As a landlord who manages my own properties, I have to keep track of each tenant and coordinate each property’s maintenance. Previously, I had leases in my Google Drive and had a to-do list when it came to property maintenance. As I started getting new tenants, I needed to find a digital solution that could allow me to efficiently manage my properties all in one place and one that is also cost-effective. After testing several property management tools, I decided on Avail.

Avail: Overview
Avail, part of Realtor.com, is an online property management platform that provides DIY landlords and property managers with tools for managing rental properties, including tenant screening, lease creation, rent collection, maintenance requests, and accounting. The platform is designed to simplify the rental management process in a single platform and ultimately, save time for property owners like me.
Avail offers tools, support, and education for new and experienced landlords. The platform itself is user-friendly and easy to use. It has become a crucial part of my techstack for real estate investing as it saves me time managing my properties rather than causing me to spend more time on them!
Key Features
Rental Listing
Avail makes marketing your rental property easy! Once a rental property listing is created and ready to advertise, Avail will automatically syndicate your rental listing to the top rental listing sites like Redfin, Realtor.com, Zumper, Rentable, etc. for free so you can get tenant leads and generate maximum interest!

Through your Avail listing, you can manage leads by responding to potential tenants, ask pre-screening questions, and can directly schedule showings on the platform to streamline operations. Putting a rental property listing on the market with Avail is the best experience I’ve had as a landlord!
Online Rental Application and Tenant Screening
As a landlord, you must vet your tenants prior to giving them a lease to sign or you’re asking for future problems. Screening for tenants is quite different from screening for short-term renters for AirBnB. Not only do you need to verify your potential tenant’s employment and credit score, but you also need to conduct a criminal background and eviction history check. This helps landlords make informed decisions about who to rent to and reduces the risk of renting to troubled tenants who may have a history of missing rent payments or damaging property.

Previously, I used TransUnion’s tenant screening tool so I was pleased to learn that Avail partnered with TransUnion to provide these reports through their tenant application feature. The tenant receives the online application and will be directed to pay for the reports from TransUnion which makes it much easier to manage your applications.
Lease Agreement
Previously, I had to search for lease templates on the internet to find one suitable for my rental property. However, Avail takes it to the next level by offering lawyer-approved state-specific leases that include disclosures and attachments to remain compliant with local ordinances. It has never been easier to be a DIY landlord!

Lease agreements can be created and customized directly on Avail, where your new tenants can be invited to digitally sign for a seamless process. Once signed, Avail will send a copy to the tenant and landlord for record keeping and Avail will store a copy in your account so you can keep record of all your lease agreements in one place.
Rent Collection
Another useful feature of Avail is its rent collection tools. The platform allows landlords to easily collect rent payments from tenants online, eliminating the need for paper checks and manual tracking. This simplifies the rent collection process and reduces the risk of late or missed payments.

Payment methods include bank account transfers and debit/credit cards. Both methods include a fee of $2.50 per ACH transfer and 3.5% for each payment respectively. The ACH transfer fee of $2.50 can be waived if you’re signed up for the Unlimited Plus plan, which costs $5/listing per month and comes with faster payment and the waived ACH transfer fee.
Tenants are able to schedule their rent payments online and can schedule for auto-payments so that they never incur a late fee. If the tenant doesn’t pay on time, late fees are automatically applied.
Maintenance Management
With Avail, tenants are able to submit maintenance requests directly from their tenant platform. Photos can be uploaded to the request, which can be tracked and managed by the landlord or property manager. Avail’s in-app messaging tool allows for direct communication on the platform and keeps a record of repair notes and costs. This helps ensure that maintenance issues are addressed promptly and tracked accordingly.
Property Accounting
One of Avail’s newest features includes property accounting to make bookkeeping easy! Bookkeeping is one of those tasks that landlords often leave till tax season. Fortunately, the software will automatically populate income and expenses logged through Avail making bookkeeping a lot easier!

Additional features in Avail’s property accounting tool include receipt uploads for any expenses logged through the dashboard and spreadsheet exports to share your properties’ transactions with your tax professional.
Final Words
Overall, Avail is an excellent comprehensive solution for managing rental properties and offers tons of features for free. Its user-friendly interface and useful features make it a great option for landlords and property managers who are looking to streamline their rental management process.
As someone who embraces technology, I love using new tools, especially if it’s FREE. As a landlord and investor, I want to continue streamlining my operations as my portfolio grows. One of the ways I do that is by using technology that serves as an all-in-one solution.
Avail truly is an all-in-one solution for property management. The design and functionality of the platform proves that Avail has the DIY landlord in mind when developing this end-to-end solution for landlords and property managers.
If you currently manage your properties with multiple systems or currently pay for a property management system, I strongly encourage every landlord to try using Avail. It’s hard to say no because it’s free!
I love that avail offers free services. Is it really completely free to use their leases and tenant screening? Wondering if they require you to collect rent through them? Because that 3.5% fee would add up quickly
Hey, great question! The tools can be made available for free to tenants if you elect to take up the charge or you can direct it to your tenant for the tenant screening. I always direct it to the tenant as part of the “application fee”. You do not have to use avail for rent collection unless you want it to be all on the platform. If you take Zelle, just input the transaction into your avail dashboard so it tracks your income. The 3.5% is only for credit cards which all platforms charge and ACH transfers are $2.50 which the tenant would pay for unless you’re on the Unlimited Plus plan which is $5/listing per month. I’m on the Unlimited Plan (free). Here’s a video on it: https://support.avail.co/hc/en-us/articles/4402484166555-Video-Demo-Fees-Tenants-Pay-to-Use-Avail
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