The Benefits of Collecting Rent Payments Online

Megan Bullock / Apartments.com • July 16, 2021

It’s crucial to stay up to date with management techniques when owning and managing a rental property. There are tried and true methods of managing applications, payments, expenses, and maintenance requests, but why not make things easier on yourself by taking things online? There are significant benefits to managing your rental online, especially when it comes to ensuring your investment is financially successful. 

How to Collect Rent Online

There are different portals and websites you can use to collect rent online that allow tenants to pay rent and other fees by card or through their checking account. But wouldn’t it be simpler to manage everything in one place? When you list your rental property on Apartments.com, you’ll be given access to a full suite of rental management tools that assist with everything from receiving and approving applications online to processing online rent payments.

Once you have your account set up and have listed your property for rent, simply turn on applications and payments, meaning that you are now accepting applications and payments through Apartments.com. After you’ve approved an applicant (and have gone through tenant screening), you’ll create a resident profile for your tenant(s) using the information from their application. When completed, you can invite your new tenant to online payments. The tenant will already have their own account with Apartments.com that they used to apply to your property, so they will be notified of your invitation. You can set the monthly rent amount, select a grace period for late payments (if any), and choose the late fee amount.

The Pros of Online Rent Payments

There are many benefits of collecting and paying rent online for landlords and tenants.

It’s an easier, cost effective way to collect payments

Conveniently receive all payments securely online, without the need to chase down physical checks. Tenants can easily pay online through their checking account for free or pay with a debit or credit card for a 2.75 percent fee. Either way, there’s no additional cost for you as the landlord or property manager.

Tenants can make automatic payments

Tenants can also conveniently set up automatic payments, relieving you (and the tenant) of any stress related to late rent payments. In your rental management tools account, you’ll see all payments from your tenants in one place, including deposits (security, pet, etc.) and move-in costs. You’ll be able to check if tenants are up to date with payments or if they have any late fees or rent that are due.

We offer automated email reminders for late payments

If a tenant forgets to pay rent online, you don’t have to worry about sending them a reminder and contacting them directly. Automated email reminders from Apartments.com will reach tenants every month if they haven’t paid rent. If you include late fees with late rent payments, the late fees will already be included in the email and payment amount if rent is past due.

How to Track Expenses Online

If you’re accepting applications and collecting rent online, it will be beneficial to track your expenses in the same place. You can enter any expense that can be deducted with the IRS that relates to managing and maintaining your rental property. These IRS categories may include the costs of advertising, cleaning and maintenance, and depreciation. After you choose the category of the expense and the property it’s for, you can upload images or receipts to help you better document and keep track of your finances. Tracking your expenses through your account with Apartments.com will make tax preparation simple, and you can organize and track your rental property expenses from anywhere.

How to Analyze Financial Reports Online 

It’s important to understand how your rental business is doing, and a great way to do that is to download financial reports from your account with Apartments.com. These reports will allow you to track your profitability and ensure you aren’t holding onto debt. Checking these financial reports are a great way to quickly view whether your have been profitable this month or not. With our financial reports, you’ll have access to an income statement (also called a Profit and Loss Statement) that gives insight into rent revenue on your properties, a summary of expenses (available in CSV or PDF formats), and transaction history, where you can essentially export rent payments you received through Apartments.com as a CSV format on a specific property and time period.

 

By receiving applications and collecting rent online through Apartments.com, you open yourself up to a variety of rental management tools that will assist you in managing and maintaining your rental business and ensure its present and future success. 


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