Baselane (baselane.com) is a comprehensive financial platform with several tools for managing and expanding your investment portfolios. Baselane might be a suitable option for you if you’re thinking about making real estate investments or are having trouble managing your rental property.
- Update 8/18/2023: Interest rate on banking balances has increased to 4.46% APY.
- Update 8/9/2023: $300 bonus offer available from Baselane.
- Update 4/14/2023: Baselane Banking balances now earn 4.25% APY interest.
- Update 3/24/2023: Baselane Banking balances now earn 4.00% APY interest, up from the previous 3.30% APY.
If you’re a landlord that’s reached the stage where you’d prefer a more automated method of managing your real estate to free up more time, Baselane could be a good option.
Landlords and real estate investors have for far too long relied on dispersed solutions, labor-intensive procedures, and sparse data to manage their rental properties.
The distance between property owners and the software that simplifies landlords’ life and saves them time and money is being closed by emerging technology, though. Baselane, a platform for landlords and property managers, is a market leader in this area since it offers an end-to-end financial platform that caters to the demands of independent landlords and real estate investors.
Landlords and real estate investors may manage all aspects of their rental property finances, including banking, rent collection, spending management, cash flow analytics, and much more.
In this Baselane review, we give an overview to see if you, as a landlord or real estate investor, can streamline your daily operations.
READ MORE: FIND THE LATEST REAL ESTATE PROMOTIONS HERE
Baselane $300 Promotion & 4.46% APY
Baselane has a promotion where you can earn $300 when you collect your first rent via Baselane. Banking balances also earn a great 4.46% APY rate.
How to get your $300 bonus:
- Fund Baselane Banking account. Deposit minimum of $500 within 30 days and maintain that average balance for 60 days.
- Use your Baselane Banking debit card on 5 qualifying transactions within 90 days.
- Collect at least two $500 rent payments via Baselane’s Rent Collections tool within 90 days.
Baselane Overview
Baselane is a rental property management platform that gives landlords and real estate investors an integrated collection of tools to assist them save time and money while raising the returns on their rental properties. It was established in 2020 and provides free services like:
- Bookkeeping apps
- Rental collection
- Free business banking
For your convenience, it also offers paid items that are integrated into the platform, such as loans for landlords and insurance.
Thousands of landlords in all 50 states are currently served by the company. Baselane is able to provide a wide range of financial solutions because of its partnership with Blue Ridge Bank, N.A.
TRENDING DEAL:
▶ GET A $300 BONUS FROM CHASE FOR A NEW BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNT
Baselane Pros & Cons
PROS:
- Free checking, rent collection, bookkeeping and analytics
- Loans and insurance tailored to landlords
- Convenient integrations in one platform
CONS:
- May need to ask renters to sign up for a new platform
READ MORE: SEE THESE CASH BACK SHOPPING DEALS AND PROMOTIONS FOR BONUS CASH AND REWARDS
What Does Baselane Offer?
Independent landlords’ banking and financial needs are met by Baselane. While each of its functions can be utilized independently, they are all intended to function as a cohesive financial solution.
Free Business Banking For Landlords
Baselane enables customers to open several banking accounts in order to divide funds and keep track of spending.
The free Baselane business checking account is made just for landlords. It features “virtual accounts” that let you track security deposits, divide income and spending per property, and customize how you handle your money. Landlords can use the Baselane mobile app to deposit checks, use an ATM to deposit cash, or make ACH payments. Additionally, the account contains a debit card that offers up to 5% cash back. Compare with other free business banking options…
Features of Baselane Landlord Banking include:
- Earns a great interest rate (note rate above)
- Fee-free and requires no minimum balance
- Unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases with the Baselane Visa Debit Card.
- Integration with accounting, reporting, analytics, and rent collecting
- Interest rates on all accounts, including security deposits, that are much higher than the national average
- Each property’s operating account is divided into sections for each unit, and there are separate accounts for security deposits.
Online Rent Collection
Baselane offers automated rent collection services with a dedicated Tenant Portal for lease and payment management, enabling your tenants to pay with a variety of methods.
Renters can effortlessly pay their bills online with Baselane by quickly registering up. Landlords using the platform can receive payments for rent, fees, and security deposits into their bank accounts. From any device, tenants can set up the auto-pay function or make one-time payments.
Benefits of Baselane’s rent collection service include:
- Accept ACH, debit, or credit card payments for timely rent payment from tenants.
- Automate reminders, fees, and payments
- With the press of a button, it is possible to add one-time costs as needed, like security deposits, cleaning fees, pet fees, parking fees, and more, and bills for tenants are automatically generated.
- Give tenants the freedom to use the payment method of their choosing, receive monthly rent directly into your bank account, and conveniently keep track of all your payments.
READ MORE: BMO CHECKING ACCOUNT BONUS
Free Accounting Software For Landlords
If you want to test Baselane but aren’t ready to transfer bank accounts, think about starting with their game-changing bookkeeping software. It’s also free. Landlords and real estate investors can connect their bank accounts to track their revenue and expenses by Schedule E category and property.
With its automated bookkeeping and spending classification, Baselane hopes to cut down on the amount of time spent managing funds.
Features for accounting and expense management include:
- Tax season is made less onerous by simple single-click categorization using Schedule E and property tags.
- A straightforward, integrated ledger for all of your real estate transactions
- Integration with Baselane or other external banks and credit cards to manage funds centrally
- Flexibility to manually add, hide, split, or even just leave some notes for each transaction
Rental Reporting & Analytics
Baselane provides in-depth analysis of property valuations and cash flow. Rent ledgers, income statements, and individual unit progress reports are all included with Baselane.
Landlords and real estate investors can considerably increase their productivity by utilizing Baselane’s additional features and advantages. All the dashboards and tools you require to examine your cash flow, keep track of your spending, and comprehend your performance at the property or unit level are provided by Baselane’s reporting.
Features of reporting & analytics include:
- Complete control over cash flow with all of your property-related revenues and costs in one place to provide visibility into month-to-month performance
- Statement of income by unit, property, or portfolio
- Receive automated insights into the performance of your properties, from net cash flow to key real estate indicators like cap rate, return on equity, and cash-on-cash return.
- Simple Schedule E deduction tracking
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST NATIONWIDE SAVINGS ACCOUNTS HERE
Tailored Loans For Landlords
Loans for real estate investments are available on Baselane’s marketplace thanks to a collaboration with private lender Lendency. An investment property can be purchased, refinanced, or renovated with the help of these loans. Rather than using your W-2 income as the basis for lending, they use your real estate holdings.
Baselane Fees?
The business checking account, rent collection, and analytics functions of Baselane are all free. The platform also offers paid tier plans with more premium features.
You’ll be required to pay interest and fees for any loans you obtain from Baselane’s partner Lendency. Similarly, if you buy insurance through Baselane’s partner Obie, you must pay a premium.
READ MORE: TAKE A LOOK AT THE BEST SMALL BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNTS
Who Is Baselane For?
Generally speaking, Baselane has been successful in developing a comprehensive financial solution for landlords.
For seasoned landlords looking for improved financial management tools, Baselane can make sense. If you wish to simplify tax season, Baselane’s free bookkeeping option is great. As you welcome new tenants to your properties, it’s a terrific idea to integrate the business checking and rent collection services.
If you’re preparing to begin investing in real estate, you should think about the whole range of options from Baselane. Researching loans, insurance, and mortgages are some examples of this.
READ MORE: J.P. MORGAN SELF-DIRECTED INVESTING WELCOME OFFER
Is Baselane Secure & Safe?
Baselane protects your money, identity, and personal information with numerous layers of protection. To protect consumers, the company tokenizes (or encrypts) personal data and uses end-to-end encryption. Because the bookkeeping app uses read-only account data, thieves cannot access your money through the Baselane app.
The loans are given through a reputable financial institution, and Baselane’s business checking account is issued by a bank that is FDIC insured.
READ MORE: BANK OF AMERICA CHECKING ACCOUNT BONUS OFFER
How Do You Sign Up?
You can register for the free bookkeeping software with an email address, a phone number, and a password if you’re interested in using it. Once you’ve signed up, you can use the Plaid service to connect your bank accounts and begin using the bookkeeping software.
Providing personal information is necessary in order to open a business checking account or apply for a loan. Documents and verifications for loans will be needed, such as income tax returns, appraisals of real estate, and confirmation of ownership.
You must give contact information for your tenant and the account information where Baselane will deposit rental income in order to begin receiving rent through Baselane.
How Can You Reach Baselane?
On its website, Baselane offers live chat, but visitors can also email customer service at support@baselane.com. Callers can reach customer support at 888-586-1618.
The company’s headquarters may be found at 280 Park Avenue, New York City, NY 10017.
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Baselane Versus Other Services
When it comes to comprehensive financial solutions for independent landlords, Baselane is in a league of its own. It provides free landlord-specific bookkeeping software. Although there are alternatives, such as QuickBooks, Baselane’s software makes more sense for landlords because it has spending categories that correspond to the ones found on the Schedule E that must be filed with the IRS.
Like Apartments.com, Baselane provides analytics and rent collecting. However, Baselane’s reports and insights have a more streamlined, understandable structure.
Any real estate investor can benefit from using the Baselane platform because it is simple to use and reasonably priced. Even seasoned real estate investors might want to think about gradually transferring to the Baselane ecosystem.
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Bottom Line
As a landlord who has been using Baselane for the past 6 months, I can say that it has been a great solution for managing my rental properties.
The platform offers a comprehensive financial solution that includes free checking, rent collection, bookkeeping, and analytics, as well as paid items like loans and insurance tailored to landlords. The virtual accounts feature has been particularly useful in helping me keep track of income and spending per property.
Automated rent collection services have also been very helpful, allowing my tenants to easily pay rent, fees, and security deposits into my bank account. The free bookkeeping software is another great feature, making tax season much easier to manage.
Baselane’s in-depth analysis of property valuations and cash flow has been a great tool for helping me increase productivity and understand my performance at the property or unit level.
One downside is that renters may need to sign up for a new platform to use Baselane’s rent collection services.
Overall, Baselane has been a convenient and efficient solution for managing my rental properties, and I would recommend it to other landlords and real estate investors looking to streamline their daily operations.
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS BONUS. Baselane will make your life a living hell to try to even get this bonus.
When I attempted, they kept categorizing my debit card purchases as “bill pay” and saying these do not qualify for the promotion, even when nothing in the terms say so. When I turned over my unit to a new tenant, they told me my new tenant is not “bona fide” just because they were a witness on the lease for my last tenant (these are all my friends and had kindly offered to witness each other’s leases) and is considered a “close associate”, which they consider to be a violation of their terms and straight out denied the bonus completely.
They have robbed me of the $300 even though I had diligently completed the requirements using genuine information and followed their additional instructions multiple times. Scammers!