At first glance, it might seem easy to research property management software on Reddit. But in reality, Reddit can be tricky to navigate.
On both threads (aka subreddits), it’s common to see positive and negative opinions about various providers. Just be on the lookout for fake accounts. Whenever someone is promoting a specific solution (especially if it’s software you’ve never heard of before), do a few things to verify that the account isn’t spam.
This article will explore strategies to make your Reddit experience safer, faster and more enlightening.
Property management Reddit threads to explore
If you’re looking to talk about best practices in the industry, check out r/PropertyManagement.
For software-specific ideas, try r/PptyMgmtSoftware. We’d be happy if you left a review of Yardi Breeze for us on this one!
Take extreme negativity with a grain of salt
Like most forms of social media, extreme emotions always seem to rise to the top. Reddit can be full of such examples. Constructive criticism is a good thing, but some people (the “troll”s) are simply looking to get a reaction. That doesn’t mean you should ignore negative experiences. Just keep an open mind: explore whether others have had that experience as well. Maybe that person was just having a bad day and needed to vent, or maybe they have some valid points tucked away in there.
Watch out for company plants
While negativity tends to stand out the most on Reddit, it’s also fair to be a little suspicious of extreme positivity. Plenty of Redditors will rave about their great experiences — we see genuine reviews of Yardi Breeze all the time. Still, the fact remains that it’s extremely rare for one person to bounce from thread to thread expressing the same opinion in slightly different language. These are most likely examples of company plants: employees of a company pretending to be customers. They tend to write similar or identical posts, often generated by AI. They’ll sometimes try to blend in by posting about other topics, but you’ll see a pattern. If you’re suspicious, and their past comments are hidden, that’s a red flag.
Genuine positivity is out there!
That doesn’t mean you should ignore positive reviews. Most of the time, these reviews are left by property managers with deep knowledge and valuable insight. In other cases, you’ll encounter independent consultants who are familiar with many different property management systems.
If you need a clue as to what to look for, consider this: people on Reddit don’t talk like professional marketers or write ad copy. Real property managers are much more even-handed with their reviews than company plants.
In fact, our biggest fans are the ones who are most likely to offer feedback for improvement. They know our products better than anyone, so their input is extremely valuable to us.
Banned accounts were banned for a reason
Many times, spam or fake accounts will be reported by users, but their comments don’t get deleted. Harassment, threats, illegal activity are going to get someone banned. So will violating Reddit community rules. For instance, some threads don’t allow companies to advertise or promote their products.
When you see a product being boosted by a user, only to click into that user and find out they were banned, it’s probably because they were company plants. In all likelihood, they’ll just make a new account and live to spam another day.
Engage in productive conversations
When it comes down to it, Reddit is an incredible place to engage with a close-knit community. Property managers share common pains, joys and experiences. Don’t be shy. Get in there and interact with them. If you don’t see what you want, start a conversation on an active thread.
Be sure to look at when the most recent comment was left and how often people reply. Some threads fade away. If no one’s been there in months or years, you probably won’t get much traction there. Start something new or find a more active group.
Message users directly to learn more
If someone is speaking your language, send them a direct message. There might be some comments best left off the public space, and sometimes it’s just easier to get replies that way. Not everyone wants to be messaged directly, but it never hurts to ask. Respect the space, and the space will respect you. (Most of the time.)
User review sites guarantee real reviews
Reddit is great, but it doesn’t mean everyone there is a verified user of the software they’re reviewing. If you’re looking to corroborate what you see on Reddit, G2 is a software review site featuring verified user reviews. The company stakes its reputation on those verifications. If you’re a Breeze user, we invite you to leave us a review on G2.
Before you go, check out this guide to choosing all-in-one software, then see how our claims stack up against other companies you research.
Good luck out there!
