Online Rent Collection
I'd like to start a discussion regarding 2 different rent collection options. I'm comparing "Rent Payment Now" through ARPOLA to "eRentPayment". On the cover it appears that "eRentPayment" may be more cost effective with more features but I want to make sure I'm not missing something regarding "Rent Payment Now". Are you using a different option that may be better?
http://www.memberize.com/clubportal/ClubStatic.cfm?clubID=2923&pubmenuOptID=38872
https://www.erentpayment.com/managers.aspx
I recently switched from erentpayment to Buildium. There are more features, and it is less expensive if you have enough units. For just one or two units, erentpayment worked well and they were adding additional features over the summer before I stopped using that service.
Not sure how Paypals pricing would compare, but could easily set it up there and even have the option to make it an auto occurring subscription.
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Contractor
- Maxim Realtors
@Dick I have not used the other two services you are asking about but I use Trexglobal dot com and they charge me $3 per month per property. If you have 10+ properties I believe it drops to $1 per month. I hope that helps!
I have never heard if these sites, guys; can you explain the services, as opposed to doing simple direct deposit. I'm curious. Thanks.
Kyle Meyers I understand Kyle, I use Propertyware but don't dare implement the payment functions until I get out from under my broker. Sounds like you were happy with eRentPayment while you had it, how long did you use it?
David Niles I do currently use PayPal for a few but it's very expensive.
Kenneth E. Direct deposit works fine but keeps the tenant in control versus an automated system that you can control.
Originally posted by Dick Rosen:
Kyle Meyers I understand Kyle, I use Propertyware but don't dare implement the payment functions until I get out from under my broker. Sounds like you were happy with eRentPayment while you had it, how long did you use it?
I used the service for a year and a half. They have great customer service. I only left because the pricing gets high if you have more than a few payments each month.
I use erentpayment.com and am very happy with it. Haven't used any other services, so can't give a comparison.
I pulled together a matrix of 10 of these companies to compare their features. I never published it because I'm just not impressed. Too much cost and there are many other alternatives to handling cash payments, etc.
Still waiting to be impressed.
Al Williamson Costs involved are inevitable. What would be a reasonable cost structure to handle online payments in your opinion?
Also, have you found that most tenants don't have checking accounts?
I think it would benefit the tenants to encourage them to open a checking account. I just dont know how easy that would be to accomplish.
I'm fine with western union pmts that only cost them pennies. The onsite drop box and mail work fine for my situation. I understand that some tenants don't want to use the banks that's just were they are. as long as they pay on time, I'm happy.
That's just my situation.
There are two which we use and recommend can be used with or without QuickBooks and download details:
1. Intuit Payment Network: .50 cent for transactions https://ipn.intuit.com/
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How about credit card payments? Would you all be willing to take a tenant to pay by CC if there was a 2.9 +0.30c charge?
I started using WilliamPaid.com. This is a basic service. The tenant is in control of starting the payment and they can set up recurring payments and reminders, but I have no control if they do this.
As landlord, I find out from WilliamPaid by email when a payment was initiated, but it takes about 3-4 business days to appear on my checking account. At least I know it's coming.
The service is free to me. It is fee to the tenant as long as they linked it to a checking account or a savings account.
If the tenant wants to pay with cash, they can go to CVS or Walmart and make a payment there that goes through WilliamPaid.
If the tenant wants to pay with a credit card, WilliamPaid will charge them a surcharge that looks like about 4 or 5 percent.
I like that the tenant has multiple options and can even have Mom helping with the rent.
Room mates can also pay each other if they are splitting costs for utilities or rent. It seems like that is what the website was started for.
I have one person that writes out a check, scans it and emails it to me. I deposit into the bank from my home computer. Never set foot in a bank. Doesn't cost the person or me anything.
I have one tenant paying by "Chase Quickpay". Only one party needs a Chase account. No fees, just has standard ACH delays. Landlord has control with a "click to accept money" process, and then a nice record of accepted payments.
We're using VersaPay to handle online payments for our system (I'm at a rental property management startup.) Once you set up an account with them, it's a flat $1.50 fee for every transaction. The downside of using PayPal is that the fee is percentage based, which is not ideal for large rent payments.
Unfortunately VersaPay is only in Canada right now so we're looking at other options for United States users...seems like there's nothing perfect out there yet.
@Ben Bakhshi I would stay away from credit cards for the very reason I use them. Most if not all credit cards these days have very user friendly buy protection plans and I have seen them hold funds for bogus claims. I would not put it past them to freeze your account or withhold funds if one of their clients said, the stove stopped working and you wouldn't fix it. Doesn't matter if it was ever broken you still have to prove "their customer" was wrong or lying.
Lisa Kennelly:
Do you use Interac e-Transfers as all?
Most of our tenants pay via Interac e-Transfer ... we have two left with cheques and one who pays cash.
We looked at VersaPay, but with the e-transfer, the sender pays the service fee.
Roy N. VersaPay is basically the same as Interact - the sender still pays the service fee. VersaPay basically enables the bank to bank payments so it's a nice API for us to plug into that way.
Originally posted by Lisa Kennelly:
Roy N. VersaPay is basically the same as Interact - the sender still pays the service fee. VersaPay basically enables the bank to bank payments so it's a nice API for us to plug into that way.
I'll have another look at it as we are planning to launch a tenant portal this autumn and it would be nice to integrate.