It can be tough to keep track of all the paperwork and logistics involved in managing a rental property. That’s where rental property software comes in handy. With so many options available, which software is the best for your business?

In this blog post, we’ll compare 2 of the most popular options: SimplifyEm and Stessa. We’ll break down the features of each program and help you decide which one is right for you. 

Stessa overview

Stessa, a Roofstock company, is a cloud-based software that helps real estate investors profit through smart money management, automated income and expense tracking, online rent collection, property and tenant management, personalized financial reporting, and more.

The company was established in 2016 by 2 experienced real estate investors with 30 years of combined experience. Stessa was designed with the investor in mind to take care of monitoring and analyzing the details, so you can focus on other things. More than 100,000 investors already use Stessa to track over 250,000 properties with an estimated asset value of $60 billion.

Software features

• Track unlimited properties and portfolios of single-family, residential multifamily, and short-term rentals.
• Automate income and expense tracking by linking bank and mortgage accounts.
• Collect rent online with automated free Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments from tenants and convenient auto reminders using Stessa online rent collection.
• Get comprehensive performance dashboards at the portfolio and property levels.
• Access your portfolio from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
• Run unlimited monthly reports (income statement, net cash flow, capital expenses, and more).
• Use Stessa’s tenant screening services and free rental applications to find and select qualified tenants.
• Upload documents, tag it for digital signatures, and send it to tenants, vendors, partners, and others.
• Publishing a vacancy for rent and syndicate your listing across a variety of websites for maximum exposure to high quality tenants.
• Collaborate with partners, family, lenders, and buyers.
• Stessa employs the industry’s best security to protect your data.
• Organize and store all your real estate documents, invoices, and payment receipts.
• Track expenses on the go with the iOS and Android apps.
• Export tax-ready financials and access the Stessa Tax Center (makes tax time a breeze).
• Sign up for the Stessa newsletter and blog for real estate news that matters most for investors.

Pricing

The Stessa Essentials plan lets landlords use its primary features at no cost. Users can create as many properties and bank accounts as needed, generate unlimited financial reports, and export their transaction data to Excel as often as they like.

For access to more sophisticated features, Stessa’s tiered pricing structure offers a variety of features for different budgets and needs:

You can always start with the Essentials plan and upgrade to a paid plan as your portfolio expands and your needs evolve.

SimplifyEm overview

SimplifyEm is subscription-based rental property management software that aims to help investors save money, save time, and take the tedium out of managing properties.

The software has a full suite of services, including advertising vacancies, screening tenants, signing leases online, rent collection and maintenance, and financial and tax reporting. It can be used for an unlimited number of properties or units.

Pricing

SimplifyEm offers 8 different pricing plans, based on the number of units under management, and a free 15-day trial. All subscriptions include features such as income and expense tracking, detailed financial reports, and tenant and lease information management:

• P10: $25 a month for up to 10 units
• P20: $35 a month for up to 20 units
• P30: $45 a month for up to 30 units
• P50: $60 a month for up to 50 units
• P75: $75 a month for up to 75 units
• P100: $100 a month for up to 100 units
• P100+: Add increments of 10 units for an extra $8 a month for every 10 additional units
• P2000: $1,620 a month for up to 2,000 units

SimplifyEm also provides extra optional features, with prices varying based on the monthly subscription plan:

P10 to P30

For an additional $10 a month, receive:

• Communication history
• Tenant, owner, vendor document sharing
• Tenant, owner, vendor portals
• Manage bank accounts
• Manage tasks and work orders
• Manage subusers and access rights
• Automation: Property management fees, late fees, rent receipts, late rent notices, and owner reports
• Export to QuickBooks & Excel

Other extra paid features:

• Advertise vacancies: $3 for a listing
• Online rental applications: $3 per application
• Online lease form: $10 per form
• Online payments: starting at $1 per transaction
• Tenant screenings: starting at $19.95 per screening

P50 to P2000

Includes all of the above extra features at no additional charge, plus:

• Advertise vacancies
• Online rental applications

Other extra paid features:

• Online lease form: starting at $5 per form
• Online payments: starting at $1 per transaction
• Tenant screenings: starting at $19.95 per screening

Software features

• Comprehensive list of commonly overlooked write-offs
• Customized solutions to fit your needs
• Automatically recognize recurring income and expense items
• Track cash transactions and unexpected expenses
• Generate reports and analyze your cash flows
• Online rent collection
• Generate a Schedule E for free
• Manage tenant and lease information
• Automatic tenant billing and late payment notices
• Set up tenants to pay rent online
• Tenant portals for online access
• Attach, scan, and store unlimited documents

SimplifyEm vs. Stessa

The best rental property management software for you depends on your specific needs and preferences. To help you decide which one is right for you, here’s a comparison of SimplifyEm and Stessa, based on the essential features that many landlords use.

Listings

SimplifyEm will post your listings to Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, Craigslist, and many other websites to help you build an online presence and get tenants faster. If you have a website for your rental property business, SimplifyEm can provide a professional web page for each listing that you can share on your site.

Stessa does not include online listings, but rather allows landlords to select the rental listing websites that work best for them. Some of the most popular online listing sites for rental property are Zillow, Realtor.com, Apartments.com, Zumper, and Apartment List.

Tenant screening

SimplifyEm partners with TransUnion to provide tenant screening services for property managers and landlords. For $25, you can have a full tenant report viewable online within minutes. This comprehensive screening process includes credit, criminal, eviction, and income history reports. 

Stessa provides landlords with the ability to choose their own tenant screening options, rather than limiting user choice. Some of the most popular websites for screening tenants are TransUnion SmartMove, E-Renter, and RentPrep, a Roofstock company. Once a tenant is screened, you can store the rent application and screening reports in your Stessa account online for free. This allows for greater flexibility and convenience for both landlords and tenants.

Leasing

SimplifyEm provides lease agreement forms that meet the landlord-tenant laws of each state, plus other rental forms, including rental application, rental inspection, notice to vacate, and eviction notice. The cost of online lease forms ranges from $5 to $10 per form, depending on the monthly paid subscription plan.

Stessa does not offer an option for creating and signing leases online. However, once a lease is completed and signed by all parties, you can securely organize and store lease documents and other important paperwork online with Stessa’s free unlimited document storage.

Online rent collection

Stessa and SimplifyEm both offer online rent collection. Property owners can collect the monthly rent, plus one-time fees such as a security deposit, prorated rent, or late fees. Tenants can also set up an automatic rent payment to ensure the rent is paid on time.

SimplifyEm charges a minimum rent payment fee of $1 per transaction for ACH, credit card, and debit card payments. On the other hand, ACH rent payments with Stessa are free of charge.

Financial reporting

SimplifyEm provides a wide variety of financial reports that landlords need, including cash flow, income and expense, and tenant rent roll. If you have the monthly P10, P20, or P30 subscription plan, for $10 extra per month you can export transactions to QuickBooks and Excel. Or, subscribe to a higher priced monthly plan and download data at no extra charge.

Stessa provides a full range of financial reports for free, including an income statement, net-cash-flow and capital expense (CapEx) reports, tenant rent roll, real estate balance sheet with owner’s equity, and a Stessa Stress Test model to run various rent collection scenarios across your portfolio. After signing up for a free Stessa account, you can export your transactions data to Excel at any time for free.

Tax management

Both Stessa and SimplifyEm track income and expenses using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Schedule E categories to help make tax reporting more straightforward.

SimplifyEm has a built-in Schedule E form that you can print out as a PDF for free. When income and expenses are entered in, they are automatically categorized according to the IRS categories. The Stessa Tax Center is free for users and includes a personalized year-end tax package with an income statement, net-cash-flow report, and a ZIP file in a single email.

Stessa vs. SimplifyEm: How to choose the right option for you

Both companies offer similar features, but while Stessa is free, SimplifyEm offers 8 different monthly subscription plans ranging from $25 a month to $1,620 a month, depending on the number of units under management.

Stessa is a free platform that allows landlords to outsource services such as rental listings and tenant screening. By offering landlords a choice, Stessa can stay focused on providing the best online rent collection, reporting, and accounting tools for landlords. The software is ideal for real estate investors who own single-family rentals, small multifamily properties, short-term vacation rentals, and entire rental property portfolios.

*Stessa is not a bank. Stessa is a financial technology company. Stessa Essentials is a free service. Stessa Pro is a paid monthly subscription service.  Terms and conditions, features and pricing are subject to change. This article, and the Stessa Blog in general, is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is not investment, tax, financial planning, financial, legal, or real estate advice.