The best rental property management software on the market today helps investors to market vacant property, screen prospective tenants, sign leases, collect rent online, manage maintenance requests, and track and manage rental property finances.

Two of the best software systems for rental property owners are Stessa—a Roofstock company—and Cozy. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how each one works, the pros and cons of each, and the benefits of signing up for free accounts with both Stessa and Cozy.

Key takeaways

• Stessa is a free cloud-based rental asset management software for single-family rentals (SFRs), multifamily homes, and short-term vacation rentals.
• Cozy is a free property management platform providing a full suite of tools, including advertising and tenant screening, leasing and online rent collection, and maintenance request coordination.
• Stessa integrates with Cozy to provide real estate investors with an all-in-one suite of property management tools combined with real-time insights to help investors maximize profits and grow property portfolios.

How Stessa and Cozy work

Stessa and Cozy are 2 rental property management applications that work hand in hand. 

Stessa is cloud-based rental asset management software that automatically records income and expenses, generates financial statements in real time, and provides personalized recommendations to help investors maximize property dividends through smart money management. 

Cozy is now part of the Apartments.com family and provides a full suite of property management tools, including marketing and leasing, tenant screening, online rent collection, and expenses and maintenance requests. 

Stessa overview

Stessa is free rental property financial management software designed by and for real estate investors to provide powerful tools . Investors use Stessa software to simplify tracking income and expenses, run personalized financial reports, store real estate documents online, and export tax-ready financials when tax season rolls around.

Now part of the Roofstock family, Stessa is used by tens of thousands of investors to track nearly 200,000 rental properties with a total asset value of over $50 billion. Stessa software can be used with SFRs, small multifamily properties, and short-term vacation rentals.

After signing up for a free Stessa account, investors can monitor rental property performance at the property and portfolio levels via the owner’s dashboard to make more informed decisions to optimize performance and boost potential returns.

Fee structure

Stessa is free. After signing up for an account, simply enter the rental property address and link bank and mortgage accounts to see portfolio stats come to life. Stessa also offers optional, premium services for real estate investors for a fee, such as market research and rent analysis.

Feature summary

• Monitor the performance of SFRs, small multifamily properties, and short-term vacation rentals.
• Automatically track income and expenses, including tenant rent receipts and vendor and mortgage payments.
• Use performance dashboards to report financial performance for individual properties and entire rental property portfolios.
• Review key financial metrics, including market value, net operating income, cap rate, cash flow, and return.
• Collect rent online with free ACH transfers (other payment options coming soon) and a recurring payment option for tenants, as well as the ability to collect late fees.
• Get real estate balance sheet updates for assets and liabilities, including property values and outstanding mortgage balance, to provide a more accurate idea of owner equity.
• Generate financial reports in just one click, including income statements, net cash flow and capital expense reports, and rent rolls.
• Add additional users with different access levels to share performance data with partners or lenders.
• Securely organize and store important real estate documents in the cloud.
• Track expenses on the go with the Stessa iOS and Android smartphone apps.
• Make tax preparation a breeze with the Stessa Tax Center, which includes a personalized tax package, how-to articles and videos, free tax resources created in partnership with The Real Estate CPA, and an exclusive TurboTax discount for members of the Stessa Community.
• Integrate with Cozy to provide a full suite of property management tools.

Pros

There’s a lot to like about Stessa, beginning with the fact that the software is free. Stessa can be used with SFRs, residential multifamily properties, and short-term vacation rentals. 

The cloud-based service can be accessed from anywhere at any time to monitor performance of individual properties and entire rental property portfolios via a comprehensive dashboard. 

Apps for iOS and Android allow investors to scan and upload invoices and receipts. Income and expenses are automatically synced from linked bank accounts. Financial reports can be generated in one click, and tax-ready financials can be exported for tax time.

As an added benefit, Stessa’s Cash Management deposit accounts currently earn 2.00% APY (compared to the national average interest of 0.03% on checking accounts as of July 2022, according to the FDIC). Stessa Cash Management users can earn interest on balances from automated rent collection deposits, CapEx account, and operating account.

Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 2.00% is effective as of 8/5/2022. 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. The national rate is the average of rates paid by all insured depository institutions and credit unions for which data is available to the FDIC, with rates weighted by each institution’s share of domestic deposits.

Stessa also offers the option of premium services for real estate investors who want to take advantage of even more features.

Cons

While Stessa is an excellent solution for monitoring rental property finances, the software doesn’t provide property management tools, such as marketing a vacant property, screening tenants, or coordinating maintenance requests.

That’s why Stessa has teamed up with Cozy to offer real estate investors and property managers all the tools needed to manage rental properties and track financial performance.

Cozy overview

Cozy is free, cloud-based software that provides a full suite of property management tools to help investors manage rental properties from beginning to end. Owners and property managers can use Cozy to market rentals, screen tenants, sign leases, receive rent payments and deposits, and coordinate maintenance requests. 

Cozy recently joined Apartments.com, which lists and rents any type of residential property, including single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and units in a multifamily home. 

Vacant properties are advertised on some of the most popular rental listing websites to reach over 25 million prospective renters each month. Since its launch in 1992, Apartments.com has helped landlords and tenants get over 42 million leases signed.

Fee structure

Cozy property management tools on Apartments.com are free to use, including advertising a vacant property, screening tenants, and collecting rent payments online. 

Apartments.com makes money by offering advertisers extra exposure with premium listings and charging prospective tenants application, screening, and transaction fees.

Feature summary

• List vacant property on websites such as Apartments.com, ForRent.com, and Apartamentos.com to reach millions of qualified renters each month.
• Receive instant applications from prospective tenants online to eliminate time-consuming delays and reduce vacancy days.
• Screen applicants with comprehensive credit reports and criminal and eviction histories from TransUnion.
• Create a customized, state-compliant lease online and sign with electronic signatures.
• Collect rent payments, fees, and security deposits from tenants with debit and credit cards and ACH deposits paid directly into owner bank accounts.
• Store and share renter documents online, including move-in and move-out checklists, leases and addendums, and inspection reports.
• Track expenses per property, attach images and receipts, and export expenses in CSV or PDF formats to help with tax preparation.
• Create income statements showing expenses and rent payments, if payments are processed with Apartments.com.
• Receive online maintenance requests from tenants with attached photos and videos, coordinate maintenance requests with service providers, and update tenants on contractor visits and repair status.

Pros

Cozy and Apartments.com provide a full suite of property management tools to manage rental properties and tenants from beginning to end. 

Comprehensive rental solutions, such as tenant screening, lease generation, and online rent collection are free for landlords to use, although tenants may incur a small, competitive fee. Vacant rental units listed on the Apartments.com network reach millions of prospective renters each month, helping to generate more rental income from high occupancy rates.

Cons

There are plenty of advantages to using Cozy and Apartments.com, but the service doesn’t provide in-depth financial reporting or personalized recommendations to help investors maximize profits.

That’s why Stessa now supports data connections with popular property management platforms like Cozy.

Why investors integrate Stessa and Cozy

Cozy provides Stessa users with an all-in-one suite of property management tools to make the rental process easier from beginning to end. 

However, financial reporting on Cozy is limited to payments and an overdue balance report (only if the payments feature on Apartments.com is being used to collect rent), expenses, and income statements. While these reports are useful, they don’t provide the same detailed financial information or personalized recommendations that Stessa does.

Stessa takes rental property financial reporting to the next level to help investors grow and manage portfolios with confidence. 

The owner’s dashboard reports real-time performance at the portfolio and property levels, financial reports including income statements, net cash flow, and capital expense reports. The real estate balance sheet automatically updates assets and liabilities, such as current property value and outstanding mortgage balance, to report owner’s equity.

Investors who use both Stessa and Cozy together receive the best of both worlds. Cozy offers property management tools to make owning and managing a rental property easier, and Stessa provides in-depth financial reporting tools to help investors maximize profits and make tax reporting a breeze.