Buildium Review 2022: Solving Your Property Management Conundrums
What is Buildium?
Buildium is a cloud-based property management software that enables managers of residential and association properties to control every aspect of their business, whether in-office or fully remote, including online rent and payments, vacancy management, maintenance cycles and accounting. Buildium simplifies the rental cycle with features such as tenant and lease tracking, full general ledger accounting, automatic rent and expense reminders, and on-demand reporting. For landlords, rent collection can be automated; property managers can receive online payments through Buildium’s tenant portal.
The management of the vacancy cycle begins by syndicating vacancies to Buildium’s listing partners (Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, etc.) and Buildium’s own free marketing site. When applicants fill out Buildium’s online tenancy application, the information is immediately saved to the Buildium tenant database. Buildium also provides tenant screening services for background checks. Tenants can use Buildium to make maintenance requests online through the Resident Portal, as well as submit rent. Property managers can turn requests into work items and assign them to maintenance managers and employees using the desktop or mobile app. Buildium has recently added new features such as a Resident Central website and mobile app; renters insurance for residents; and an updated lease renewal process. Buildium’s tiered pricing plans require no startup fees or annual contracts.
Tenants can use Buildium to make maintenance requests online through the Resident Portal, as well as submit rent. Property managers can turn requests into work items and assign them to maintenance managers and employees using the desktop or mobile app. Buildium has recently added new features such as a Resident Central website and mobile app; renters insurance for residents; and an updated lease renewal process. Buildium’s tiered pricing plans require no startup fees or annual contracts. Tenants can use Buildium to make maintenance requests online through the Resident Portal, as well as submit rent. Property managers can turn requests into work items and assign them to maintenance managers and employees using the desktop or mobile app.
Buildium has recently added new features such as a Resident Central website and mobile app; renters insurance for residents; and an updated lease renewal process. Buildium’s tiered pricing plans require no startup fees or annual contracts. And an updated lease renewal process.
How Buildium Works
Buildium offers a variety of features to simplify every step of the property management process.
lease
You can start using the app from the rental process. Buildium is responsible for listing rental properties, including syndication with Zillow, Trulia, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and Apartments.com. You can then use the service to fetch applications and filter tenants. The app will also facilitate electronic signing of leases. If you don’t already have a website, Buildium can even help you build your own.
Screening is an often overlooked but very important process for landlords to protect their property and income. The Buildium screener has access to credit, criminal and eviction history, so you can know if the applicant is the person you really want to move into your property.
Operation
Buildium provides owners and residents with an online portal to manage documentation, maintenance requests and payments. Owners can view financial reports through the web or mobile experience.
Maintenance requests are one of a landlord’s biggest nightmares, especially since they often come in the form of urgent repairs needed on Thanksgiving or New Year’s Eve. Buildium enables you to receive maintenance requests, generate work orders, and send requests directly to suppliers from the owner dashboard.
Accounting
If you own a rental property, you are a business owner. Part of owning a business is bookkeeping, accounting and taxation. Buildium also covers this. The software handles property and company-level accounting and financial reporting, is responsible for paying rent and bills, and allows you to electronically file 1099s for vendor payments.
When a tenant pays online through the Tenant Portal, the payment is deposited directly from the tenant’s preferred payment method. Payments flow automatically into the general ledger and are automatically recorded in the general ledger for accounting purposes. Buildium comes with around 50 different reports useful for owners and investors.
Pricing Options
The elephant in the room with any such software is the cost. How much do you need to pay to get all these great services? Well, Buildium comes with two different subscription level options: Pro and Core.
Professional subscription level
If you are interested in using this software as much as possible, you may want to consider getting the Pro package. With this, you’ll get free ETF payments, plus five free bank account setups.
Outgoing payments with a Pro-level subscription will still cost you about 50 cents, or a 2.75% processing fee if you’re using a card. You’ll get up to 30 free tenancy documents per month, plus free basic tenant screening. Another thing you’ll get for free is mobile inspection.
Professional-level subscription pricing starts at $150 and covers up to 50 units. You can pay another $50 for another 50 units! If you’re interested, I discuss in more detail what you can add to your subscription below.
Core subscription level
Your second option is to use a core level subscription. This is great for people who don’t have a lot of money to spend but still want to use software with tons of great features. For $45 a month, you’ll be able to cover up to 20 properties.
It is important to note that if you have more than 150 properties, you cannot use the core level. Also for Core, many features are add-ons. If you’re looking to build your own package by picking and choosing the features you have, Core is a great choice for you!
You pay a 2.75% card fee each time you make an electronic funds transfer, and the ETF pays itself a fee of 50 cents. You’ll be charged a $99 fee for initial setup for each business bank account you use to receive payments.
Up to 60 units cost $40 per month, and unlike the Pro plan, e-lease is not free and costs $5 per unit. On top of that, you will be charged a basic tenant screening fee of $15.
If you have 21 to 40 units, a core level subscription will cost you $60 per month. Finally, if you own 141 to 150 units, you’ll pay $225 per month. The Pro is a better option in my opinion, but it’s really indirect and will be different for everyone.
My Personal Recommendation
Buildium is one of my favorite property management options.
It has more flexible pricing that can accommodate smaller brokers but still has all the features of the more expensive options.
The UI is my favorite of all the property management software I’ve tested. I really like the layout and navigation.
In my opinion, by far the biggest, and perhaps only downside, is listing exposure. If you already put your listing on MLS, this probably doesn’t matter at all. However, if you rely on your software to push your listings as widely as possible, or want an easy way to run paid promotions on those listings on your website, AppFolio seems like the superior product.
Otherwise, I would strongly consider Buildium.
Use Buildium if…
1. You are a small or growing property management business that values a good dashboard and a full range of reliable products
2. You have placed your listing into the MLS.
