RentPost aims to simplify rent for landlords and tenants

Newly launched rental-property startup RentPost has a simple goal: to bring the aging and overly complex category of property management software into the modern era of web apps.

RentPost helps landlords keep track of their properties, including rent collection and work orders, all in a slick online interface. And for tenants, it offers a way to pay rent online as well as a way to stay in touch with their landlords.

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Basically, it’s rent management the way we’ve always wanted it to be.

Rentpost’s online payment system is secure and hooks directly into landlord and tenant bank accounts. Landlords also have the option of accepting rent by credit card, as well as manually by check. The service handles the accounting end of all transactions and can spit out reports as you need them. Tenants can also set up automatic rent payment, and landlords can automatically add late fees and other charges.

Pricing for landlords starts at $9 a month for 15 rental units and goes up to $69 for unlimited units ($249 if they need custom branding). Rentpost charges a one-time online rent collection fee of $25, and tenants are charged a mere $1 for every payment.

The Athens, Georgia-based company will likely find success in other college towns where young renters are used to paying for everything online. Personally, the only reason I ever write checks is for rent, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. For me, PayPal and online bank transfers have mostly erased the need to rely on checks for other purposes.

Co-founder and CEO Jacob Thomason tells VentureBeat that the company is focused mostly on delivering the best user experience possible. Property management software offerings have been around for some time, but they’re generally clunky and difficult to use. Some even require training for landlords to take advantage of them. That’s not the case with RentPost, which is designed similar to social networks that many users are already familiar with.

Rentpost has four employees, who spent two years working on it, and is entirely bootstrapped. Check out a video demonstration of the service below.

Photo via turkeychic on Flickr