Affordable Housing Property Management Software to Consider
By ExactEstate7 min read
Affordable Housing
Every property manager knows the grind: the coffee-powered application reviews, the maintenance marathons, and the late-night balancing of the books. This profession is demanding because each day brings new challenges and requires unique resourcefulness. And if you’re like most property professionals, you probably feel like the typical tools of the trade just don’t understand your ongoing needs. For related operational guidance, review affordable housing compliance software.
That’s because the popular platforms were created in a boardroom or development incubator, not on the front lines of property management. In the tough-as-nails market of affordable housing, you’re often too busy making ends meet to vet every solution top-to-bottom. When you finally realize you’re working with a quick-fix platform rather than a long-term investment, it’s already let you down.
That’s why this article breaks down the pros and cons of the top contenders in affordable housing property management software. By joining us on this investigation, you’ll quickly learn that there’s a world of difference between which tools are popular and which are worth your money.
Three Contenders With Big Names and Big Promises
There are three brands that continually rank in searches for affordable housing property management software: RealPage Property Management, Yardi Voyager, and AppFolio Property Manager. These platforms dominate the marketspace so much that their names are familiar even to renters—but sometimes with less-than-positive associations.
RealPage Property Management
RealPage is ubiquitous in this space, offering tools for streamlining the leasing process, but there’s a flip side. While the primary platform, RealPage Property Management, has a relatively warm reputation for its usability and feature set, the end-user experience is far from glowing. Residents and workers have encountered severe issues, from inaccurate background checks and mishandled payments to a maintenance app plagued with glitches and crashes.
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Renters who feel unheard have taken to Yelp to air their grievances with the company, while the Google Play page for the staff app sports a 2-out-of-5 star rating. These aren’t minor hiccups; they’re the sort of systemic problems that lead to lost revenue and panicked scrambles when the system goes offline.
Yardi Voyager
Yardi Voyager is comprehensive but cumbersome, reviews say. It positions itself as a robust solution for property management and accounting needs, but user feedback tells a more complex story. Its strongest features lie in managing multiple properties and customizable reporting options, which many users praise. However, understanding and effectively using these functions requires a lot of trial and error, and in the end it may not be fit for purpose.
The software’s strength in reporting and data access is overshadowed by a user interface that many find unintuitive and annoying to navigate. Menus are inconsistent, making it challenging for novice users to locate the items they want. But even the computer-savvy find Voyager a distinctly user-unfriendly environment, with some noting that you must commit a significant amount of time and effort to navigate the interface correctly.
AppFolio Property Manager
AppFolio emerged as a powerful force in property management software, though its constant expansion through acquisitions seems to dilute the solution’s usability. The platform boasts cloud-based solutions for property management, accounting, marketing, and leasing across multiple markets. Users note its most significant offerings are ACH payments to owners and an accounting-focused reporting function.
Unfortunately, its recent reputation is somewhat tarnished by dismal reviews for the payment portal and mobile app, the latter of which is concerns both property managers and staff. There is also a growing sentiment among property managers that the platform has added more features but offers less value. Users recount difficulties with the platform’s handling of rental prepayments and move-outs, and they express frustration with the declining quality of customer service.
While all three of these platforms have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages, they share one common challenge: user experience. Each solution earns complaints about its ease of use from both end-users and property managers. If you and your staff are ready to deal with these obstacles, you may find it’s worth the investment. But there’s a better option for affordable housing property management software: ExactEstate.
ExactEstate: Your All-in-One Property Management Platform
ExactEstate is much more than a leasing and payment tool. It’s a comprehensive platform for all things property management. Created by industry veterans, ExactEstate understands the late-night strategizing over marketing priorities, the daily skirmishes over maintenance requests, and the break-of-dawn planning sessions needed to get the job done. Unlike other platforms, ExactEstate was built on real-world experience—no simulations, guesses, or developer assumptions here.
Here is a glimpse of what working with ExactEstate’s tailored property management solution is like:
Stability and Consistency: Built on a stable and reliable framework, ExactEstate’s app-less system works on any internet-capable device. When you send work orders to maintenance teams, there’s no buggy mobile app to cause friction between them and the next steps.
U.S.-Based Customer Support: You’ll have unlimited access to our support team, 24/7. Our domestic customer support will ensure you get a quick resolution to any issues you might face, day or night. And you know who’s often on the other end of the line? The developer himself. ExactEstate CEO and creator Matt Hoskins makes tailoring his brainchild to your unique needs his personal business.
Intuitive and User-Friendly Design: ExactEstate is handcrafted for intuitiveness, aiming to solve the all-too-common problem of overly complicated menus and systems. ExactEstate offers a more accessible, straightforward interface than competitors—meaning everything is clear at first glance.
ExactEstate software also gives employees—from the front desk to the top chair in the boardroom—complete transparency of all transactions, so nobody’s left wondering where or how information is flowing. Answers are quick, consistent, and easy to find, and that means saving everyone time, stress, and most importantly, money.
Deep Customization Options: Users can tailor the system to their specific needs, customizing reports, styling, system settings, user access, and more. Personalizing your experience also makes picking things up easier. By letting you decide where everything goes, you only have to learn it your way.
Re-engaging With Residents: Unlike systems that slow down your property management team, ExactEstate unburdens them and lets them re-engage with your community. The paperwork is done faster, meaning they have more time for face-to-face interaction.
In addition to these features, ExactEstate scales with your business—no matter how extensive or detailed your needs may be. The complete suite of services is available to all users regardless of the many properties in their portfolio. You’ll enjoy the lowest transaction fees in the industry, whether you rent out 10 units or tens of thousands.
Solving the Challenges of Property Management Software
Ultimately, ExactEstate’s goal is to resolve the many problems that users see within the major contenders’ platforms: unsatisfactory usability, instability, inflexibility, poor end-user experience, and frustrating customer support options. We’ve used the same disappointing software that you’re struggling with today, and ExactEstate is our answer to those challenges.
With a focus on smart automation and user-first design, ExactEstate improves day-to-day operations by keeping things simple and transparent, enhancing productivity, and trimming costs instead of burdening you with a months-long learning curve. We built our affordable housing property management software platform from the ground up for real property managers like you—hard-working professionals who need robust solutions they can utilize immediately, not weeks from now.
