Baselane Review (2024): Landlord Banking & Rental Management

The real estate industry requires proper portfolio management, whether you’re into rental properties, wholesaling, or property management. With the right software, you can seamlessly organize your portfolio, automate tenant screening and management, and simplify accounting. Discover what Baselane.com is, its features & benefits for different real estate players, pricing & costs, and its alternatives in this detailed Baselane review.

• What Is Baselane?
• Baseline Features & Benefits
• What Are The Benefits Of Baselane Banking?
• What Are The Drawbacks Of Baselane?
• Baselane Pricing & Costs
• Baselane Alternatives & Competitors
• Final Thoughts: Is Baselane Worth It?

What Is Baselane?

Baselane is a free banking and financial services platform for independent landlords and real estate investors. The platform was established by Mathias Korder, Thorben Scheidegger, and Jad Yaghi in 2020 and is backed by notable FinTech Investors and leaders, including PayPal, Google, Diagram Ventures, ThomVest, Collaborative Fund, and Conversion Capital.

Baselane.com seeks to empower landlords and real estate investors by being a fully integrated banking, rent collection, and expense management solution.

Although it’s not a bank, the platform partners with Blue Ridge Bank and Thread Bank to provide banking services. Landlords and real estate investors can open and manage banking accounts tailored to their particular investment needs through its partnerships.

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Baseline Features & Benefits

Baselane Bank offers a range of features that, although primarily meant for landlords, can significantly benefit players in real estate investing. These features include:

• No-fee account: While traditional banks typically charge account setup and maintenance fees, Baseline offers users high-yield savings and checking accounts at no fee! This means users not only enjoy a high interest rate on their deposits but also keep most of their money and don’t have to worry about hidden fees.
• Built-in bookkeeping: Baselane Bank features a bookkeeping tool that not only ledgers all of a user’s transactions but also categorizes them for seamless tracking.
• Ease of use: Baselane boasts a user-friendly dashboard that even a non-tech-savvy landlord can easily navigate.
• Analytics & reporting: Baselane features a property analytics dashboard where users can review real-time metrics like cash flow, operating expenses, profit and loss, and capital expenditure.
• Mobile banking: Baselane.com has a mobile app, meaning users can access and leverage its features on the fly.

Baselane Banking for Landlords

As a platform primarily designed to streamline everyday operations for landlords, Baselane offers several features that specifically cater to this lot. These features include:

Banking Services

Although Baselane is no bank, the company partners with Thread Bank to offer landlords high-yield savings and checking bank accounts. Unlike conventional bank accounts, Baselane accounts require no setup or maintenance fee, which means landlords can keep most of their money.

These accounts have no minimum balance requirements, meaning a landlord can access all their money as needed. Additionally, Baseline high-yield saving account holders enjoy an annual percentage yield(APY) between 1.95% and 4.19% depending on the fed funds target rate established by the Federal Open Markets Committee. The interest is deposited into the accounts a few business days after every end month and is compounded monthly. But to qualify for these interest benefits, landlords must have received at least $1,000 of rent via the Baselane rent collection tool in the past three months.

Beyond interest benefits, landlords can set up multiple banking accounts on the platform. Property owners with multiple investments can set up individual accounts for each property, simplifying finance and accounting management.

As if that's not impressive enough, Baselane runs a cash-back reward system where landlords get 5% back when they spend $5,000 annually at select home improvement merchants. This feature can significantly benefit landlords and investors like home flippers who regularly need to renovate properties. Baselane account holders earn 1% unlimited cash back for all other purchases. Users can register for Baselane accounts as individuals, LLCs, or even partnerships. Other notable Baselane landlord bank account features include:

• Supports ACH payments
• Free ATM withdrawals
• Up to $250,000 in FDIC insurance

Automated Rent Collection

For most landlords, rent collection is often burdensome, plagued by late payments, manual errors, and bounced checks. That is why most landlords resort to property management companies. Unfortunately, while these companies get the job done, they don’t do it for free, which leads to additional costs and reduced cash flow for the landlord. Thankfully, Baselane has a tool to eliminate these problems by integrating rent collection software.

Once set up, this tool enables tenants to deposit rent directly into the landlord’s Baselane bank account. This is game-changing as most rent collection tools require tenants to deposit money into a separate platform first. This convenience is made possible by Baselane’s partner-powered bank accounts.

Moreover, while most rent collection tools only support credit card payments, Baselane’s collection software supports payments via debit and credit cards and ACH payments via mobile devices. Tenants can even deposit checks using their mobile phone.

Also, while landlords can only accept a maximum of $2,000 daily with tools like Venmo, the Baselane rent collection tool has no daily payment limits, meaning landlords can accept all their tenant payments in a single day!

Moreover, landlords don’t have to manually request payments or go back and forth with late-paying tenants. They can simply set up automated payment reminders to prompt tenants before the deadline or schedule an automated late fee for renters who habitually pay late. Landlords contemplating eviction due to unpaid or late rent can quickly initiate the process by disabling that specific tenant’s payments on the Baselane rent collection tool.

The Baselane rent collection tool allows landlords to collect one-time or recurring fees and security deposits online! With Baselane’s integrated rent collection feature, landlords are relieved from physical visits or manual interactions with each tenant.

Baselane rent collection tool takes things a notch higher through automated payment history and tracking. This feature empowers landlords to monitor individual tenant payments and efficiently track expenses and rental income, ultimately simplifying tax reporting.

But while all these features are nothing short of impressive, the most intriguing bit about Baselane’s rent collection tool is that it’s entirely free!

The setup process is also incredibly straightforward. All property owners need to do is enter lease details (unit address, rent amount and timing, and tenant information), invite the tenant to set up payments on their smartphone or desktop, and voila! They can begin accepting rent payments online.

Landlord Bookkeeping Software

Bookkeeping is undoubtedly among the most time and effort-consuming tasks in rental property management. Thankfully, Baselane simplifies this bit too. The platform offers rental bookkeeping software that greatly streamlines accounting processes.

From rent, security deposits, late fees, property expenses, mortgage and loan payments, tenants’ fees, and repair costs to credit card transactions, Baselane’s bookkeeping software tracks nearly every rental payment. It presents these payments in a ledger format that landlords can review in real-time.

But that’s not all; it automatically breaks down and categorizes each transaction by property and Schedule E. This makes tracking income, expenses, and losses easy and simplifies tax filing and deduction tracking, even for landlords with limited bookkeeping skills. Furthermore, landlords can add notes to specific transactions for future reference.

Even more impressive is that landlords can integrate Baselane’s bookkeeping software with third-party bank accounts and export transactions.

Furthermore, Baselane’s bookkeeping software allows landlords to add and manage multiple properties. It breaks down finances by property, making tracking money that comes in and goes out easy.

To add icing on the cake, users can generate and export unlimited cash flow analytics reports to CSV, including schedule E reports for tax preparation or even upload receipts. To simplify things further, Baselane bookkeeping software features a search and filtering function, meaning landlords don’t have to browse through endless records but can find the exact transactions they need at the click of a button.

Baselane for Renters

Baselane has features to benefit tenants too. These include:

Online Rent Payments

Paying rent the traditional way, for instance, through cash, is the norm, but life moves fast, and it’s easy for a renter with a busy life and multiple bills to manage to miss a payment. This can lead to conflicts with landlords.

Baselane’s online rent collection tool solves this issue. Landlords can invite their tenants to pay rent online via ACH, credit and debit cards, and paper checks, all of which can be deposited via mobile! This allows renters to pay rent through their preferred mode and clear their arrears from wherever they may be.

Additionally, tenants can set up reminders or autopay to ensure they never miss a payment. Autopay facilitates automatic recurrent rent payments, enabling tenants with multiple bills to prioritize rent payments since the amount is automatically deducted.

Beyond rent prioritization, paying rent online through Baselane creates a digital paper trail, making it easy for tenants to track their rental history, review their lease details, and track security deposits. Moreover, online rent payments can positively impact the renter’s credit score.

Note that the Baselane app uses Stripe and Plaid to accept rent payments. These technologies employ bank-level encryption to secure payments and protect tenants' personal information.

Renter’s Insurance

Baselane partners with Sure to offer renters access to budget-friendly insurance. Starting at just $8, Baselane tenant insurance plans safeguard tenants’ belongings against theft, fire, and various forms of damage.

The cover also comes into play if a renter harms someone or causes damage to their property. It also includes coverage for medical expenses if an injury occurs within the rental unit.

Read Also: How To Start A Rental Property Business: A Step-By-Step Guide

What Are The Benefits Of Baselane Banking?

Some perks of Baselane banking include:

• No-fee landlord banking: Baselane teams up with prominent banks like Thread to provide landlords and real estate investors with fee-free savings and checking accounts, ultimately resulting in savings.
• No minimum required: Baselane account holders are required to deposit no minimum balance, promoting liquidity
• High-yield saving accounts: Baselane offers landlords and investors high-yield saving accounts with an APY ranging between 1.95% and 4.19%, ultimately resulting in high returns.
• Multiple bank accounts: Landlords can set up different accounts for each property they own, which allows for seamless income tracking.
• Powerful rent collection tool: The platform offers one of the most powerful rent collection tools around. It supports multiple modes of payments, from ACH to checks, all done via mobile devices, has no daily limit, allows direct bank account deposits, and enables landlords to enforce late payment fees seamlessly.
• Incredible Bookkeeping capabilities: Baselane offers bookkeeping software that tracks rental property finances and categorizes these transactions into groups. This enables landlords to track income and expenses easily.
• Comprehensive analytics: This platform enables users to review cash flow analytics in real-time and generate and export cash flow analytics and even Schedule E reports. Therefore, it facilitates data-driven decision-making and simplifies tax reporting even for landlords with limited tech skills.
• Streamlines rent payment for tenants: With Baselane, tenants can set up reminders to ensure they never miss a payment or autopay, so rent payment is automatic and recurrent without them ever having to lift a finger.
• Affordable renters insurance: Baselane partners with well-established insurance companies like Sure to facilitate renters’ access to budget-friendly insurance plans. The platform offers renters insurance plans that cost as low as $8
• Excellent customer support: Most independent Baselane bank reviews suggest the company offers superb customer support.
• It’s free: Baselane offers the most fantastic set of banking and financial features for landlords, real estate investors, and tenants for free.

What Are The Drawbacks Of Baselane?

Baselane is excellent but not perfect. Here are some of the drawbacks we discovered about the platform during our Baselane reviews:

• Cashback rewards limits: Although Baselane claims to offer a 5% cashback on debit card purchases, note that you only get the cashback when you shop at select merchants. Additionally, the cashback caps at $5,000 annually.
• Lacks tenant screening: For a platform designed to cater to landlords specifically, you’d expect a tenant screening function, but it doesn’t have one.
• No marketing features: The Baselane app offers no marketing features whatsoever. However, this isn’t a deal breaker as it’s a Fintech platform.
• Intends to start charging: During our Baselane review, we discovered the platform plans to roll out premium features at a monthly fee.

Baselane Pricing & Costs

Baselane is entirely free. All its incredible features, from banking and Baselane rent collection to bookkeeping, are freely available to any landlord, wholesaler, or real estate investor interested.

So, how does the platform make money? According to the website, the company receives interest on landlords' balances in its partner-powered accounts. It also gets a small percentage of the interchange fee whenever account holders use the Baselane Visa Debit Card.

Additionally, Baselane charges a 2.99% processing fee whenever tenants pay rent via a debit or credit card (typical of all rent collection platforms). The company also earns money whenever users leverage one of its partner services, for instance, its property insurance partner programs. Additionally, Baselane will soon roll out premium features at a monthly fee.

Read Also: 11 Best Paying Jobs In Real Estate

Baselane Alternatives & Competitors

The banking and finance market for real estate investors is pretty competitive. Check out how Baselane fares against the competition:

Baselane vs. Avail

Avail is a property management software that, like Baselane, offers landlords a range of free features.

Like Baselane, Avail offers online rent collection and rental property accounting. With Avail, users can also initiate eviction processes online. However, it has some features you won’t find on Baselane. For instance, it offers tenant screening marketing tools that landlords can leverage to promote their rental properties and has a range of customizable lawyer-reviewed agreement templates. Nonetheless, it doesn’t offer any banking features.

That said, Baselane is more of a Fintech platform, while Avail is a Proptech software. If you’re seeking a reliable banking and financing solution tailored for real estate, Baselane is the way to go, but if you need a comprehensive property management solution, Avail is a good option.

Baselane vs. Hemlane

Hemlane is a property management software. Like Baselane, it offers online rent collection and lease tracking. It also empowers landlords to enforce automatic late fees and generate income and expense reports. However, these reports aren’t as detailed as those you’d generate on Baselane.

But while Baselane is entirely focused on banking and finance, Hemlane offers tools to simplify a landlord’s operations, such as tenant screening, applicant tracking, and rental advertising.

Baselane vs. Novo

Novo is a Fintech platform that, similar to Baselane, offers partner-powered bank accounts to its users. However, while Baselane caters explicitly to the real estate market and offers high-yield savings and checking bank accounts, Novo caters to business owners and business checking and debit accounts.

Additionally, Baseline lets you integrate third-party bank accounts with its bookkeeping software, while Novo lets you integrate over a thousand finance tools into its platform. But Novo allows users to generate and send unlimited, customizable invoices.

Ultimately, both platforms are similar, except that they serve different markets. So, if you’re looking for a fintech platform specifically geared for the real estate industry, Baselane is the way to go. But if you want a comprehensive Fintech tool with more powerful tools, Novo is great, but keep in mind it caters to the general market, so it might not fit your real estate needs as well.

Final Thoughts: Is Baselane Worth It?

The platform is worth it based on hours of research that we put in during our Baselane review. Sure, it has some setbacks such as limits on its cashback rewards that it doesn’t make clear from the jump, but ultimately, the pros outweigh the cons.

For instance, it offers no-fee bank accounts with no minimum balance, plus users can set up as many accounts as they need to simplify income tracking for their portfolios. Additionally, the platform offers virtual accounts and incredible features through its rent collection and bookkeeping software. The best part is that the platform is free. We’d recommend this platform for real estate investors seeking a reliable banking platform.

Looking to take the first step into real estate investing? Contact Real Estate Skills today and let our team of experts guide you on your path to becoming a successful real estate investor. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting, we offer personalized strategies and support to help you achieve your goals.

*Disclosure: Real Estate Skills is not responsible for the information provided by Baselane or on its respective website. Baselane is an independent company which provides real estate services to investors. Real Estate Skills trains on using Baselane and the benefits of using the service but is not responsible for the content it provides.