Hello everyone, and welcome to APM Academy. In today’s video, we’re going to go over how to set up a new property in your AppFolio database.

Just like adding an owner, there are two ways to start:

• From your dashboard, click New Property in the task panel on the right-hand side
• Or go to Properties → New Property

In today’s example, we’ll create Smog Real Estate’s multifamily residential property.

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Property Name and Address

Start by entering the property name. This helps you easily find it later using the search bar or reports.

Enter the property address, and select whether the property is:

• Affordable housing
• Section 8

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Property Information

This section is important for rental and online posting settings. The description you enter here will help generate your marketing details.

You can also:

• Assign a site manager (if applicable)
• Assign the owner’s agent
• Enter the year built
• Select the management start date

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Rental Information

Here you can set the NSF (non-sufficient funds) fee for returned tenant payments.
In most cases, this is set around $35 or matches the bank fee.

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Amenities

Select whether pets are allowed and list all property amenities.

These details help with online marketing, since amenities are common search keywords for tenants.

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Leasing Settings

Here you can configure default leasing documents:

• Default lease template (created separately)
• Standard addendums and attachments
• Default renewal templates
• Renewal addendums and attachments

You can also configure renewal increases:

• Flat dollar increase
• Percentage-based increase

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Owners and Financials

This section assigns the property owner.

For example, we’ll assign Smog Real Estate with 100% ownership.

You can also set:

• Contract expiration date
• Property reserve amount (example: $300, or zero if none)
• Owner distribution method
  
  • Net income after expenses
  • Flat distribution amount (example: $1,000 monthly)

You’ll also set the Vendor 1099 Payer, typically your management company.

By default, the fiscal year end is December, which is standard for 1099 reporting.

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Management Fees

Here you configure the property’s management fee.

By default, the fee starts in the current month, but you can backdate it if needed.

You can also:

• Waive management fees when vacant
• Choose percentage of rent or flat fee
• Set minimum and maximum fee limits

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Lease Fee and Renewal Fee

Under Additional Fees, you can configure:

• Lease fee
• Renewal fee

These can be:

• Percentage of the first month’s rent
• Flat fee

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Additional Fees (Very Important)

This is one of the most common setup issues seen during cleanups.

Make sure to include all fees your company collects, such as:

• Late fees
• Application fees
• Maintenance fees
• Any other management charges

If your company keeps 100% of these fees, be sure to check the Suppress Owner Visibility option so they don’t appear as owner income.

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Late Fee Policy

You can set late fees as:

• Flat fee per occurrence (most common)
• Percentage of outstanding charges

You’ll also define the grace period before fees post.

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Budgets

The budget variance threshold allows you to set alerts based on the property budget.
(Budget setup will be covered in another video.)

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Maintenance Information

Here you can set:

• Maintenance spending limit (based on owner preference, e.g., $500 or $1,000)
• Property insurance information
• Additional maintenance notes

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Property Groups

Property groups help organize reporting if you manage multiple portfolios or entities.
This allows you to pull reports for specific groups.

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Bank Accounts

Finally, assign the property’s rental trust bank account.

Once everything is entered, click Save.

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Adding Units (Multifamily Properties)

After saving a multifamily property, you’ll move to the Units section.

Each unit must have:

• Unit name
• Unit status (ready to rent, ready to show, etc.)
• Optional unit-specific amenities or tags

You can also create non-revenue units for show-only model units.

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Unit Rental Information

For each unit, enter:

• Bedrooms and bathrooms
• Market rent (used in dashboard reporting)
• Application fee
• Security deposit
• Inspection dates
• Rent status
• Utilities included
• Appliances included
• Additional lease notes

You can also add:

• Unit-specific amenities
• Marketing links (such as a YouTube walkthrough)

This information will populate your online listings.

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Creating a Single-Family Property

Now let’s create a single-family residence.

The process is the same:

• Click New Property
• Select Single Family

Unlike multifamily properties, single-family properties do not require separate unit pages.
All information lives on the property page itself.

You’ll complete the same sections:

• Property details
• Rental info
• Amenities
• Marketing
• Lease templates
• Owner and financial setup
• Management fees
• Additional fees
• Late policies
• Budget thresholds
• Maintenance info
• Property groups
• Bank accounts

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Uploading Photos, Notes, and Attachments

To upload property images:

• Scroll to the Photos section
• Drag and drop images or videos

You can also:

• Add internal notes and assign them to staff
• Upload attachments such as:
  
  • Previous management agreements
  • Historical reports
  • Signed contracts (PDFs)

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