How to manage a rental property yourself

Start with one reliable property record

Managing a rental yourself is less about remembering everything and more about keeping the same information in the same place. Begin with the property's name, address, rent amount and occupancy status. Keep the signed lease and any required certificates separately in a secure location; Rentaer is a management record, not a replacement for legal documents.

In Rentaer, open Properties and add your unit. Use a name you will recognize later, such as ‘Oak Street · Apartment 2’. If you manage several units, consistent names make payments and repair requests easier to match.

Connect the tenant and the billing schedule

Add the tenant's contact details in Tenants, select their property and record the lease dates. Set the bill day and notification day for the tenancy. The bill day defaults to 1 and the notification day to 7; both can be changed from 1 to 28.

For example, a tenancy billed on the 1st can use the 7th as its notification day. A notification day is only a scheduling field: invitation and reminder emails also require the sender-domain setup. Do not assume a saved date means an email has been delivered.

Make a small weekly review a habit

Check outstanding payments, confirm money received against your bank records, and review open maintenance requests. The dashboard brings the portfolio totals together, while the individual pages hold the details. Mark a payment paid only after confirming receipt; creating a bill does not collect money.

• Review unpaid rent and its due dates.
• Confirm occupancy and upcoming lease changes.
• Record new repairs with a priority and property.
• Resolve completed maintenance requests after checking the work.

Know where local rules take over

Deposit protection, notices, safety inspections, rent increases and entry rights depend on the jurisdiction and tenancy. Check your local housing authority before acting. These records can support your routine, but the app does not establish whether a lease clause or notice is legally valid.