AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

I liked the leasing area as it tracks just about everything inluding Insurance for the tenants.

Cons

Customer Service is not readily available. Your problems have to wait usually and they do not have every situation in their help files.

Pros

AppFolio is by far the easiest property software to use. They are also always improving the user experience

Cons

There are some very small items that are annoyances, but not even close to a deal breaker

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing AppFolio Property Manager

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

Tailored well for single family property management.

Cons

Not built for multi-family needs. No process at all for historical data. Implemenation of products has been poor.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing AppFolio Property Manager

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

None there is nothing positive I can say about AppFolio and that should tell you something. Use a pen and paper is easier and more efficient than their software.

Cons

Everything...Zero support, horrible interface, useless AI. If you want to talk to a human it'll take you about a week (if they even call at all) and you get a whole 15 minutes with them

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

I love the constant addition of new features. The ability for owners and tenants to have their own portals is fantastic. Tenants can pay online and set up recurring payments, which enhances convenience and efficiency for everyone involved.

Cons

While I appreciate the continuous addition of new features and the convenience of automated processes, the lack of quick human response can be frustrating. Additionally, the vacancy advertising link is also quite frustrating to use.

Pros

Easy to read landlord statements, able to accept electronic payments, and vendor management as well as processing work orders.

Cons

No complaints, my landlords preferred this software over our original one.

Pros

Worked for tracking jobs and getting job details and descriptions.

Cons

Was not as easy to use as other apps I have used.

Pros

What I appreciate most about AppFolio is how intuitive and easy it is to navigate the system.

Cons

At the moment, I honestly can’t think of any significant drawbacks or areas where the system falls short. Everything has been running smoothly so far.

Pros

I personally use this at my place of residence and it's very useful in getting my rent paid.

Cons

Not any dislikes regarding this app, I like it.

Pros

The ease of use for AppFolio is second to none. From an end user standpoint this was very user friendly.

Cons

AppFolio sometimes didn’t show the documents needed through the application.

Pros

It is very user friendly. It has great features and easy reporting.

Cons

The compliance feature is non usable as it is extremely out of date.

Pros

Cloud based software and a tenant portal--which did not work for us.

Cons

The customer service is the worst I have ever seen with common wait times a week to schedule help via Zoom.
The tenant portal is 100% for residential management. We are commercial based and told during demos we could make changes. Once we signed up, the story changed and we couldn't make changes. Apparently, AppFolio thinks it is ok for a commercial tenant to have a roof leak in their bedroom, living room, kitchen or basement.
Reporting and Bulk reporting definitely need to have some changes made as well.

Pros

I like the proper management of multiple assets any individual can have. The dashboard they provide is simpler, readable and effective

Cons

Costing is high for some paid features, which are free on similar platforms

Pros

I like how everything that I need is one platform. I don’t have to have another software running to complete my job duties. I can find car information, pet information, make letters, send mass emails, send emails to certain unit types and more.

Cons

I wish I could text certain units by the unit groups like you can with the emails. Let’s face it; most people will ignore an email but they will read that text. Emails get lost in the daily shuffle. Another improvement I recommend is a drop down to select if a pet is an ESA or Service Animal so you can go into reports and just pull it right up.

Pros

The database search function. The ability to search all categories whether they be owners, tenants, vendors, work orders, etc via the database search.

Cons

1) No focus on single family managers. New features seem to always be geared toward multi family.
2) Very poor to no customer service. Our business moves very quickly and when we have a problem we need answers quickly. There is never anyone to speak with directly at the company. They seem very proud of their bots and databases but that is no substitute for live customer service.

Pros

not so many pros as there are cons.......

Cons

not many beneficial parts to it to help run a business

Pros

User-Friendly Interface,Comprehensive Property Management Tools: AppFolio offers a wide range of tools and functionalities that cover every aspect of property management

Cons

while AppFolio Property Manager offers many benefits and features, it's essential for potential users to consider these drawbacks and evaluate whether they align with their specific needs and preferences

Pros

It's truly a great tool for property managers and landlords to stay on the same page and for landlords to stay in control of their properties. It works seamlessly for all three parties - tenants, property managers, and landlords.

Cons

If a landlord wants to share information from AppFolio Property Manager with others, like in the case that the landlord wants to sell the property and use a real estate agent who is not their property manager, the landlord, as a non-administrator has a hard time doing so.

Pros

Easy to use and get what I need right away.

Cons

I don’t have many things that I think are bad

Pros

Convenient software for both leasing and some accounting

Cons

Easy to use, good options for Tenants to pay and to keep their account in check

Pros

I like that is it a very easy way to pay rent and put in maintenance request

Cons

Sometimes it logs in as property manager and not as the person that is renting

Pros

The overall user experience is really simple. Pretty intuitive with some accessibility forgiveness for less technical users. The mobile app is also a really awesome feature that works really well.

Cons

Our company is relatively new to using AppFolio, so it's hard to be 100% sure if some of the frustrations are just inexperience at this point. I would say that I thought the onboarding process was really clean and mapped out for the customer. After the conversion the process is a little lacking. Every staff member we've interacted with has been amazing, but the first 30 days of use really could use some additional support. We did have a data hang up which could have played a part in, what feels, like not enough support for those first 30 days but I still think it would be nice to have the ability to access additional support.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

Property Management is good, but not great

Cons

There is absolutely no customer support beyond "watch the video" That being said, there are very good videos at the most basic level so you can get up and running quickly. But if you want to be a master its on you, crickets when you reach out to muliple customer support people.

Pros

The streamlined processes, from tenant communication to financial tracking, enhance overall efficiency. Additionally, the robust reporting tools provide valuable insights into property performance.

Cons

Occasionally, customer support response times could be faster for immediate issue resolution.

Pros

The ease of using this is great. If they find a better way of charging what they do to use it would be even better

Cons

The charging of using it is nuts. When you pay what you do now for rent

Pros

It's useful and is pact with all of the bells and whistles

Cons

Just about every part of the user experience makes me wish we had never switched to Appfolio. Their customer service is so bad, it's legendary. They are the poster child for American corporate greed.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

Having everything within a click away, all the property, owner and resident information is perfectly organized to be found easily. AppFolio help is also extremely useful whenever a process is not clear, and RealmX is a time saver!

Cons

I don't dislike anything about the system, it's a very complete software that only keeps getting better. Unfortunately I don't have another point of comparison, but I definitely have no complaints about it.

Pros

Initially, AppFolio offered a user-friendly interface with features that helped streamline property management tasks like tracking maintenance requests and handling tenant communications efficiently.

Cons

AppFolio suddenly stopped allowing us to accept credit card payments from tenants without any prior notice or explanation. This caused major disruptions in our operations and inconvenienced our tenants. The lack of communication and support from their customer service made the situation even more frustrating.

Pros

Appfolio is ubiquitous and versatile in its uses, and its design is easy to figure out and navigate. I most frequently used it for keeping track of rent payments, communications with tenants, track/generate/sign leases, and for tenants to use its tenant portal.

We liked that tenants were able to pay their rent at 7-11. Surprisingly, a high percentage of tenants opted to do this as opposed to setting up payments via credit card on their tenant portal.

The software itself ran smoothly, had no shortages or timeouts in the 6 years we used it, and didn't take up a lot of memory to run on our computers. We liked the phone app as well.

Cons

The company I worked for did not use the banking and accounting elements of the software to their full potential, due difficulties with the owners using Plaid via Appfolio to connect to their bank accounts, as well as privacy concerns with other owners who used the software as well. This made accounting/reconciliation difficult.

The cost of the software is what ultimately lead us to decide to go with a different property management software. We could get all the same functionalities except two , plus more privacy, for 2/3 of the cost with a different property management software.

One thing we really like about our new software that Appfolio doesn't have is the ability to sign documents besides the lease within a Docusign subplatform within the software, which is a feature we really like and will use extensively in our new property management software.

Pros

Ease of use for the property manager, owners, and tenants.

Cons

No API integration. Customer support has been weak, but improving.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

Being able to market specific units by adding videos/ photos and an auto generated marketing description based on tags added to each individual unit based on its own unique floorplan

Cons

Sometimes different financial reports do not speak to each other so one report can be misleading from the other

Pros

Daily functions as a property manager with placing work orders, entering rent checks, lease renewals and sending tenant online forms to electronically to sign. All of these tasks save time & are efficient being available as online options. This even is convenient for prospective tenants coming from out of state.

Cons

The unit transfer functions could be more seamless. When a resident is moving apartments within the property, the charges and credits/payments often have to be carefully reviewed when completing a transfer to make sure the new unit's tenant ledger is correct.

Pros

the layout is bright and easy to use, and it makes it convenient to make payments and keep track of them.

Cons

Very basic looking and I cant seem to get emails from it , like setting reminders if that is even a feature. Also, it tends to put NOT YET DUE amounts as due amounts and that can be confusing and alarming.

Pros

AppFolio allows me to access my tenants and their information with a click of a button. It keeps all data about my tenant at my fingertips and also allows them to know what is going on with their lease, rent amounts, work orders, and other tasks they or I need to complete to keep our relationship working the best.

Cons

I wish that the tenant's application would stay with the tenant as the entire process progresses. When a person no longer is an applicant, but becomes a tenant and moves in, that application is stored elsewhere in the system. It would be more helpful to have the application stay with that new move-in. The application is always needed for legal issues. The system makes it easy to find but it seems it would be better served to stay within the entire process of the new move-in.

Pros

I enjoy that appfolio puts the applications all in one spot with the order that they came in. It is very easy to use and locate the applications.

Cons

Occasionally the applications download and the full application does show up, so you have to go to a different section and get the application info that is all in different spots.

Pros

One of the standout features of AppFolio is its simplicity. It doesn't overwhelm you with unnecessary complexities but still offers all the essential tools needed for effective property management. Everything is streamlined and straightforward.

Cons

One thing AppFolio can improve on is when saving a file or document, if you upload the wrong document, it doesn't allow you to delete it. You need to have access to delete it.

Pros

I love that Appfolio is so user friendly! It is a streamlined process for workflow. The smart bill entry is a game changer! We have used Appfolio for years, and we love it! It continues to grow and add features that are huge benefits to us! I love that it is an online based software so I can work from wherever I am!

Cons

Rent can only be processed on a monthly basis and we have to run ours weekly, so we have to do some of that by hand.

Pros

AppFolio Property Manager has been a reliable and easy to use property management solution.
AppFolio Property Manager has friendly features.

Cons

AppFolio Property Manager is a flawless tool.
No dislikes about AppFolio Property Manager.

Pros

appfolio helps track everything is one place

Cons

sometimes difficulty in logging in but as long as you change the portal view it should work fine

Pros

The financial part was amazing if you put the numbers in the right area.

Cons

I needed extra training to get everything up and running. There were two of us trying to learn how to work the program. We lost time in managing our other 93 doors trying to learn this system for managing 250 doors of private student housing for The University of Arizona.

Pros

easy to make payments directly from my bank account

Cons

could be difficult to get a response from their contact people

Pros

Love having one platform for all things property management! Owners, tenants and vendors all using the same software!

Cons

I don't particularly care for the chat option of customer service. It is not as personal.

Pros

AppFolio simply works. Or should I say that it works simply. Whenever you're purchasing software the folks that are in charge of selling it will always tell you all the things that it can do. If I lined up at folio side by side next to various other property management software that I've used they all would check the boxes of doing all the things that you need them to do. However from using many of the different providers and have folio I can tell you that when our team turned on that folio it was far less training because everything just simply made sense. The screens look nice the reports made sense the dashboards made sense the flows were simple and easy to understand. It's very difficult to understand this type of nuance when buying software so I can only tell you that our experience was extremely smooth and running this especially when compared to using the competitors that we had done previously.

Cons

Personally I find some of the accounting functionality to be a little bit challenging but that could be simply a part of me not being an accountant.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing AppFolio Property Manager

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

Our reason to switch to Appfolio was the ability to perform the accounting within the same software than the property management.

Cons

That there is no a phone number I can dial for assistance.

Pros

Overall the system is user friendly and has good tutorial videos.

Cons

Online portal options not available to choose authentication.

Pros

Modern, user-friendly interface
Mobile app for on-the-go management
Comprehensive feature set
Strong customer support
Regular updates and improvements

Cons

Can be expensive for smaller portfolios
Some advanced features have additional costs
May be overly complex for very small landlords
Limited customization options

Pros

Like the website they built for us that integrates with the software.

Cons

Software is ok but very unhappy with their business practices so far. We switched around 1000 units to them a year ago. One of the selling points for us was that they promised no charge to our tenants for ACH payments. We even signed a 2 year contract to "lock in" our price. Not even a year into that contract we were told that we can either begin paying $1 per unit per month to continue to offer our tenants free ACH or pass it on to them to pay a fee every time they pay online. We have made complaints and even had our lawyer contact them and all they have responded is that they will run it up the flag pole. We are definitely looking at switching companies as soon as we find the right fit.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing AppFolio Property Manager

Reasons for Switching to AppFolio Property Manager

Pros

All of my lease documents are located in one place. I also like how you have the ability to communicate with your land lord and submit maintenance requests through the app.

Cons

It will automatically set payment to whatever card you have linked to the account. Paying rent with a card comes with fees. They do have to option to link bank account but just make sure to double check which option is selected before proceeding with payment.

Pros

I'm able to efficiently handle the properties I manage.

Cons

Pop ups- I'm busy, I don't need pop ups about how much I like the program, would I recommend, etc.

Pros

I am able to use this easily to guide my tenants

Cons

There is nothing that I dislike about Appfolio