Rent collection is the main source of income for most rental businesses. Consistent, timely payments in full are key to maintaining a healthy cash flow.
These days, there are many options for collecting rent. While some landlords prefer to collect rent the traditional way with cash or paper checks over electronic payments, there are several disadvantages. To exchange cash or checks, you will need to coordinate your schedules with your tenants. You will need to travel to the bank for deposits. This is particularly annoying if you have multiple tenants. We must not forget about the possibility of misplacing or losing paper money.
Landlords are increasingly using online rent collection software to manage their properties. It removes all the drawbacks of cash and checks and offers a variety of benefits.
These are the top four reasons to switch to an online rental collection
Recurring payments
Tenants can set up recurring rent payments online. The software will automatically pay the rent each month, based on the amount and time interval that your tenants have set. Your tenants won’t need to remember.
This will make life easier for your tenants and also be a benefit to you. You can rest assured that you will receive the correct amount every time you make a recurring payment. This greatly reduces the chance of you having to deal with late payments.
Enforceable Late Fees
As we’ve already mentioned, recurring payments will reduce the amount of late payments that you receive. There’s always the chance that they will.
Late fees enforcement can be a difficult part of the job for some landlords. It’s normal to be sensitive to the situation of tenants and to be flexible when it comes time to enforcing late charges. Late payments can be a breach of the lease contract if you are running a business.
Online rent collection allows you to collect your rent without being the bad guy. You can set the late fee amount as well as the grace period. Tenants who fail to pay rent on time will be charged the late fee. This fee must be paid in addition to their rent. You can also send customized reminders that will be automatically sent to tenants when rent is late.
Flexible Payment Options
Paying online is convenient because you can pay from anywhere. There are no more scheduling conflicts to ensure that rent payments are delivered at the right time. For example, you or your tenants can go on vacation without worrying about missing a rent payment.
Property management software offers flexibility when it comes to the method of payment. Tenants can choose to pay by debit card, credit card or ACH payment. This pulls funds directly out of the tenant’s account. Your tenants will be able to pay in the most convenient way for them.
Automated Record
Automated records, although they are not as well-known as the ones discussed above, can be a lifesaver when you realize that you have a need for them.
Online rent collection will record every payment made. Online rent collection eliminates the need to keep track of transactions manually and minimizes the chance of human error in bookkeeping. You can easily pull up records to make a payment if you need them. Many property management software platforms also allow you to export documents, so you can back them up and share them with accountants or partners.
Conclusion
Online rent collection via property management software should be the preferred method of collecting rent. Switching to online rent collection on property management software will save you time and money, while also making it easier for your tenants.
