application, a landlord can choose from one of 3 screening packages and purchase or require a tenant to pay. Screening reports include a background and credit check, a National Eviction Records search, and a credit check. 

Leasing

Buildium eSignatures help facilitate the lease process online and collect applicant signatures, application fees, and security deposits from any computing device. Landlords can create lease templates, have leases and addendums e-signed, and securely stored online for easy document access anytime and anywhere.

TenantCloud offers the option of uploading a lease agreement or building a lease agreement template online to save time and then inviting tenants to e-sign. When creating a lease, there are options for setting up the rent amount, security deposit, and other fees such as pet rent and utilities. A landlord may also require a tenant to purchase renters insurance or provide their own, as long as landlord-tenant laws allow.

Online rent collection

Both Buildium and TenantCloud offer options for collecting tenant rent payments online, creating autopayments so that the monthly rent is automatically deducted from a tenant’s bank account, assessing late fees, receiving partial payments, and accepting debit and credit card payments:

  • Buildium: EFTs vary from $0 to $1.00 depending on the pricing plan, while credit card fees are 2.99% of the transaction amount.
  • TenantCloud: All pricing plans allow tenants to pay rent online with a debit or credit card (3.5% + $0.30 fee), while ACH rent payments cost $1.50-$1.95, depending on your subscription. 

Financial reporting

Buildium makes rental property accounting easier with online bill payments and automatic entry of recurring expenses. Comprehensive accounting reports include monthly profit and loss, income statements, cash flows, bank reconciliations, and real estate balance sheets with just a few clicks.

TenantCloud offers reports with paid pricing plans, including profit-and-loss statements, general expenses, general income, deposits summary, and property owner statement. In addition, data can be exported with all plans in all major formats, while QuickBooks Online sync is available with the Growth and Business plans. 

Tax management

Both Buildium and TenantCloud provide landlords with tools to manage taxes, including income and expenses, management fees, depreciation, and interest expense to prepare Schedule E and file 1099s.

 

Stessa vs. Buildium and TenantCloud

Both Buildium and TenantCloud provide a full suite of property management tools. However, there may be features that small-rental-property landlords do not need. 

That’s why Stessa developed a rental property financial management system that’s 100% free.

The software was created by and for real estate investors, which is why Stessa is easy to use to keep track of rental property performance at both the property and portfolio level, manage finances, and create the record trail that all real estate investors need. Stessa was also ranked as the best overall reporting and accounting tool for landlords by Landlord Gurus.

Stessa has also expanded its feature coverage to include tenant applications and screening, publishing vacancies, eSigning (with the paid plan), rent collection, landlord banking services, and document storage. Its iOS and Android mobile apps keep you connected to your portfolio on the go and offer automated receipt scanning that’s particularly helpful around tax time.

Laptop and mobile screenshot of transactions page

After signing up for a free account with Stessa and entering some basic property information, real estate investors can:

  • Organize and categorize transactions automatically from connected bank, lender, credit card, and property management accounts.
  • Get 24/7 visibility into your portfolio’s performance.
  • Generate income statements, net cash flow reports, balance sheets, and more.
  • Connect to your property management software for a complete portfolio summary.
  • Collect rent through ACH payments – free for property owners and tenants.
  • Publish a vacancy for rent and syndicate it out across a variety of websites for maximum exposure to high quality tenants.
  • Use Stessa’s tenant screening tool and free rental applications.
  • Open an FDIC-insured high-yield bank account* for each property and seamlessly integrate them with Stessa’s financial tracking features.
  • Add an unlimited number of properties.
  • Invite other investors with different access levels.
  • Access a suite of tax resources created in partnership with The Real Estate CPA.
  • Upload your own document, tag it for digital signatures, and send to tenants, vendors, partners, etc. 

Go here to create a free Stessa account.

 

*Stessa is not a bank. Stessa is a financial technology company.Terms and conditions, features and pricing are subject to change. This article, and the Stessa Blog in general, is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is not investment, tax, financial planning, financial, legal, or real estate advice. 

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