Many landlords love the income they get from their rentals but hate the business of managing their properties. Meanwhile, other people are interested in becoming a landlord but are concerned that it's too much work. That's where Rentometer (a free service to compare rent rates) and its advanced product, RentometerPro (an automated rental management system) are helping ease the work load for landlords.

"We're essentially acting as an impartial third party for both people [landlord and tenant] to interact in a really convenient way that is up to date with the times," says Allison Atsiknoudas, CEO of Rentometer.

Atsiknoudas says people who are interested in becoming landlords but also have some fear about the expense and cost of managing a property should note that there are simplified ways to manage your rental. "Now, there are options," says Atsiknoudas. "It's only been recently that there have been management solutions for people who own just a few units." That's good news for the approximately 90 percent of United States rental owners who each manage only a few rental properties.

"The tool Rentometer itself is a way to compare actual active rental rates for the market in a specific area. One of the things that we focus on is being able to present rent comparables in a very close proximity," says Atsiknoudas. For tenants, it allows them to compare how their current rent rate compares in their local neighborhood. They enter an address on the website and a free report is instantly generated by Rentometer.com.

"If you're an owner or a real estate professional and you wanted to find out what you might be charging these days for a vacancy, you enter the unit information and find out," says Atsiknoudas.

"A majority of our clients are individuals or small partnerships and those folks really own a majority of the rental property in the United States. Most of the people who fall in that category are people who are in an industry other than real estate and they're just managing some properties on the side—their own properties as long-term or mid-term investments for additional income," says Atsiknoudas. The Rentometer tool and the rental management service that is provided by the company help landlords manage their properties easier and without all the loads of paperwork that often accompanies rentals. "The one thing that these people have in common is that typically they're managing small portfolios. … between two and 35 units," says Atsiknoudas.

She says that most of these properties owner are in situations where they don't have large staffs (if any) to manage their rentals. So, they seek ways to simplify the process. "We have about 22 units in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The process of managing the rent and collecting the rent checks became pretty cumbersome," says landlord Matt Angerer.

He uses Rentometer's services to help manage his properties. "My tenants can now send their rent either directly to the processing facility that RentometerPro owns and operates in Rhode Island and, in turn, they will actually cash the checks and deposit them into my account, or my tenants can pay online via electronic fund transfer or they can pay with a credit card," explains Angerer. Here are a few other services offered by the company.

Creating rental forms. Rentometer and EZLandlordForms.com provide a way for landlords to use a forms builder to create their own documents for their rental properties. Landlords can find forms such as lease agreements, lease renewals, rental applications and even eviction notices on Rentometer.com.

Simplifying rent processing. "We do everything from the monthly invoicing of tenants, (both electronic and snail mail), to the acceptance of rents," she says. Atsiknoudas emphasizes that the company accepts all forms of payments from credit cards to paper checks.

Automated late reminders. The payments are automatically posted to the landlords accounting ledger and to the tenants account. "Part of our automated system is that if you have late payments, [it] automatically sends out friendly reminders to people to pay their rent," says Atsiknoudas.

Pricing starts at $7.99 per month for up to five units and increases for additional units with $50 a month buying unlimited access. "We'd like to be able to simplify management on every level," says Atsiknoudas.

Published: April 9, 2010

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Phoebe Chongchua is an award-winning journalist, an author, customer service trainer/speaker, and founder of Setting the Service Standard, a customer service training and consulting program offered by Live Fit Enterprises (LFE) based in San Diego, California. She is the publisher of Live Fit Magazine, an online publication that features information on real estate/finance, physical fitness, travel, and philanthropy. Her company, LFE, specializes in media services including marketing, PR, writing, commercials, corporate videos, customer service training, and keynotes & seminars. Visit her magazine website: www.LiveFitMagazine.com. Phoebe's articles, feature stories, and columns appear in various publications including The Coast News, Del Mar Village Voice, Rancho Santa Fe Review, and Today's Local News in San Diego, as well as numerous Internet sites. She holds a California real estate license. Phoebe worked for KGTV/10News in San Diego as a Newscaster, Reporter and Community Affairs Specialist for more than a decade. Phoebe's writing is also featured in Donald Trump's book: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying Foreclosures. She is the author of If the Trash Stinks, TAKE IT OUT! 14 Worriless Principles for Your Success. Contact Phoebe at (858) 259-3646 or . Visit PhoebeChongchua.com for more information.