Buildium Training - Ep. 6 Using Drop Box Sign

Hey everybody, welcome back to APM Help Academy. Today's video we're going to be focusing on Buildium's Dropbox Sign feature. This is a feature that lets you create leases and send them out to tenants to be signed. Right now, you cannot send management agreements to rental owners through this feature, though there have been feature requests over time.

For today, we'll just focus on lease documents.

Setting Up a Template

One of the easiest ways to use Dropbox Sign is by creating a template. If you upload a document manually without a template, you’ll have to fill out tenant names, property addresses, rent amounts, etc., every time. Templates allow most of this to be filled automatically.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Go to Leasing → Draft Leases → e-Signature Documents.
2. Click on the Templates tab.
3. Click Create Template and give it a name (like Master Lease).
4. Select the type of document (Lease or Addendum).
5. Upload your lease document. Make sure your document has plenty of blank spaces where you want Buildium to fill in information like tenant names, addresses, and rent amounts.
6. Choose the number of signers and the order: tenants, staff, co-signers, or rental owners.

Merge Fields & Custom Fields

• Merge Fields are how Buildium autofills your document. Fields like rent amount, property address, and lease dates are built in.
• You can also add custom fields for things Buildium doesn’t cover, like pet names.
• Field types include text, date, and email. Most of the time, you’ll use text.

Preparing the Template

When prepping your template:

• Drag text boxes to all areas that need to be filled automatically (tenant names, landlord name, lease dates, property address, etc.).
• Custom fields will prompt you to fill them in when prepping a lease for signature.
• Required fields must be confirmed by the tenant.
• Static fields (like company name) stay the same for every lease and cannot be changed when prepping the lease.

Sending a Lease for Signature

Once your template is ready:

1. Go to Draft Leases → Add Lease.
2. Make sure you select Unsigned, otherwise Dropbox Sign won’t work.
3. Enter lease details: property, start/end dates, leasing agent, approved applicants, tenants, and co-signers. If you’re using Buildium applications, link existing profiles.
4. Enter charges: monthly rent, any recurring charges, and additional fees (like pet fees).
5. Click Save and Prepare e-Signature.
6. Name the document, select your template, and upload additional documents if needed.
7. Fill out any custom fields (like pet names) and review all autofilled fields.
8. Click Send for Signature.

Activating the Lease

After tenants have signed:

• Go to the Tenant Page.
• Click Activate Draft Lease or Execute Lease.
• The tenant will now appear under Rentals → Rent Roll, and Buildium will automatically post rent charges starting on the next due date.

Tips & Notes

• Your lease template needs to be prepped carefully outside of Buildium. Missing blank spaces require re-uploading the document.
• Some fields, like tenant names, only populate on the tenant’s end—they must confirm them.
• You can edit templates, make copies, and adjust merge fields at any time.
• Always review everything carefully before sending for signature, because changes cannot be made after sending.

And that’s a little bit about Buildium’s Dropbox Sign feature. Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like and subscribe, and if you need help, you can reach out to us at info@apmhelp.com.

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