AppFolio Property Manager – Bewertungsseite 4

Vorteile

Intially their handoff and onboarding seemed seemless.. All flowed OK through Web Design and initial onboarding..

Nachteile

I'd give them NO STARS If I COULD...
It wasn't until we started to use software and my staff needed support to inpliment and use the software day to day .. They all became frustrated when it would take days to get a call back to address their issues and move forward.. So, learning curve was slow.. Tech support doesnt schedule a call back.. They simply call you when THEY're ready.. Like staff just sits and waits for their call !

Vorteile

The program is intuitive. If you think through the process of how something should work...that is Appfolio in a nutshell. The programming and processes just make sense. The interface is user friendly and I am very fortunate to have found this program and would highly recommend this online software. It's increased our reach in advertising rentals, streamline our communication with owners and tenants, higher efficency in processing work orders and simplified our bookkeeping.

Nachteile

I do not have a background in bookkeeping so there are areas that mistify me such as clearing accounts, what constitutes a debit or credit in some areas of the program since a negative symbol is not always a debit in the system. I've only been doing this for 1.5 years but I'm learning. I've hired an additional company who is proficient in Appfolio to assist me since I am still in the learning curve.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

My bookkeeper was retiring and the current desk top system would not work. I did a lot of reviews of different online property management systems and Appfolio always seem to be a preferred. I received a demo and was very impressed so I made the 3 month transition of data and haven't looked back. Thank you for creating this system! Bravo!

Vorteile

I went from QuickBooks and separate services for screening and renters insurance programs, to Appfolio which offers everything in one.

Nachteile

I didn't like that the accounting is handled by property rather than by company, but I got used to it.

Vorteile

I love the ability to track collections, maintenance orders, and Tenant info/documents from my smartphone. This software gives me the option to have any staff work remote as needed and still do our jobs at 100% capacity.

Nachteile

Appfolio does a nice job at continuing to develop better features. One area that needs improvements is the ability to do inspections. It takes forever for photos to upload while at the property and uses a ton of data. Would be nice to be able to have the inspections saved locally to the phone and then upload all at once while on WiFi. This would speed up inspections drastically. Improving inspection templates is also needed.

Vorteile

We love the ease of using and learning the sofeware for both the owners and employees.

Nachteile

There are some major issues that need to be fixed but you cant get anyone to really listen. Customer service will respond to an email but that's it - they send you a link to the self help section - we were told that we would have a direct member to go to for everything when we were pitched the software but that person is no where to be found - when i ask who it is and how i can get ahold of them i just get redirected to contact support. SUPER AGGRIVATED WITH THIS

Vorteile

AppFolio is very intuitive and the learning curve for basic functionality and navigation within the software is relatively short. The "help" section is generally very informative. From a property management, unit-based accounting perspective, the software is very robust and offers tremendous bang for the buck. Using the software platform streamlines work flow and provides increased efficiency within the office.
The Tenant and Owner Portals are hugely beneficial for all parties. Paying rent (Tenants) or sending funds for maintenance & repairs (Owners) is simple and quick.
The ability to submit online maintenance requests through the Tenant portal is also a positive feature of the software. Work orders can be generated directly from the maintenance request and they can be easily tracked to completion.
The text & email capabilities within the software are also positive features. Having the ability to review email/text history without having to search through an external email program is terrific.

Nachteile

The Tenant Move Out & Security Deposit Disbursement process is one of few features that I don't care for. Processing security deposit claims where a portion of the SD is forfeited to the owner, a portion of the SD is forfeited to the management company and a portion of the SD is refunded to the Tenant is not a smooth or intuitive process. Security deposit funds cannot be retained within the escrow account until funds can be legally disbursed - they are automatically transferred from the SD escrow/trust account to the management/property account. This places an additional burden on accounting staff to ensure that funds are not inadvertently released/disbursed before statutory time frames allow.
It would be helpful if the state specific SD disbursement protocol could be customized by the end user.

Vorteile

I love that things are so well integrated. I have been with Chatel Real Estate for 7 years and we have been using Appfolio for the last 6 years. I appreciate all of the new features that you roll out and I'm super excited every time I see that little bubble at the top of my screen meaning something new has been added. Also, it's super nice that it's easy to use on the phone, I don't like the App. I only use it through my cell phones web browser but it works perfectly and I can get a ton of stuff done while visiting a building. I love that its a one stop shop for property management needs. I like being able to communicate with an entire building and record that information on unit owner pages. The key system is fantastic! We just started using it recently, and it has saved us so much time in addition to providing us with accurate records.

Nachteile

Prepayments on unit owner ledgers do not automatically apply to the next owners charge automatically. This makes the aged receivable detail look off which is annoying and clients complain about it. It's not a huge deal and its something we easily fix. I also wish the homeowner directory report had columns to add their tenant's information into it, instead of having to pull a renter directory and then an owner directory. Clients want just one spreadsheet not two! I wish you accepted AMEX for payments, I get a fair amount of compliants about it.

Vorteile

Its ease of use. It is very intuitive, there is only one role and it is really quick and easy to learn.

Nachteile

Tenant screening is a complete farce. AppFolio knows its a complete farce.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

Yardi was a poor product with poor customer service.

Zuvor genutzte Software

Yardi Voyager

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

We were already using Yardi Voyager and were not happy. We worked with them on a lot of potential "upgrades" we could do to make the software more suitable to our business. Ultimately, we connected with AppFolio and it proved to be a better product for our company.

Vorteile

Overall ease of use. Accounting based, online rent payments, and ability to connect all areas of property management together.

Nachteile

When we first started with Appfolio they were very quick to respond to our customer service needs. Now, all you get is an email that directs you to watch videos or to online chat. When you have already exhausted those options and you need to speak to ANYONE, it is impossible! I have waited over a month for someone to call me back. By the time they call I have forgotten what I needed, or the details of the transaction I needed help with. They need to hire more customer service reps. When they do call you they are very friendly and knowledgeable, but they usually give you a few minutes and if you need help with someone else while you have them on the phone they tell you to make another request. Then, it's back to the WAIT game.

Vorteile

Ease of use, quick search, archived records, online payments, ability to scan files into clients portal, pay bills online. We basically did a 15-20 year upgrade . They said when we bought the software it would be like adding an extra employee to our office and after a years use, I would agree. The data entry alone for our bill payments was a two to three day job with our old software, now just a few hours to pay 300-400 invoices a month.

Nachteile

The biggest frustration that I have with the software program is during the transition from when a tenant gives notice to move out and getting a new tenant into that same unit. For whatever reason, when a tenant gives notice and we put that information into the system and click the notice prompt and give the date of their move out (usually 30 days). That unit is going to be vacant and we begin to market for a new tenant, however, when we find a new tenant and we want to put the new tenant name and the deposit money into the system under that unit, we are UNABLE to put a pending tenant into the system until there is a complete move out. We need to get that money in the bank and a new pending tenant into our upcoming move ins. Usually the way we have done it is to manipulate the move out dates and then put the charges in later when the real move out occurres They must be a way to put PENDING tenants into to a future vacant unit in an easier way. We love the software, but because we have 30-50 move outs and move ins each month, it is very frustrating that when a tenant gives notice, the program should then allow pending tenant information to be entered to that future vacant unit and right now we can't.

Vorteile

The ease and simplicity of bookkeeping aspects. Even with little accounting experience, AppFolio is easy to use. The help section is phenomenal as it has videos and written tutorials, so you can learn whichever way you are most comfortable with! The maintenance area has everything a vendor or property manager needs to assess issues and relay them to the vendors. Reporting is top notch. So many reports to choose from and tailor to a company’s individual needs. Very easy to upload and download documents in PDF, jpeg, Word. Love that entries are time, date and user stamped. The texting function is extremely helpful and e-mailing within AppFolio for a record is awesome. Search function is terrific as the system will list everything that corresponds to what you typed in.

Nachteile

There are some accounting entries that the system seems to override in areas, thus transactions are not entered properly. Sometimes these are not caught until an owner receives a monthly statement.

Having a forecast feature for income / expenses for future years would be nice.

Vorteile

The software is intuitive, user friendly and a stable platform. They a continually developing additional functionality and release updates regularly. The customer forum is great - you can collaborate with other users, seek our solutions and make recommendations that development will consider for future releases.

Nachteile

It does not have an open API and they are unwilling to consider this for clients. While they are routinely pushing out enhancements and are developing additional functionality, and they say the functionality is based on client feedback - it seems like development resources are not focused on this things that clients really 'need'.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

The old system was not stable - we had issues with lockups and in accurate reporting. There was limited updates provided and we did not anticipate improvements.

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

Yardi was more robust than we needed at the time - and their licensing model made the cost outside of our range.

Vorteile

This is a great product for property managers and tenants. The leases are easy to issue and easy to sign. The tenants have a great portal. Customer service is mostly great- sometimes I want a quicker response, but the reps are great. It is easy to find information and easy to adjust information.

Nachteile

It is too easy to adjust information in some places and there are confusing breaks in logic for inputs from one section to the next. For example, the recurring charges section of the move-in process is identical to the monthly charges section of the tenant page, except that there is no option to have an end date. Move-in charges from the move-in process do not show up on the itemized rent roll. When asked about why this is, the customer service agent said that people don't want security deposits on the itemized rent roll. The answer to this is, like any other charge in the system, to hide the security deposit charges columns on the itemized rent roll. There is no need to restrict the information on a report when a report is customizable. We offer one-time concessions and, in order to get them on the rent roll, we have to use the recurring charges section. This, of course, allows for human error in having one-time concessions go on for the entire term of the lease.

Vorteile

I started in property management in 2015 with absolutely no experience with PM or PMOS!
My boss and I went over running owner reports and monthly statements, but that was about it. Everything else I had to learn on my own.
I'd say I was at 80% of mastering all the features and systems within about a week. Luckily, the "support" system has become much more efficient that my predecessor's notes said. Presently, the longest you ever have to wait for support is about 12 hours.
They always develop new features which makes things easier. I particularly like being able to "Text Unit" or "Text Property" features. Tenants can "text" back, but it comes in the form of an email. If you use your personal phone for business, this is tremendous!!!!
You can also see who made edits which is nice. My office only has 2 people, but I can imagine that if you were in a larger office you would want to be able to note who made what changes and why.
Move out accounting is super easy with Appfolio - saves me a lot of time generating move out reports.
And finally, I'd say that online applications really streamline the process. This is by far my fave feature of Appfolio.

Nachteile

While I can allocate certain payments, I can't seem to allocate charges. I'd like to be able to do that. Also, transitioning tenants from one unit to the other is confusing. It's not hard to do, but I don't follow the logic. That might just my fault.

Vorteile

There are several things that I like about this software. I think the top of my list is that there is so much functionality related to apartment leasing/management that is all integrated - basic general ledger accounting, tenant accounts receivable, screening applicants, online leasing, attachment of invoices, statements, agreements, etc to appropriate pages in AppFolio, vendor payments, owner payments, 1099's, financial reporting, etc, and on top of that, it's an online platform available from any computer or mobile device, live and up-to-date for all users.

Nachteile

Currently my biggest frustration is RUBS for utilities. The feature is set up in such a manner that we are unable to use it because it allocates costs to anything considered a "unit" which for us includes non-residents who lease a parking space. I have made sure that top management and the development team at AppFolio are aware of this flaw in the functionality of this feature, so I'm hopeful there will be a resolution.

Vorteile

What I like the most about Appfolio..... that I can come into work daily and not stress about overall functionality of software. I know it's going to do what it needs to do, and if it doesn't, customer service will help me sort things out!

Nachteile

I cannot speak to this. I used a different program before Appfolio that was nothing short of a nightmare, so I am grateful for every bit of Appfolio from it's ease of use to it's nice, friendly design.

Vorteile

Most people don't like change, need change and can't get it or can't get it quick enough. Appfolio is so user friendly, allows you to train yourself, reach out for support when needed or allows you to interact with other users in a forum. They say it takes a village sometimes and Appfolio has created that village atmosphere. You have options and so many paths to take but without the feeling of getting totally lost to get to where you need it's almost adventure time every time I log on. I love all the updates for things I didn't even know I needed until they put it out there. They don't just change things and hope you catch on, they notify you of all the updates with an explanation and guide in advance. I've seen them put changes into action that other users have asked for and voted on (yes that's a thing, got to love democracy and what software platform allows it's clients to even have a say on a daily basis? Appfolio does.) If anyone in the relationship is doing wrong by the other it would be our office for not using all that Appfolio has to it's fullest extent. Thank you for allowing us to thrive now and strive towards the ever evolving future of Property Management.

Nachteile

There have been a few work arounds or new features we didn't quite get it to work the way we wanted but most of it is personal pickiness or just not having the time to train and find a way to make it work. The inspections I know are being updated and getting there but really hoping to be able to do inspections onsite, pictures, notes, having tenants sign electronically off on move in and out condition notes as well as sending them copies at completion as we've seen with some other apps and software programs outside of Appfolio.

Vorteile

It’s robust yet easy to use, dependable, constantly evolving, their developers listen to their customer’s needs and if possible delivers, issues are handled quickly by their web based customer service team, and it’s affordable.

Nachteile

The layout of the property financial statements are subpar and difficult for our clients to understand; its not the best software choice to manage commercial or multi-family properties; it’s lack of customization

Vorteile

Appfolio is easy to use, has so many capabilities that other software does not, let me handle all my properties in one location, easy access to reports, texts, and emails.

Nachteile

I really have no complaints about this software. I have had a small issue with some of my outside advertising feeding into Appfolio but that is the only flaw.

Vorteile

*Convenient user access on computer & phone.
*User friendly & comprehensive for property management operations
*Good visuals, nice looking documents & communication to customers.
*Love how you launch improvements ongoing & post "What's New"
*Sending work order links to vendors, how they can see all their w/o to stay better organized
*Paying vendors via direct deposit.
*Sharing documents to tenant & owner portals. No more mailing.
*Helps organize functions

Nachteile

*Expensive.
*Very complicated to manage the accounting portion. There are many hidden, connected functions, that fixing one, often doesn't fix all or messes something else up.
*Move-outs are exceptionally difficult if you have to meet a short time line & have to break the tenant refunds into 2 payments. In WA state, water/sewer companies don't put account in tenant names or read meters in between, so we have to wait up to 60 days to get final bill. We want to hold out deposit funds for that & then refund the tenant any overcharged amount.
*Customer service is friendly & knowledgeable, but have to wait for returned contact & about 25% of the time offers solutions doesn't fix all aspects or messes up something else.

Big Issue: A HUGE number of brokerages are hiring outside Appfolio experts to help manage & solve their problems, instead of relying on Appfolio customer service. A HUGE number. There is something wrong with that.

Vorteile

1. When Money is collected electronically you never have to think about who's paid and who hasn't.
- Even with a handful of units, it's time consuming to collect checks and deposit them on a regular basis. This causes sloppy book keeping and helps tenants get away with not paying timely.
2. When a computer keeps track of payments late fees are always charged.
- late fees get charged automatically. This trains tenants to pay automatically. No more not paying late fees. " It's already charged and it's part of your lease ".
3. When communicating with tenants electronically, there's a record of the conversation.
- " I didn't say it was my fault ". This is no longer an argument. Every text, email, and even notes from phone conversations are stored in the tenant profile.
4.Utility billing can become a profit center instead of a nightmare.
- When incorporating RUBS or just paying for the water bill, when done with the correct process, unpaid utilities can legally incur late fees which makes tenants pay them instead of sticking the owner with them at the end of the lease.
5. It's much easier to protect a property through liability insurance.
- By using the automatic liability insurance module, there is much less of a chance in lapsing renters insurance and the property has a better chance of recuperating losses due to " I fell asleep while the stove was on ". Yes, this has actually happened.

Nachteile

Appfolio is not something you plug into your current systems. To do it correctly and efficiently you'll need to rework your processes around it. This can be good or bad. Depending on if you like creating systems. When you're done, you'll have an employee that never sleeps and takes care of a ton of your management tasks.

Vorteile

EASE OF USE.

Nachteile

APPFOLIO IS UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO PROVIDE DETAIL REPORTS.
We received a 1099-k IRS report and Appfolio could not provide us with the detail of what made up the report. The reporting they gave us was OFF by almost 5%. We asked for detail.
This is their response:
I promise if we had such a granular report that you are requesting, I would gladly send it over. We simply do not have such a report. Keep in mind we have been adhering to these IRS 1099-K guidelines for years with tens of thousands of clients operating in every state of the country. Not once has this been presented to us as a blocker by any CPA in their ability to execute a tax return or cited as a compliance issue. We can isolate credit card transactions as well as chargebacks for you but the final figure is not going to tie back to the exact dollar of the 1099-K for the previously mentioned reasons in the letter you received.

This is not a minor discrepancy. Over $13,000. Which CLIENT do I credit that income.

Vorteile

The website for rentals is nice, online lease processing good, Very good attention until start up date and then support is available at their leisure. Easy bank reconciliation

Nachteile

No ability to share inspection reports with the tenant, no ability to produce management contracts and have signed online and given to owners, all management contracts have to be produced on paper or you need other software. No simplified year-end summary report to send owners in preparation for tax time, the way you have to settle deposits by transferring money around may cause an issue with your licensing laws of trust accounts. We had to use a separate 1099 reporting company since we were not prepared, trained or alerted to the process on app folio. Again not something is done for you but assumed you would know. Once you reach start up support sucks from that time forward. You can get it on AppFolios timeline, not in a real time when you need it, you just have to shut down until they call you. No account executive to discuss frustrations with, you will feel like you are hollering to the wind and no one is listening
Bank reconciliation should mirror the bank statement, it does not and makes it difficult until you recognize debits are out in wrong place.

Vorteile

It has a lot of good features for tenants and us.

Nachteile

The good features are not always thought out. Appfolio caters to apartments etc and does not always think about single family property management which I do a lot of. The owner payments and statements are not the best and estimates are not good and the turn board is horrible. A lot of features that just need to be worked on. If you have commercial property for lease I haven't a clue why it is more when it doesn't get advertised at all. Wish Appfolio would ask and take what I said more seriously. Wish they would also show their appreciation for the amount of money we spend with them.....They sent a gift one time to someone that did not work here and never did. I own the company and was thinking wow you don't even know who it is you are thanking and not sure you actually were thanking me or it was sent to the wrong company in my area.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Buildium

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

Old program obsolete

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

Honestly because rent manager did not get back with us but they had more of the items we needed at the time.

Vorteile

I do accounts payable, plus deal with Owners and basically put out little fires that arise. Since using Appfolio I have reduced my work load or should I say the time that is necessary to do my job. By being able to do ACH's and emailing and texting. End of month statements was reduced down to a few hours from 2 days. The world we live in now does a lot of texting and emailing and that is always nice to be able to do when you are slammed. More than 50% of my Owners are retired or semi retired and are older so I find that it is important to have that conversation with them over the phone for that personal relationship that they like. I am friends with a lot of my Owners even though I have never laid eyes on them. So we need to balance things for good PR.

Nachteile

I don't have many, and I am at a loss right now to specifically point any particular problem. It is those times when you run into a situation that you rarely do and have problem figuring it out. The instructions are not real clear. As example off the top of my head. I have a problem right now with my Diagnostic under the Non-Zero Security Clearing Account Balances. I think that I have done it correctly after following the instructions and then I find my diagnostic with a problem that I will need help from Appfolio with. Right now I haven't had the time to contact Appfolio to help me due to my own personal issues, medical, vacation etc.

Vorteile

We use Appfolio daily, even when away from the office. Appfolio has continued to adapt to the ever changing technology and real estate fields. Our tenants have full access to their tenancy and are able to communicate to us through our system - not only expediting any tenant requests but also documenting for our records! A real time saver for us.

Nachteile

Many advances in the program have increased the cost of the service, or make the service unobtainable to us smaller companies because of the cost. It would also be very helpful if they offered a report writer, something that allows us to fully determine and create reports based on our needs and our management agreement. There are plenty of reports to choose from and customize, but in the end - they are still not the exact report that we desire.

Vorteile

Switching from Promas to Appfolio would be like switching from mailing a letter to emailing a letter. The service is faster, more reliable, easier to do, takes less time, is more efficient. My list could go on and on. The main features that caught our eye were the ability to accept rent payments online for seamless accounts receivable from tenants, and online maintenance requests. For so long, we would take maintenance requests by phone or email. It was unreliable at best. Having this online feature gives us a smooth workflow from work order submission to mailing a check for work completed. Truly, Appfolio has saved our office countless hours! Oh and the customer service is awesome! I love how quickly we get responses with actual answers to our questions that solve our problems!

Nachteile

The onboarding was very tedious. Our Promas software was housed on an internal server at our office. That is the primary reason our transition was not that smooth to start off. Overall, we don't have many complaints. Of course, we all want cheaper software, but you get what you pay for. There are a few tweaks we have requested that Appfolio has implemented, and they continuously have updates and new features. It's really exciting! I do wish our owners could see live feed of their account balances in their portal and run their own reports as they wish.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Buildium

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

It was very difficult to make changes in the accounting area, and the features were lacking.

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

Customer reviews, and features available.

Vorteile

The ease of use is amazing and makes it very easy to train. Very visually appealing. Help[ center is a great benefit. Love the online payments platform.

Nachteile

Not a robust enough accounting platform. I don't think the CAM rec feature is robust enough to handle most retail CAM, Tax, Insurance reconciliations at the end of the year. Most tenants pay different versions of CAM, admin fees, CAM caps, etc... It is very rare that tenants all pay the same NNN at a property.

The delinquency report is way too simple for our company processes. The delinquency report really needs a section for notes to easily review. No way to order parts through software like competitors. No way to audit utility billing like competitors.

Websites leave something to be desired. Accounting reporting seems way to complicated. (This could be from trying to "dumb" down the platform for ease of use but really handicaps the bigger players on the software.)

I don't think we have a dedicated account rep. It seems like every time I need something I speak to a different person. It would be much easier to have a dedicated rep that i could reach out to for everything and then he could delegate internally for you.

Vorteile

1. It has what I want from a property software,and if they don't have it, they will if you ask!
2. The customer service is spot on, they really love their customers and it shows!
3. Notes for EVERYTHING with PICS! No more tenants claiming they don't know what you're talking about or not knowing what they are trying to tell you is wrong with their units!
4. It makes it easy to keep track of all the data we have, literally everything has a place to be put.
5. I really love how in depth the help pages are and the fact that there are forums for the users to talk to each other about what they deal with and how they have worked around issues. It can take some time to find the right thing sometimes, but you can always find a way to make things work. Appfolio is very adaptable and it feels like there is no one way to use it. It works with each person in their own way!

Nachteile

1. The accounting took awhile to get used to and can be a little clunky and confusing at times (and I have an accounting degree).
2. Customer service can take up to 24 hours to get back to you, while that is still a good response time, when you have accounting questions, it can seem like forever.
3. Having the option for so much data can make it hard to remember WHERE your data for a particular item got placed. Was it the unit page? Owner page? Tenant notes? Vendor notes? Maintenance notes? Who knows! It would be great to see a system that links together notes a little better with catch words or a notes search option by date etc to make finding the large volumes of data we collect a little easier. But it is STILL a far better system than anything we have used before.

Vorteile

Appfolio is relatively new to the industry compared to Yardi and others however, the strides they have made in such a short time are remarkable! I researched 8 software providers when I started my company and went with Appfolio in 2014 because I saw their vision. While it has been a bit clunky at times when rolling new features out, the fact that they have made such huge strides in the 4 years I have been in the industry is amazing. I think I might see it more than others because I come from a background in software engineering so it gives me a better insight to how much actually goes into the process. I am looking forward to more in the next 4 years!

Nachteile

The accounting is a bit clunky and can be a problem for other states that have different laws than California. It takes 15 steps when it should take 3.
The maintenance really needs inspections for tenants to fill out online.
Owner management agreements need to be online.
More flexibility to creating documents for all parties.
Better tracking methods for move in move out procedures.

Vorteile

This software is shocking. I work in the property management docket, and this software makes it simple to manage our clients all portfolios really and easily. We have a gigantic client base, and AppFolio licenses us to manage their portfolio from upkeep directly down to accounting and security. It is Great!

Nachteile

The app keeps on evolving. Just when we are getting used to doing things one way they change

Vorteile

The software is definetly the right product. It is intuitive and very easy to use. Having used Yardi for 10+ years this product is simply outstanding. It is definitely not even close to what you can do in Yardi, but for 90% of what most of us do, it is allot easier and quicker then Yardi.

Nachteile

The company is suffering from a very bad support team. When they sell you the product it almost seems that these guys mastered the art of eSupport and you can solve problems with a click. This couldn't further from the truth. For most of the "how to" problems they are quick to respond and usually send you a quick article on how to. The problem becomes when you have a real problem, like late fees simply not posting the correct amounts at the wrong dates, or bank account balances don't add up...in general bigger problems call for a "we will put our head in the sand and hope it goes away" mentality.

Vorteile

User friendly & intuitive. The app and online log in for tenants and owners is a game changer. The vendors and work order flow is excellent. Accounting is similar to quickbooks, everyone get it. Unlimited support (for FREE - who offers that?), an excellent online help "System" There are videos, online articles, training you attend live online and/or watch at any time on specific topics. There is a user community for help too. What other software allows you to "Vote" on things you want your software to do - and the programmers work on the request with the most votes. Amazing!! Thank you AppFolio

Nachteile

That I had to suffer through YARDI for so long before I found AppFolio and we switched.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager und Buildium

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

Yardi was awful - cumbersome - every time we ran a report the numbers were different????? What??? and when there was a problem they caused - with some "Update" - they charged me when I called for support to help figure out why the same thing I had been doing for a year now no longer worked due to their "Update".

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

They had the best all around package, reviews and very competitive pricing

Vorteile

Cloud based. I seriously didn't like the concept of having someone else be in charge of our confidential information but being able to get information over various devises from anywhere is a huge convenience. The cost savings of not having to host the software has been huge. The software is easy to use for the most part but the accounting reports are the software's Achilles heal.

Nachteile

There are allot of things but for the most part it can be summed up to reports and accounting.

For a software that is advertised to make life easier and streamline the process, it falls short.

Reports. Very poor reports and the kicker is that they don't have a Profit and Loss Statement. WHO DOESN'T HAVE A P&L AS A STANDARD REPORT???? I also don't like the fact that you can't customize the reports. If you don't like how something is worded, too bad. You can edit it on a single report for a single owner but you cannot do a global change to all reports such as if you have a "Convenience Fee", it states it as "Mark Up". You're stuck having to manipulate single reports which takes a huge amount of time.

Things that should be simple such as refunding a tenants application or other such fee are time consuming and convoluted. You'd imagine it would as simple as hitting the "refund" button which they have but by doing so it throws off your books and not only refunds the tenant but it also gives that money to the owner??? So now you have to clear up the mess by doing multiple journal entries. The same holds true for other issues. Long story short, we're spending more time dealing with accounting issues because the software did some crazy thing. When you create a support request for the item, they'll help you by saying something like "well this is how to work around this". We're trying to streamline the process to make our lives a whole lot easier, not having to double and triple check reports to make sure we're not giving more monies than we should.

Vorteile

The appfolio team listens to their end users and encourages input/feedback, so that they can make changes/upgrades on a continual basis. This, in my opinion, is one the biggest things that puts Appfolio WAY ahead of its competition.
The program is stupid-easy to use. (seriously, training on this system is a breeeze--it is truly "user friendly")
Texting and email ability allowed me to cancel another paid service I used to use--and these features are SUCH a time saver, plus our residents LOVE it! PLUS the system keeps the documentation- I don't have to spend time adding it in as a note! Win-win!
Online payments free up SO much of my time now. (Residents love the convenience as well) The majority of my property pay online!!

Nachteile

I can't think of one thing! I just really like Appfolio and I believe that the company has their fingers on the pulse of what we need. THANK YOU!

Vorteile

online payments and easy to set up new tenants in the system.

Nachteile

It is very sad that the company that started a decade or so ago with great customer service, has become like IRS where you never get a real person in real time, on the phone and within a day or less. Now you wait 24hours for initial e-mail to come in to confirm that they got your case. If you insist upon talking to some one you will be scheduled another 24 hours out so your issue hopefully gets resolved within 48-72 hours after the issue occurred. Very disappointing. There is no support phone number to call, etc.

Also Appfolio assumes that all people are computer savvy and CPAs. We are not. We build, we renovate, we deal with tenants and vendor issues and endless "red tape" and having a partner (property management system with great customer service) would take a load off not add to the frustrations with its inflexibility, when we finally sit down at 2AM try to get the accounting done for our owners and vendors. Very disappointing and frustrating.

Vorteile

Appfolio has really been a fantastic tool for our Property Management firm. It is highly functional for both accounting and property managers. All information and attachments are also available on one's smartphone through the Appfolio App. Anytime I have any questions, I get help from Appfolio's support team in a timely manner. The search bar is an invaluable resource - being able to look up a tenant, owner, or vendor's information by name, email, address, etc is very helpful. The Owner and Tenant statements are easy to review internally, and easy for the recipient to read and understand. I have utilized other accounting software in the past, and no other platform can come even close to comparing to the functionality of Appfolio. Keep up the good work!

Nachteile

That I can not set up one owner with separate bank accounts for each of their properties. It is the only think about Appfolio that drives me nuts!

Vorteile

Easy to use for users of all skill and job levels. Makes tracking Receivables and Payables very simple. Constantly being updated and enhanced with new features at no new cost (some do cost but the majority are free updates) Customer support is always quick to help and respond. I feel like I get the same support agent 95% of the time, which makes it feel comfortable and like a working relationship rather than some random customer support person every time.

Nachteile

Some of the editing and finer tuning options are lacking. (Example: not being able to rearrange line items on a bill or journal entry. You can only delete or add new to the bottom, no editing between without having to manually redo everything from the edit down.)

Vorteile

Very user friendly with tutorials handy at the click of your mouse.
I really like the fact that the marketing and advertising of vacant units is tied to the software. It makes it really streamlined when posting ads and managing pictures and changes to the market rents.

Nachteile

I do not like that you cannot customize the user individually. I came from Yardi and you could pick specific tasks that the employee could access. It is too generic when it comes to the user roles. Example: A leasing agent can post money but not close the deposit? Employees have too much access to information that should be confidential.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

Price was competitive. The main feature that impressed me was the able to streamline many features in one program such as processing background and rental apps, advertising, etc.

Vorteile

AppFolio provides almost all of our property management tasks. The software development team continues to respond to customer requests to enhance the application. It is very easy to use and navigate, and any questions I have are promptly answered by the support staff.

Nachteile

I would like to be able to have more than one owner email set up for Owner Portal, we have several owners that are partners who could benefit from this.

Vorteile

It is intuitive, it "finds" and owner, property, tenant, vendor, even an email with minimal keystrokes. I can start a function and "tab" it at the top to look at another bit of info and go right back to where I was. No needing to close and open and close and re-open like I had with previous software. It has a refresh tab so changes are immediately appreciated. Of course Cloud based software is critical to efficiency as your tenants will want to do what they can online themselves ! This saves data entry and phone calls. AND the support team is 2nd to none.

Nachteile

The Accounts Payable function is driven by whether there are enough funds available in a property to pay each bill. This is not a feature I use and would prefer to be able to select Payables in Vendor order rather than Property order. I would change the Journal Entry process to allow more than one property per JE. Same with "other receipts".

Vorteile

This product is always available if your internet is available. It does a good job for the cost of the software.

Nachteile

The limitations the software has made it the software to use until something else comes along. Appfolio could do much more if the developer was focused on what professional property managers need and not what the developers perceive they need. Features are not released fully functional to the point that rather than having one software solution for all tasks I need several software programs to get the job done. An example is the inspection program, it was a rush to the market and not really ready or usable for me. Another program must be used if I am to do a good job with digital inspections. Example 2 would be the limitations of the leasing module, my lease was written by a real estate attorney, but because of the lack of some fields needed in Appfolio, can't really use the option because of the time needed to hand massage the lease function to work. So an alternate solution is required.

Vorteile

Easy to use. The portal for our owners and renters is easy to understand. I love that it's always changing, that they listen to their customers and change and add features based upon customer feedback.

Nachteile

The service department has taken a nosedive. It use to be fast and thorough. Now, I sometimes have to follow up multiple times to get a response.

Vorteile

I love the universal search bar. The overall look is good. Customer support is quick.

Nachteile

I would like it if when we send bulk mailings/emails that our name isn't shown so that it is more generalized. Owners would like more flexibility with log in options. For instance we had an owner who didn't want to get texted a code and would prefer to be emailed. We were told if they have a number we can't offer that. The majority of our owners complain about the 2 verification methods necessary to log in to their portal. It would be great if there was an easier way to edit the owners as far as their percentages. Some owners make changes or incorrectly gave us their information. We then have to act as if its new ownership and that is difficult and messes up our dates. Bulk mailings to only tenants in certain cities would be nice to have. The activities alert would be good if we put in an activity and other could get that alert. A notes section under each form of contact would be great. Sometimes we have a family member who isn't the owner but helps and it would be great under both emails and phone numbers if we would be able to put in a note. It would be awesome if we can make small edits. Like adding a note box where we think it should go. (I know that is far fetched but I can put it on a "Wishlist". )

Vorteile

The software changes and updates frequently with the clients needs. This has been very helpful to me- 10 years ago the integration was awful and I had to go in and do it all by hand to correct errors. It has vastly improved and the willingness for change is great.

Nachteile

Integration but I really have nothing that is a blunt dislike at this point. Even the service techs are great.

Vorteile

Overall the program is cheaper and it can hold its own in most areas, except in the support area (in which it takes a dramatic leap off a cliff).

Nachteile

SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT. The program isnt great in the accounting area, however it would be tolerable if you could actually talk to someone about questions, and not wait for a solution to MAJOR problems like the ability to reconcile your accounts. Now take my review with a grain of salt, I am currently in a battle with AppFolio support team and have not been able to fix my accounts for 3 months, and have not gotten any emailed responses in 8 days. Dont even consider making those frustrated phone calls, because you cant... they only have "online chat" (which no one is online for) and emails that go unread for 8 days. And unreconciled accounts for 3 months!!! (insert picture of girl pulling out her hair)

Vorteile

It is easier to use than Yardi and I like that my monthly expense adjusts as my units go up and down versus a flat rate.

Nachteile

We paid extra for onboarding and were rushed through the entire process. We were given less than 30 hours to review a portfolio of data and were told that if we didn't approve it, we would have to start the process again. A lot of critical errors were uploaded, costing us time and money. Regret my decision to transition to AppFolio daily.

Vorteile

Very little down time with this online software. It's very easy to use and to train employees to use. There may be a feature they don't have, but I can't think of it.

Nachteile

The customer support has declined dramatically over the last couple of years as they moved to chat based from phone support. What you used to be able to accomplish in minutes now can take an hour. Also the initial sales contact was so bad that if I had not previously worked with Appfolio for years, I would have moved to another product.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Yardi Voyager und QuickBooks Online

Warum AppFolio Property Manager gewählt wurde

initially moved to Appfolio when another software company went out of business.

Gründe für den Wechsel zu AppFolio Property Manager

I had previously used Appfolio and it was far superior to my experience with several other software packages.

Vorteile

All information in one place
Ability to take online payments

Nachteile

Does not work great for HOA management. It seems like they sort of rebrand and rename the rental management features to pass them off as HOA management features.
They give you a lot of attention and promises while you are looking into their product. Once in, it is difficult to good customer service.
Emailing certain owner groups is frustrating.
Some features like letter templates are sort of cumbersome
Internal mailing feature is very unreliable.