Overview
Onboarding sets the tone. Do it right and you rarely hear about the resident again except on renewal. Do it wrong and you'll answer the same questions every week for a year.
Onboarding sets the tone. Do it right and you rarely hear about the resident again except on renewal. Do it wrong and you'll answer the same questions every week for a year.
Onboarding is done when the resident has the signed lease, has paid what is due, has a documented move-in inspection, is enrolled in the portal with autopay set, and knows the one channel to use for maintenance.
Onboarding sets the tone. Do it right and you rarely hear about the resident again except on renewal. Do it wrong and you'll answer the same questions every week for a year.
Almost every recurring question in the first year of a tenancy traces back to something that was never said on day one: where the trash goes, how to report a leak, who pays for water, when rent is late.
Answering those once, in writing, attached to the lease, is the difference between a tenancy you never think about and one that generates a call a week. The move-in inspection is the other half — photographs taken with the resident present are the only version of the unit's condition both sides agreed on.
1. Send the signed lease and any addenda for their records. 2. Collect deposits and first month's rent — split by category if your state requires. 3. Send the welcome email with utility instructions, package handling, quiet hours, and how to submit maintenance. 4. Conduct and photograph the move-in inspection with the resident. Store photos on the lease. 5. Enroll the resident in the portal and confirm autopay is set up. 6. Add emergency contacts to the resident record.
Every room wide, then close-ups of anything already damaged, plus appliance serial plates and meter readings. Missing photos are decided against the landlord at move-out, so over-shoot.
Yes. An inspection the resident acknowledged is worth far more at deposit time than one you completed alone.
Hold, itemize, and return security deposits according to state law — with the paper trail to prove it.
Base price is not what you pay. The hidden costs of property management software — add-ons, integrations, SMS, and staff time — and how to find them.
How add-on modules — screening, accounting, resident portals, websites — push the real price of property management software far above the base plan.
A practical path from a pile of single-purpose tools to one connected property management platform — without losing data or breaking workflows.
Draft a lease that captures the essentials, respects state law, and can be signed on a phone.
Renew a lease on time without turning it into an eviction risk.
$49/month includes 5 units, then per-unit pricing that drops as you grow. Optional modules are billed separately and must be added deliberately.
Try onboarding in Ayillo