The Best HOA Software
We’ve reviewed the top HOA software on the market for associations and property management businesses big and small. These platforms can help optimize your accounting, communication, and document management processes.
- Manages all property types
- Fully customizable
- Supports multiple currencies and over 100 countries
- Multiple forms of payment (credit card, direct debit)
- Easy community communication
- Great customer support
- Core package includes all property accounting features
- No minimum unit count
- Automated bookkeeping, collections, and payments
We’ve examined different products first-hand to rank the best HOA software. Our ratings take into account scalability, security, performance, and the range of features offered. Here are our top picks:
- DoorLoop: Best Overall
- Condo Control: Best Communication Tools
- Buildium: Best for Accounting
- AppFolio: Best for 50+ Units
- Yardi Breeze: Best for Mobile
- Wild Apricot: Best for Business Intelligence
DoorLoop - Best Overall
DoorLoop offers extensive coverage, spanning over 100 countries and supporting multiple currencies. A truly global solution, this property management platform is a good fit for those businesses that operate internationally or manage properties in diverse locations.
In addition to HOA and condo management, DoorLoop caters to various property types, including residential, commercial, student housing, and more. Top features include rent collection automation, maintenance request administration, and prospective tenant management.
There are multiple per-unit pricing plans to meet the needs of different sized organizations. DoorLoop’s commitment to user feedback and continuous improvement, coupled with this flat monthly fee structure, makes it a strong contender for real estate businesses seeking a scalable system for managing properties worldwide.
Condo Control - Best Communication Tools
Condo Control’s communication module allows HOA management to engage with their members and fosters transparency. You can create customized announcements and newsletters directly from the system. From there, quickly send them to every member via text or email. This helps you send urgent messages timely to notify the entire community of upcoming events, obligations, or future expenditures.
Additionally, Condo Control’s discussion forum lets residents share their thoughts on the HOA. As an admin, you can screen forum posts to create a safe space for all members to express opinions, generate ideas, and better connect with fellow residents. You can even post classified ads, eliminating the need for a physical bulletin board for you to promote local businesses or coordinate events. These allow your community to build connections with each other and become more involved.
Unfortunately, Condo Control’s pricing is not listed publicly, so businesses will need a quote for exact figures. One drawback to its feature set is its lack of accounting. While it has some financial management tools like online payments and purchase order generation, you’ll need to integrate a third-party system like QuickBooks Online. Those looking for built-in functionality may opt for Buildium as an alternative.
Buildium - Best for Accounting
The cloud-based Buildium offers property management capabilities that span over 50 countries, making it a global solution for businesses with diverse property portfolios, including residential, commercial, student housing, affordable housing, and community associations. Buildium even provides a free customizable marketing website, a valuable asset for showcasing property listings and attracting tenants.
One of Buildium’s standout features for HOA and condo boards is its purpose-built accounting tools, which simplify financial management for each property or association. Accounting tools like automated bookkeeping, collections, and 1099 reporting make it especially appealing to larger rental management companies.
AppFolio - Best for 50+ Units
What sets AppFolio apart is its rich feature set, which caters to property management companies managing anywhere from 50 to thousands of properties. Notably, it offers an AI leasing assistant named “Lisa,” which streamlines lead management, prequalification, and scheduling showings. This AI-driven tool enhances operational efficiency and occupancy rates, making it an attractive solution for businesses with large property portfolios.
AppFolio’s integration capabilities and workflow management features elevate automation and streamline property management tasks. Additionally, it caters primarily to companies with 50 or more units, which might not make it a perfect fit for smaller enterprises.
Yardi Breeze - Best for Mobile
Yardi Breeze offers user-friendly, mobile-friendly, and comprehensive property management features. This solution covers a wide range of types, including condo, affordable, and manufactured housing, making it versatile for various property management needs.
Yardi Breeze includes an integrated suite of tools that encompass property marketing, applicant screening, resident insurance, online payments, and portals for applicants, residents, tenants, and owners. This level of automation allows property management companies to manage marketing, leasing, accounting, and operations efficiently, making it a valuable asset for HOAs looking to enhance their operational efficiency. Pricing starts at just $1 per unit per month for residential properties.
Wild Apricot - Best for Business Intelligence
Designed to cater to small associations and nonprofit organizations, Wild Apricot is a user-friendly web-based platform that helps HOA organizations efficiently handle membership management, event registration, and website creation.
Whether your HOA has just a few members or contacts or a larger membership base, Wild Apricot can accommodate your needs, with support for organizations of all sizes, even up to 15,000 members. Additionally, the availability of volume discount rates for multiple accounts is a significant advantage for organizations with multiple chapters or branches.
What is HOA Software?
HOA software allows homeowner associations to collect dues and fines, maintain HOA documents, manage maintenance requests, and communicate with residents. These systems automate billing and payment processing, ensuring the association has funds for maintenance or improvements for common areas like pools, community clubhouses, and parks. The system will also track maintenance requests and work order status for these amenities.
Homeowners association software keeps important documents organized. These documents can include resident-specific documents including violation notices and images associated with those violations. Documents that apply generally to the association as a whole are also stored and organized within the system. Some of these association documents include the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs), liability insurance, bylaws, articles of incorporations, and documentation of federal and state regulations.
Most HOA management systems either feature a custom website builder or integrate with your HOA website. This typically gives your board members and homeowners a web portal to manage their accounts, track real-time maintenance status, and make online payments. Some systems provide members and residents with a community board, allowing users to message the community with upcoming events, safety concerns, and other important information for the neighborhood.
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Invoicing | Send invoices to collect dues, fines, or other charges. Automatically apply late fees as needed. |
| Payment Processing | Accept payments online via credit cards, e-checks, ACH transfers, and integrated payment providers. Allow residents to set up automated payments. |
| Document Management | Store and maintain HOA documents including CC&Rs, bylaws, articles of incorporation, and other regulatory documents. |
| Financial Management | Track income from payments, outstanding invoices from dues or fees, as well as expenses. Real-time financial reporting gives you a better idea of your financial standing. |
| Work Order Management | Accept maintenance requests, assign service requests to specific personnel, set work order status, and monitor progress. Typically for common areas/amenities including clubhouses, parks, tennis courts, and pools. |
| HOA Website Builder | Create an HOA or community website with an online portal for rent collection, amenity booking, event management, service requests, and more. |
| Communication Tools | Improve member communication throughout your residential community. Send automated or custom text messages, e-mails, and paper mail for community updates, news, payments, HOA violations, and more. |
Benefits
Some benefits of HOA software include:
Streamline HOA Violation Management Processes
Homeowners association software helps manage and track HOA violations. With cloud-based software or mobile apps, association members are able to photograph violations and upload the evidence directly to the resident’s profile. The member can then assign a CC&R code that outlines the details of the restriction violation, the date of the violation, the due date for rectifying the issue, and any related fines. Violation notices can then be automatically emailed or mailed to the resident.
HOA software also tracks the status of the corrections done to rectify the issue. If proper corrections aren’t made by the due date, additional fees may be applied. Liens may also be applied if the issue is ongoing.
Automate Billing and Payment Processing
HOA management software is also used to send invoices and process payments online. The system will automate billing for regular HOA dues. Homeowners can log into the website portal to set up recurring or one-time payments. Late fees will automatically be applied to the owner’s profile as needed. Owners will also be able to pay any HOA fines that have been incurred through the portal.
HOA systems allow board members to pull reports on payments made, overdue dues payments, and revenue. Being able to track income accurately allows board members to plan maintenance and upgrade budgets for community resources. The system will also allow you to calculate HOA dues increases to pay for large projects in the future.
Keep HOA Documents Organized
HOA software makes it easy to store, find, and update all documents that are important for the association. Some of these documents include:
- CC&Rs: list of rules, limitations, and requirements designed to maintain property value.
- Bylaws: outlines of how the HOA can be run and procedures for the HOA to follow including budgeting, voting in board members, enforcement of CC&Rs, and HOA meeting guidelines.
- Liability Insurance: policy information that covers property damage, injuries, and theft at HOA owned property.
- Federal and State Regulation Documents: regulations of how an HOA can be run on a state or federal level. Often includes anti-discrimination rules and debt collection regulations. Regulations may vary by state.
- HOA Board Meeting Minutes: official records of board meeting topics discussed and actions taken during the meeting.
- Violation Templates and Notices: describes the HOA violations and associated fees based on CC&R codes.
- Articles of Incorporation: a legal document that includes information about the HOA including the name, address, and purpose of the HOA.
Can QuickBooks be Used for HOA Management?
QuickBooks accounting software offers HOA and condo boards a user-friendly interface for handling organizational finances. However, it lacks many of the critical features found in property management solutions. For instance, it has tools for invoicing and even payment processing, but it lacks any form of tenant communication, automated rent collection, or maintenance requests.
