AppFolio Property Manager vs. Buildium

We have 6 apartment buildings that we manage. Every month we were having to drive to each location to collect rent checks. Since using appfolio, we only have a couple of renters that still send in a paper check, the rest pay online, so we are ensuring that our renters are paying on time. Once we have an applicant apply, the old way was to take their scanned application, review, and then pay to have a background check conducted. Now, with appfolio, we are able to have them apply, sign off on the background check, and pay their deposit all in one shot. It has allowed our property managers to focus on other property items rather than conducting background checks.

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I'm very happy with the service provided via phone, to me that is the absolute largest draw. I also really appreciate the integrations Buildium offers. I mostly appreciate HappyCo, Petscreening, and Hunter Warfield. None of these are seamless in their communication with Buildium but it's still a vast improvement from having to have separate accounts from Buildium so overall, it is beneficial to our company

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• Prior to purchasing AppFolio Property Manager we used a texting app so we could mass text tenants. AppFolio allows us to text them by their unit along with their guarantors (if needed.) We use this feature daily. It is so convenient when we need to reach out residents quickly.
• The online payment system makes it easy for our commercial and residential tenants to make rental payments. The system has also lessened the work of out Account's manager since it's all in once place now and we do not have to enter payments into a separate system.
• Navigating AppFolio Property Manager is extremely easy. When we have new hire, it does take any time for them to become comfortable with the system. The main page dashboard makes it simple to get from point A to point B and beyond. The Search engine on AppFolio Property Manager is so efficient. You can search almost anything- phone number, first names, last names, addressed, license plate numbers to successfully find what you are needing.

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• It documents the date and time of all updates and communications, which are essential to the companys records.
• It allows external clients to communicate and stay in touch with our company, as well as access information.
• It serves as a large database for all of our customer and client information that is very user-friendly.

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• Customer support is horrendous. It can take weeks to get a live person on the phone and once you get someone, they typically will need to escalate your issue.
• If you have multiple bank accounts at different banks, the bill-paying feature has trouble properly defaulting to the right bank account.
• Multiple bank accounts also have issues tying incorrectly to the Cash section of the balance sheet.

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• Hello Sign has been a really rough transition and is not as user friendly as Adobe Sign.
• Customer service struggles to understand what is going on and you have to hang up and call to get someone else.
• Owner portal is lacking in my opinion.

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

I have used three property management softwares and know of others who have used additional softwares for managing properties. Buildium seems to be the best of all of them

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The system is so intuitive and easy to use. There’s almost nothing in the system that can’t be undone if you make a mistake. Important things also have their own tabs. It’s also easy to use from the resident side which is helpful for in a world where everyone is not tech-savvy.

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Overall, the system is good and getting better; however, different roll outs have caused the system to regress. Their latest bank automation rollout was a disaster and continues to be an issue. Since the upgrade, I have not been able to sync our bank and Buildium (download transactions).

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The few times that we have had training with AppFolio, they were SO helpful and quick to answer any questions we may have. Because of their promptness, it shows what a great product they have. If they were not able to figure something out, they would follow up with us within a few days or so, which is so important in a software program!

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

I have been able to get through to support immediately and they have been awesome in quickly resolving issues. More importantly, their communication when there is an issue which might take some time to resolve surfaces. Getting updates and resolution are critical.

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

I cannot rate this since I was not part of that process

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

This was our old program and it was not user friendly and very inefficient to use. We was never able to answer a question for an owner or a tenant very easily and many times we had to ask for them to let us call them back while we research their question because it was so difficult to maneuver in the program.

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

Appfolio is my favorite software, and they are constantly making improvements. Buildium is great if you don’t have a ton of property but is not as manageable for advanced accounting and resident information tracking. There are workarounds, but they do need to work on their ease of use for owners.

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info

• As far as positive impact, we are much more organized as a company as far as accounting, maintenance, and managing tenant issues. We are all on the same page and know where to find notes, emails, letters, information, etc... and can be more self-sufficient and self-directed. I think this is a major plus as far as business goes, as time is money. The more efficient you can be, the more time that is saved, the more money that's saved, period.
• I don't work in Accounting and I haven't had any discussions regarding negative impacts in regards to this program. However, we've been using this since 2013 and we're on our 6th year as a business and I've heard others in our organization saying how much AppFolio has improved over that short time and how it keeps getting more intuitive and better with time. At no point have our leaders considered getting rid of the program or implementing a different program.

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Independently Invited by TrustRadius

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• Buildium absolutely saves time. Having all of our management systems in one place is almost beyond a value at this point because it’s the basic requirement of running an effective property management company.

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Independently Invited by TrustRadius

A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info