By its very nature, property management services include juggling a broad array of tasks and ensuring that they are done completed correctly and in a timely fashion. Further, unlike many other industries, sudden new “emergency’ situations frequently arise, which requires the preexisting schedule and prioritization to be shuffled around extensively.

Therefore it can come as no surprise that many property managers have found software programs specifically designed for this application extremely helpful. As is always the case when there is a variety of options available, almost everyone has their own favorites and swear by them, meaning that the “best” program is frequently determined by nothing more than the personal preferences of the person being asked.

At present there are more than one hundred and fifty different companies selling software packages that are advertised as being applicable to property management uses. Of these there are some that are only distantly related to property management and are being advertised incorrectly, but there are still more than a hundred legitimate property management software suites on the market today.

Applications can be found that specialize in particular types of property (multi-family residential, single-family residential, commercial, and retail property for example) and that can be run on any type of computer system; so the selection is truly enormous.

Further, since many of these software suites are quite expensive and many of the producers are less than enthusiastic about giving away free versions to reviewers, the amount of unbiased information available comparing these programs is limited.

So which program is best for you? First, and not uncommonly, your opinion may be utterly immaterial. Most of the large property management companies have their own preferred software programs that they use, so if you work for them you will be expected to learn their system and use it regardless of your opinion about its effectiveness.

Even if you are an independent property manager working directly for the property owner as opposed to through a property management company, you may still not have much say so in the matter. This is because frequently the property owner will have their own preference which they may or may not provide as part of the arrangement.

The idea here is that frequently this will give the property owner remote access to the system so they can see what the property manager is doing and be sure they are getting their money’s worth from the arrangement.

Assuming you do have some say so into the software program you will use – which is rather rare today – then it really is more or less a hit and miss type of process. Generally speaking, you want a software program that allows for a lot of amendment and modification, so that you can customize it to suit your own purposes.

Almost every property management assignment is unique and has its own particular issues and concerns that have to be taken tracked and scheduled, so having the option of customizing the software suite to meet your specific needs without having too much inapplicable screens and fields is important to ensuring the program serves its purpose of saving you time and energy.