Buildium for Residential Property Managers

In-Depth Review

Buildium has been a fixture in residential property management software since 2004. It targets third-party managers and self-managing landlords who need a single platform for the full operational cycle: leasing, rent collection, maintenance, accounting, and owner communication.

What Buildium Actually Does

The core value is consolidation. A manager running 80 residential units can handle tenant applications, lease signing, rent collection, work orders, owner distributions, and year-end 1099s without leaving the platform or subscribing to separate tools. The integrated general ledger is the most practical differentiator: payments post automatically to the correct ledger entries, owner statements generate in a few clicks, and 1099 filing is built in.

The owner portal is underrated. Owners can log in and see their statement, recent maintenance history, and current lease status without calling or emailing. For managers handling 20+ owners, this alone reduces inbound calls meaningfully.

Key Limitations to Know Before Signing Up

The maintenance workflow is functional but not sophisticated. Managers can accept requests, assign vendors, and track status. What they cannot do inside Buildium is pay vendors directly or route invoices through an approval workflow. That means a separate accounts payable process for any manager with significant vendor volume.

Per-unit pricing is the other friction point. Buildium’s base plans include up to 150 units. Above that, you pay per unit. For a portfolio growing toward 300 or 500 units, model the total annual cost carefully. AppFolio and Propertyware both have per-unit models as well, but the crossover point varies by feature needs.

Support quality warrants a note. Post-RealPage acquisition, multiple property managers in forums and review sites have reported longer wait times and less consistent responses. Factor this in if your team is not technically self-sufficient.

Who This Fits

Buildium works best for: third-party residential managers handling 10 to 500 units, managers currently on spreadsheets or outdated desktop software, and owner-operators who want professional-grade accounting without hiring a bookkeeper. It is not designed for commercial portfolios, HOA management at scale, or operators with complex maintenance cost tracking needs.

One Thing to Test Before Committing

Run a full owner distribution cycle during the trial. Create a few test units, record some income and expenses, and generate an owner statement and distribution. This is the workflow that makes or breaks accounting software for property managers, and it is easier to evaluate in practice than by reading feature lists.