Choosing the right property management software can be overwhelming. With so many options, it can be hard to know which is the best for your business.

This blog post will compare 2 of the most popular options: Propertyware and Buildium. We’ll also look at how Stessa compares to help you decide which one is right for you.

Key takeaways

• Propertyware and Buildium offer a variety of features, but their pricing plans may not be cost-effective for landlords with a small number of rental properties.
• Currently, Propertyware pricing has a minimum charge of $250 per month, plus a one-time implementation fee, while Buildium price plans begin at $50 per month.
• Stessa is a free, cloud-based software that enables landlords to generate financial reports and receive recurring online rent payments and performance metrics for single-family houses, multiunit properties, and short-term vacation rentals at both the property and portfolio levels.

Propertyware overview

Propertyware offers online leasing, maintenance, accounting, and risk management.

However, Propertyware software might better suit investors and property managers with large portfolios. There’s no minimum unit requirement, but the company charges a minimum monthly fee (equivalent to 250 units) plus a one-time implementation fee (2 times the monthly subscription price).

Current pricing

Propertyware offers 3 packages with pricing based on the features provided, plus additional services for an extra fee. The company also offers a limited-access free trial period:

• Basic: $1.00 per unit a month with a minimum charge of $250 a month. One-time implementation fee is 2 times the monthly subscription price or a minimum of $500.
• Plus: $1.50 per unit a month with a minimum charge of $350 a month. One-time implementation fee is 2 times the monthly subscription price or a minimum of $700.
• Premium: $2.00 per unit a month with a minimum charge of $450 a month, plus a one-time implementation fee equal to 2 times the monthly subscription price, or a minimum of $900.

Additional services

Propertyware offers the following services that can be added to any of the above pricing plans. Pricing varies based on selected services, and users must contact the company for specific pricing details:

Maintenance contact center

There is a 24/7 answering service to handle maintenance and emergency calls. It currently costs $1.10 per unit a month with a $300 setup fee.

Leasing contact center

Capture and manage every call and email with professional agents who become an extension of your staff. This currently costs $2.85 per unit a month with a $300 setup fee.

Professional websites

Get modern and professional designs that integrate with Propertyware. This currently costs $99 a month with setup fees starting at $500.

AssetProtect

This provides owners and tenants with important coverage that will keep their property safe. This currently costs $12 per policy per month with no setup fee.

Software features

Basic

• Global customization and reports
• Marketing
• Property management
• Owner portals
• Tenant portals
• Maintenance
• Accounting
• Screening
• Payments
• Unlimited support
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited online training

Plus

Includes everything in the Basic package, plus:

• Two-way text messaging
• Digital ignatures
• Inspections

Premium

Includes all of the features in the Basic and Plus packages, plus:

• Maintenance projects
• Vendor portals

Buildium overview

Buildium is ideal 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 rental properties. 

Landlords may find pricing plans with Buildium more cost-effective than other options available. There are no minimum unit requirements, and the software offers a wide variety of features, including rental listings and tenant screening, online payments and maintenance requests, and property accounting.

Current residential pricing

There are 3 different Buildium pricing plans to choose from. All options include software modules for accounting, maintenance, tasks, violations, resident and board member communications, and online portals.

Essential

• Starts at $50 per month
• Basic tenant screening
• Standard reports
• Ticket customer support
• Property inspections start at $40 a month
• Digital signatures $5 per signature
• Bank account setup fee: $99 per account
• Online payment fees of $1.00 for incoming and $0.50 for outgoing electronic fund transfers (EFTs)
• Credit card fees of 2.95% per transaction

Growth

• Starts at $160 per month
• Basic and premium tenant screening
• Standard reports
• Ticket and live phone customer support
• Free property inspections
• Unlimited digital signatures
• Bank account setup fee: first 5 free, then $99 per account
• Online payments free for incoming and $0.50 per transaction for outgoing EFTs
• Credit card fees of 2.95% per transaction

Premium

• Starts at $460 per month
• Basic and premium tenant screening
• Standard reports
• Ticket, live phone, and priority customer support
• Free property inspections
• Unlimited digital signatures
• Bank account setup fee: first 5 free, then $99 per account
• Online payments free for incoming and $0.50 per transaction for outgoing EFTs
• Credit card fees of 2.95% 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
• Digital signature

Community Association Management

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

How Propertyware and Buildium compare

Propertyware and Buildium offer a range of features. Propertyware is slightly more expensive than Buildium, but both Propertyware and Buildium offer free trials.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of essential features that many landlords use.

Listings

Propertyware can help you find prospective tenants by automatically sending your listings to its network of free distribution partners. After creating and publishing a listing on your Propertyware website, it will be distributed to high-traffic partner sites, such as Apartment List, Trulia, Zillow, and Zumper.

Buildium’s free website feature is included with every pricing plan. Posting a vacant listing to the owner’s website automatically syndicates and markets the listing through various online listing sites, including Apartment List, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, PadMapper, the entire Zillow Rental Network, and Zumper.

Tenant screening

Propertyware charges a per-transaction fee for each tenant screening service provided. Credit reports cost $7.95, criminal records cost $8.95, and evictions cost $4.45. For all 3 reports (credit, criminal, and eviction), the fee is $16.95. The company also offers advanced screening services that include state, county, and local records, as well as state sex offender registry records, for $29.95 per screen.

Buildium offers basic and premium tenant screening. Basic tenant screening provides an applicant’s credit and criminal history, while premium tenant screening provides credit, criminal, and eviction history. An applicant is charged $30 for basic tenant screening, or landlords may choose to pay for the tenant screening with a discounted fee of $15. Premium tenant screening is $18 per screening. Prior to using premium screening, landlords must be accredited by proving they are a secure and legitimate business.

Leasing

With the Propertyware Plus and Premium plans, you can use MailMerge to automatically populate applicant data when creating a lease. This saves you time by preventing duplicate entries. The DocuSign digital signature feature also makes it easy for applicants to sign the lease while keeping all files and records safe and secure in one place.

Buildium digital signatures help simplify the lease process by allowing landlords to collect applicant signatures, application fees, and security deposits online from any device. With lease templates, landlords can have leases and addendums digitally signed and securely stored online for easy access anytime and anywhere.

Online rent collection

Propertyware currently charges tenants who pay through their tenant portal $1.95 for each Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction, 2.99% for credit and debit card payments (with a minimum fee of $3.00), and $3.75 when tenants pay cash at a participating retailer.

Buildium EFT transaction fees vary, but currently range from $0 to $1.00 depending on the pricing plan, while credit card fees are 2.95% of the transaction amount.

Financial reporting and tax management

The reports tab in Propertyware offers a range of customizable reports that you can export to different formats, publish to owner portals, and email once or on a recurring basis. While there is no profit and loss (P&L) report available in Propertyware, several reports provide similar information, including income and expense, standard income statement, and IRS Schedule E.

Buildium’s online bill payments and automatic entry of recurring expenses make managing rental property accounting easier. Comprehensive accounting reports with just a few clicks include monthly P&L, income statements, cash flows, bank reconciliations, real estate balance sheets, and IRS Schedule E preparation.

Stessa vs. Propertyware and Buildium

Both Propertyware and Buildium provide a range of powerful features. However, both companies also charge a monthly fee that may not be cost-effective for landlords with a small number of properties. That’s why Stessa developed a rental property financial management system that’s free.

Stessa, a Roofstock company, was designed specifically for real estate investors. It is easy to track rental property performance, manage finances, generate reports, prepare taxes, and create the necessary records real estate investors need. More than 100,000 investors already use Stessa to track over 250,000 properties with over $60 billion in asset value. 

Stessa is free with optional premium services for real estate investors, such as rent analysis and market research. Stessa allows users to: 

• Track unlimited single-family rentals, multifamily units, and short-term vacation rental properties and portfolios.
• Access comprehensive performance dashboards at the property and portfolio levels.
• Automate income and expense tracking by linking property bank and mortgage accounts.
• Use Stessa online rent collection to allow tenants to pay online using a free ACH transfer.
• Open a Stessa Cash Management account to create unlimited free business or sole proprietorship accounts, which allow you to open a dedicated account for each rental property or portfolio. You can also earn 2.00% APY* on Cash Management deposit accounts.
• Track expenses on the go with the iOS and Android apps.
• Organize and store all real estate documents safely and securely.
• Generate financial reports, including income, net cash flow, capital expense (CapEx) statements, tenant rent roll, and real estate balance sheet.

* Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 2.00% is effective as of 8/8/2022. No minimum opening deposit or account balance required. Fees could affect earnings on the account. Stessa is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Blue Ridge Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. 

When the end of the year arrives, the Stessa Tax Center makes tax season incredibly easy for real estate investors. Users can receive a personalized Stessa tax package that contains aggregated property transactions, including an income statement, net-cash-flow report, and a ZIP file in a single email. This helps make preparing for tax season a breeze.

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for a free and cloud-based financial reporting solution, then Stessa might be the perfect choice for you. Although it doesn’t presently offer features like tenant screening or lease preparation, plenty of good options are available online, so there’s no need to pay a subscription fee.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a complete set of property management tools, then either Buildium or Propertyware could be ideal for you. Both companies have different pricing plans and features and offer a short free trial period.