Small landlords own and manage at least one unit and maybe max out around 10. Compared to large property management companies, small landlords may be more price sensitive. To help them succeed, there are free tools for small landlords.
Free Income Expense Tracking
Regardless of size, landlords need a recordkeeping tool when managing rental property. For small landlords, accounting software like QuickBooks is expensive and overly complicated taking quite a bit of time to learn. On the other hand, an Excel spreadsheet is free, however, it isn’t powerful enough. It is not easy to create helpful reports from basic spreadsheets. RentalIncomeExpense.com is landlord accounting software that is free, easy to use, and generates meaningful reports.
Free Tenant Screening
Finding the right tenant makes landlording easier. The ideal tenant is one that will pay rent on time and keep the rental property in tip top shape. So tenant screening becomes really important. A free tenant screening option for small landlords is provided by SmartMove (a TransUnion service). SmartMove charges a fee for the credit reports, however, the landlord can designate the applicant (tenant) to pay the fee as many landlords bundle that fee as part of an application fee.
Free Vacancy Listing
Online advertising is one of the most popular and wide-reaching methods today. Landlords can advertise listings with a real estate specific site. Some are free like Realtor.com and Apartments.com. Others, like Zillow, charge a fee, however, Zillow owns other listing sites which means you maximize your reach as your listings are on multiple sites.
These free tools for small landlords can be effective and make landlording easier.