AppFolio Property Manager Reviews

Overall ease of use. Accounting based, online rent payments, and ability to connect all areas of property management together.

When we first started with Appfolio they were very quick to respond to our customer service needs. Now, all you get is an email that directs you to watch videos or to online chat. When you have already exhausted those options and you need to speak to ANYONE, it is impossible! I have waited over a month for someone to call me back. By the time they call I have forgotten what I needed, or the details of the transaction I needed help with. They need to hire more customer service reps. When they do call you they are very friendly and knowledgeable, but they usually give you a few minutes and if you need help with someone else while you have them on the phone they tell you to make another request. Then, it's back to the WAIT game.

The system-wide search feature, ability to change dates & descriptions of items most of the time & expiration date on recurring JEs. So far, customer support has been great for me - very friendly & helpful.

-Reporting is awful. Columns can be added but report pdf process does not auto-adjust size to page, which means converting to Excel to adjust. There are reports that do not have totals so have to convert those, too.-The financial reports were inadequate, so had to "upgrade" Excel to use Connect Tool just to make the reports look like the ones in the old software.-Rent Roll does not show correct occupancy rate (based upon SF not units, obviously).-Tenants cannot choose what to pay via online portal which causes time-consuming reapps.-The Smart Scan feature disregards recurring invoices, which are at least 60% of invoices paid.-Credits are auto-applied so have to unapply those to provide tenants a stmt that shows the credit, which should be a setting option NOT default.-Modified Cash Basis is not an acctg method choice. -We were not allowed to choose how to set-up cash accounts & must have AF's assistance when transferring banks.-Basic fields are not programmed into the tenant's page. There should be a lease abstract form for comm tenants. We should have option to choose what type of tenant to pull up apropos fields (res, comm, ind, etc.) &/or choose fields to add to the tenant's page.-Items rvsd from tenant's account disappear. We should have option to show rvsd items, as with the GL. Instead, items have to be manually credited & limited to one credit per g/l code per date. So much time wasted w/all the credits required for hurricane dest, esp since AF auto-applies credits.

The ease of use. AppFolio makes every process seem simple. All of the information within AppFolio is easily searchable and our users don't need to be super tech savvy to use AppFolio with confidence.

We'd love to see AppFolio make a concerted effort to improve or add features for commercial properties like sales tracking/percentage rent billing. Even though the commercial property features aren't as robust as the residential features, I have no doubts that I will see these features in the future. AppFolio regularly releases new and improved features. They also maintain a robust user community wherein they take suggestions and let us know what suggestions are in the works.

One of my favorite things about this software is that I feel like Appfolio is growing with my company. The software has come so far in the last couple years with lots of new features. There have been multiple occasions where I have a problem and then in a couple days I get notified that Appfolio has created a solution to my problem. It is actually very weird but I don't believe in coincidences so I just right it off as a great partnership.

I wish that I could change the bank accounts that the properties use currently to a new one without having to work with someone at Appfolio.

I love how you can tie everything in from property to owner to tenant. You can click on the amount in any report to review a transaction. Attaching PDFs to the statements are fantastic. Communication is wonderful.

The finer accounting pieces. I would love to be able to run the balance sheet and click on Operating Cash to see what the balance of each bank account that makes up the Operating cash, then if I want to see by property, I could click on that total.

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.

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.

I like the customization of this software. It is ideal if you manage a variety of portfolios. The dashboard and tasks menu are placed well and easy to navigate. The software uses a tab feature that allows to easily work with different tasks at a time. Excellent reporting features. Great mobile app

HORRIBLE customer service. The software is extremely robust, which will normally be a good thing. However, with that comes a lot of questions. Unfortunately only 1 out of 5 agents can help you. Most issues will have to be advanced to a senior agent . Once that happens you will have to EMAIL what your issue is or wait anywhere from 3-7 days for a scheduled phone call. So if your issue is time sensitive you are simply out of luck. I am seasoned property management professional, and I have worked with many softwares. Appfolio, by far is one of the most difficult I have worked with. There is countless steps to complete
everything. Of course that allows for a lot of customization, but understand it takes a long time to learn it.

Additionally there are promised features that don't work well. For example text messaging. You can text within the software, but there is no push notification. So if you are not inside the software or checking you email constantly, you won't know someone sent a text. So Pointless!!!. That is just one of many.
There is reason there is no free trial and they bound you to a one year contract.

I love how easy it is to advertise our vacancies. Then the interested parties can schedule viewings and apply for the property right from our web site. Once we select a tenant, we can transfer all of their information from their application over to make them our active tenant with the click of a button. I love how easy it is for tenants to pay their rent online or at pay stations and it goes directly into our bank account and calculates the management fees.

The reports could be a little better. On multiple units, the reports don't break down the expenses by unit number very well. So, the owners aren't able to tell on their reports what a management fee charge was for because the charge isn't broken down by unit number. As a result, we get calls from upset owners and our accounting department has to create reports outside of the software to make sure the owners are satisfied. This takes extra time when the software could easily break down these expenses if it was programmed to do so. Our accounting department said that the bookkeeping side of the software could be better.

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.

I love how easy it is to use and that it's got everything integrated from inspections to maintenance to accounting to contract management. It also posts my listings to a bunch of websites automatically.

It was initially a perfect fit for our company. We wanted our website and property management software integrated and we loved the features such as the tenant portal etc. In the past couple of years, it seems that they are gearing themselves more toward large companies (1000+ units) as they are only making certain features available to their larger clients (i.e. Lisa AI / artificial intelligence secretary) despite having the technology already to accommodate all clients regardless of company size. Additionally, we paid a lofty website setup fee when we originally enrolled in the software in 2014. They charge anywhere from $1000-5000 to redesign the website and as of March 2021, they are forcing everyone to migrate their website over to a new design and imposing a monthly fee to host the website in addition the the regular monthly fee.

Easy to use and understand at the site level in most respects. Reporting to various owners is automated. Includes free on line payments for our residents.

The marketing of vacant units to various advertisers was a real plus but this has gone downhill since we originally adopted use of AppFolio.

AppFolio offers an extremely user-friendly operating interface which is easily "teachable" when onboarding new team members. Their common sense, logic-based approach to property management solutions and associated accounting is refreshing in this industry. They LISTEN to their users and don't just look for the easiest solution; they seek out the most EFFICIENT and EFFECTIVE solutions when developing new enhancements to the product. Improvements are developed at a robust pace with meaningful, ongoing upgrades coming out almost daily! I could not be more impressed with AppFolio as a perfect solution for our quickly-expanding company.

Honestly, there is nothing that concerns or upsets me about AppFolio as a solution for our day-to-day property management, leasing, maintenance, or accounting operations. It has allowed the company to grow by double in the number of units under management in only 3 years without having to substantially add to staff, except for the on-site physical maintenance needs of such a fast-growing portfolio of rental townhome units; which is to be expected.

It can be very user friendly if you invest the time to take advantage of what the system offers. It offers A LOT. When one thing doesn't work the way you want it to, it doesn't mean the system is bad. It is actually REALLY GOOD. It helps us encompass a lot of different platforms into one which was the main reason we chose it. We were pleasantly surprised how much we like using the software.

In our market, there are several items or tasks we need to perform or things we need to track that are often overlooked by property management software. Appfolio does know how to handle one task that is critical but it is not fully functional. When we choose the software, we thought because it was marketed as something that handled "NYC DHCR" leases but that's is misleading. As we were going live, we found out that it has limitations which resulted in us not being able to fully utilize in the way we thought we would. Once you discover things like this, it is quite difficult to get a total solution that is easy or quick available for use. This creates a real challenge and means we have to work around it but we want to be hopeful that we can help them continue to make advancements to fully handle the NYC market. In the meantime, we are stuck with challenges.

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.

There are several things that I like about this software. I think the top of my list is that there is so much functionality related to apartment leasing/management that is all integrated - basic general ledger accounting, tenant accounts receivable, screening applicants, online leasing, attachment of invoices, statements, agreements, etc to appropriate pages in AppFolio, vendor payments, owner payments, 1099's, financial reporting, etc, and on top of that, it's an online platform available from any computer or mobile device, live and up-to-date for all users.

Currently my biggest frustration is RUBS for utilities. The feature is set up in such a manner that we are unable to use it because it allocates costs to anything considered a "unit" which for us includes non-residents who lease a parking space. I have made sure that top management and the development team at AppFolio are aware of this flaw in the functionality of this feature, so I'm hopeful there will be a resolution.

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.