AppFolio Property Manager Erfahrungen

It’s robust yet easy to use, dependable, constantly evolving, their developers listen to their customer’s needs and if possible delivers, issues are handled quickly by their web based customer service team, and it’s affordable.

The layout of the property financial statements are subpar and difficult for our clients to understand; its not the best software choice to manage commercial or multi-family properties; it’s lack of customization

The software is definetly the right product. It is intuitive and very easy to use. Having used Yardi for 10+ years this product is simply outstanding. It is definitely not even close to what you can do in Yardi, but for 90% of what most of us do, it is allot easier and quicker then Yardi.

The company is suffering from a very bad support team. When they sell you the product it almost seems that these guys mastered the art of eSupport and you can solve problems with a click. This couldn't further from the truth. For most of the "how to" problems they are quick to respond and usually send you a quick article on how to. The problem becomes when you have a real problem, like late fees simply not posting the correct amounts at the wrong dates, or bank account balances don't add up...in general bigger problems call for a "we will put our head in the sand and hope it goes away" mentality.

Very user friendly with tutorials handy at the click of your mouse.
I really like the fact that the marketing and advertising of vacant units is tied to the software. It makes it really streamlined when posting ads and managing pictures and changes to the market rents.

I do not like that you cannot customize the user individually. I came from Yardi and you could pick specific tasks that the employee could access. It is too generic when it comes to the user roles. Example: A leasing agent can post money but not close the deposit? Employees have too much access to information that should be confidential.

Once I learned the program, Appfolio made the job easier. The owner statements were easy for my owners to understand. Love the ability to upload copy of invoices to owner statements, so they could see my deductions if there were any on the given month. This saved me time from answering calls from owners that had questions about the owner statement. The online features made it easy for Owners & Tenants to see everything related to their property.

Being a very small company it was a little more expensive than other programs out there. The learning curve was a bit tuff, but Help was always there to assist me if needed.

We were on a somewhat antiquated system, so improvement was easy to recognize. AppFolio does a lot of things well. It improved connection with residents AND our ability to have better records both for tenants and for staff (liability support/reduction), and much easier for staff to know what is happening across the board with any one resident or prospect. We are still learning! The transition was fast and friendly. Loved their tenant liability option.

1) OnBoarding was very tech-oriented and a challenge to adapt easily because staff is working on a calendar. I have some a-ha moments that i just couldn't get the OnBoarding team to understand (even though they were very capable folks) because in this tech world, it's either a or b, there is no c option. Well, later I'm finding the c option IS available.
2) They make frequent updates, and communicate them well. The challenge is working them into your schedule to understand so you can stay on top of them because your team will do the same---someone needs to know them.
3) Other updates seem to be in holding status for way too long, when they'd help users so much.
4) Our biggest complaint is AppFolio's unwillingness to work with other software integrations. They really cripple my ability by being so protective of.....whatever it is. Most other softwares integrate fine. They do so much so well, I feel like it's time to stop being so proprietary. That would change any element of dissatisfaction that I encounter. It appears so flexible, but it's not. The larger companies don't all want their screening or leases....so I still am running other programs which is a pain. Their system doesn't work for me (having a one stop shop for 'everyone' isn't realistic) in all areas as it seemed to in the beginning. So modify your expectations. I would have still purchased, but been happier with where i landed.

Easy to use for users of all skill and job levels. Makes tracking Receivables and Payables very simple. Constantly being updated and enhanced with new features at no new cost (some do cost but the majority are free updates) Customer support is always quick to help and respond. I feel like I get the same support agent 95% of the time, which makes it feel comfortable and like a working relationship rather than some random customer support person every time.

Some of the editing and finer tuning options are lacking. (Example: not being able to rearrange line items on a bill or journal entry. You can only delete or add new to the bottom, no editing between without having to manually redo everything from the edit down.)

Appfolio has not only a lot of functionality, but is easy to use across our entire organization. It has become the primary backbone of our property management business and we truly view Appfolio as a Partner, not a technology service provider.

Our primary critique with Appfolio is that they tend not to let other good real estate tech products plug into their software via API. In other words, they like to build new products/functions in-house instead of via partnership or integration. There are pros and cons, but in general I would like to see Appfolio play nicer with other prop tech products.

Easy to use web based software, includes apps for management and homeowner/tenant. AppFolio continues to make improvements and they appear, never an update on our end needed, love that since it is web based. Set up a vendor once to use across all condominium associations the vendor provides services for, good work order system and improvements made based on user feedback.

I would like the ability to modify the user level access myself, but that isn't a real problem, just a nicety. There needs to be the ability to create folders or directories to upload the condominium documents so they can be categorized, otherwise an owner needs to look through a significant amount of files. I understand that is in the works though.

It is easy to use for sure and support and on boarding was great.

The product is too slanted toward rentals or property management with one association. If you had 60 associations in a portfolio you have all your GL Accounts, Bank Accounts, Vendors all together. This is just good design from a functional stand point making customers name things to know the difference. You should keep things separated by Association. Weak design from a data structure point of view making it fit the small companies but not good for the larger portfolios.

It is user friendly and it makes sense! It allows you to edit and change where necessary, without a lot of headache. We all love AppFolio!

Conversions are always challenging, so that was probably the toughest part of the process when we changed from another software. Everyone was great though to work with and helping us get everything up and running.

Online rent payments, online maintenance requests, customizable reports, robust accounting features, dedicated support team, software is constantly evolving.

eCheck payments being returned as NSF when they shouldn't be, credit card payments are able to be cancelled months later after we've already given the money to the owner, owners aren't able to sign leases through their portal, steep learning curve.

I love that things are so well integrated. I have been with Chatel Real Estate for 7 years and we have been using Appfolio for the last 6 years. I appreciate all of the new features that you roll out and I'm super excited every time I see that little bubble at the top of my screen meaning something new has been added. Also, it's super nice that it's easy to use on the phone, I don't like the App. I only use it through my cell phones web browser but it works perfectly and I can get a ton of stuff done while visiting a building. I love that its a one stop shop for property management needs. I like being able to communicate with an entire building and record that information on unit owner pages. The key system is fantastic! We just started using it recently, and it has saved us so much time in addition to providing us with accurate records.

Prepayments on unit owner ledgers do not automatically apply to the next owners charge automatically. This makes the aged receivable detail look off which is annoying and clients complain about it. It's not a huge deal and its something we easily fix. I also wish the homeowner directory report had columns to add their tenant's information into it, instead of having to pull a renter directory and then an owner directory. Clients want just one spreadsheet not two! I wish you accepted AMEX for payments, I get a fair amount of compliants about it.

I do accounts payable, plus deal with Owners and basically put out little fires that arise. Since using Appfolio I have reduced my work load or should I say the time that is necessary to do my job. By being able to do ACH's and emailing and texting. End of month statements was reduced down to a few hours from 2 days. The world we live in now does a lot of texting and emailing and that is always nice to be able to do when you are slammed. More than 50% of my Owners are retired or semi retired and are older so I find that it is important to have that conversation with them over the phone for that personal relationship that they like. I am friends with a lot of my Owners even though I have never laid eyes on them. So we need to balance things for good PR.

I don't have many, and I am at a loss right now to specifically point any particular problem. It is those times when you run into a situation that you rarely do and have problem figuring it out. The instructions are not real clear. As example off the top of my head. I have a problem right now with my Diagnostic under the Non-Zero Security Clearing Account Balances. I think that I have done it correctly after following the instructions and then I find my diagnostic with a problem that I will need help from Appfolio with. Right now I haven't had the time to contact Appfolio to help me due to my own personal issues, medical, vacation etc.

Search function and integration with most online posting services is good. Staff is nice and try hard to answer your questions and navigate around limitations of the software. Unfortunately, they are overworked and the issues with the software (e.g. reporting and accounting primarily) make it very difficult for them to service their customers effectively. Mobile app is good (considering the accounting and reporting issues).

Accounting features are limited. Examples: Management Fees for non rent items (e.g. parking, storage, commercial rent) are deducted from income rather than calculated as an expense. It makes it look like you are hiding fees from owners. Option is to enter a series of JE's each month to correct.

Reporting capability is very poor: You can not set up batch reports that update monthly. You can set up owner reports, but, they do not necessarily update (e.g. prior month and YTD rolling). Extremely limited in formating reports. GL's for year are over 400 pages due to spacing and limited control on what to report. Example: P&L Options are only "Detail" or "Summary". Summary lumps all utilities into one line items and Detail prints "Non Posting" items.

Increased application fee cost within first year by 30% with virtually no notice and no options. Response was to "pass it on to your customers". I just received another notice 14 months after conversion that my web services fee was increasing 98%. Again, virtually no notice and no options.

Unfortunately, the staff is stretched so thin, I can not get a response to an issue logged over a week ago. I call daily, text and email. The response is: "We will expedite and prioritize. I will notify your case worker." Unfortunately, no call or email follows to help. I had to hire CPA's to force my financials to be accurate in order to get reports to my Federal Investor. Still waiting on that expedited call.....

The support staff is amazing. Responses are within 12 to 24 hrs and solutions are found or suggestions for the future improvements. Over the past 7 years I have watched with admiration as this program has blossomed, filling the needs of multiple users in detailed ways. I use AppFolio in two different accounting venues, one with a large property management company servicing over 1600 home rentals, the other with one owner handling his 325 apartment units. This program provides excellent adaptable reports for both aspects of a property management company and for one owner with multiple apartment complexes in all phases of financial accounting, rental reports and maintenance. AppFolio encourages all discussions between all users and the staff of AppFolio resulting in ongoing improvements and additional options within the program. To be quite honest, since my specialty is the accounting department, there are many parts of AppFolio that I have not had the privilege of really working with, but those that I have come across look to be as detailed and helpful as the accounting processes. The Help & Training section within the program is also evolving and very detailed in explaining how things work.

If I had to find something I didn't like it would be the constant change that requires me to think and be constantly attentive to the processes in the program. It seems that almost every week there is a subtle or large change that rocks me for a moment. It is frustrating at times to stop and relearn a process. But then to my amazement I am once again loving this program even more and all that it does to make my job easier. You can't use this program out of habit. It is always evolving for the better.