Choosing the Best Management Software for Commercial Property Managers

Being a commercial rental property manager is not an easy task. What if you don’t have the necessary tools that would be of help in your work? If you’re a solopreneur who owns or manages commercial rental property, and are looking to make your life easier, why not look for the right property management maintenance software for your business. A commercial property management software that would have all your necessities packed in one. In this article we will help you determine what landlord property management software is best for your needs.

First, you must know your needs. What are you looking for in building management software? Second, do you need a desktop application or a web-based program? Third, is the software user-friendly? Fourth, how affordable is the commercial real estate property management software?

The common features of a commercial property management software are:
* Keep track of rent payments for tenants which include utilities and other charges such as late charges. Accept partial and government subsidies.
* An easy-to-use database that tracks all the information about your tenants that you will need.
* Record important information on all of your rental units.
* Generate rent receipts, statements, and keep track of payments.
* Keep track of any appliances, furniture, etc. that is part of the rental unit with this component.
* Keep track of all your work orders, and scheduled repairs.
* Organize your tasks and easily create lists of things to do.
* A way to add misc. charges and record full and partial rent payments and print rent receipts.
* Record all your expense payments and travel deductions. View deposits and debits for any number of expense reporting accounts.
* Keep track of deposits, payments to accounts, and other income sources. Generate registers for your income reporting accounts.
* Track of all your income and tax deductible expenses and generate tax form reports.
Some property management software will also keep track of schedules, generate form letters to be mailed or emailed, and provide other tools to help you streamline your business.

Consider these additional features:
* Send promotional materials or other form letters to all of your guests, vendors, family, friends or any other contacts.
* Create Work Orders for any repairs or maintenance, track vendors, schedules, work completed and amounts paid.
* Display your appointments, deadlines and other important events in Daily, Weekly or Monthly Calendar formats.
* Create To Do Lists with room for notes, deadlines, priorities, etc. with project management software.

The best commercial real estate rental software also includes tools which allow you to look up where area codes are, calculate time zone differences, and has a universal calculator that adds or subtracts numbers, dates and times, converts length, volume and weight measurements, computes discounts, sales tax, foreign money exchanges and loan payment amounts.

One major thing to consider is, should it be a desktop application or a web-based application? Here are some differences between the two:
* A web-based application, which includes any software you log on to a web site to access, requires a fast, reliable internet connection. A desktop application is an application that runs without the need of an internet connection.
* Desktop software is generally much faster and easier to use than web-based software. If you do not have a very fast internet connection, it could take you several times longer to get the same amount of work done.
* If your web connection goes down, or the company’s website were to go down, or the company went out of business, you will no longer have access to your data if using web-based applications A desktop application, if backed-up regularly, is more secure and reliable than a web-based application.
* With web-based applications you rent the software, paying monthly fees and often get only email support. With desktop applications, you generally pay just once, and technical support is often included.

The next thing to consider is how easy is the software to use? Is it easy to understand? Are you comfortable using the software? Can you get technical support easily and quickly, both by phone and by email? Does that support cost extra?

The final question is, how much are you willing to spend for this software? Would you rather pay less on a monthly basis for web-based software, which will add up to much more over time, or pay one reasonable amount up front and get the features, speed and reliability of a desktop application?

As a solopreneur, I’m sure you would rather find ways to save money and at the same time have the features and capabilities you are looking for in commercial rental management software?

With these things in mind, you can now determine what would be the best property management system software for your need. The best commercial property management software in my opinion is Commercial Rental Tracker Plus. It is a reasonably priced desktop application that is easy to use and is available for most Mac and Windows computers.

To better appreciate its ease-of-use, how it can make you more productive, and to download a free trial of Commercial Rental Tracker Plus today, visit http://www.productivity-software.com/commercial/ 

Garth Catterall has been creating productivity software for self-employed professionals and rental property managers since 2002. You may reprint this article only in its entirety with this bio. ©2015 Garth Catterall

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