Tenants
- Maintenance requests, with unit and access details
- Emergency triage on the same questions every time
- Rent, parking, garbage day, amenity hours
- Lockouts: what your policy says, and who to call
24/7Property management answering serviceEvery tenant call answered. Even at 3 a.m.
A phone line that answers tenants, applicants, owners and vendors from your own rules, sorts real emergencies from dripping taps, and sends you a written summary of every call. Ring the demo line and ask it what your tenants ask.
AnsweringTenant line
2:47a.m.
Unit 4B: water coming through the bathroom ceiling.
The short answer
A property management answering service picks up when your office can't: after hours, at weekends, and when the line is busy. It takes maintenance requests, sorts real emergencies from routine issues, answers leasing questions and passes everything to your team. Live services bill about $1.28–$2.99 a minute; AI services are usually a flat $79–$250 a month. The right choice depends on how many calls you get and how much judgement each one needs, so this page gives you the numbers to decide.
01Who calls
Four kinds of caller. One line that knows each.
Most answering services treat every call as "take a message". Property calls aren't alike: a tenant with a leak, an applicant ready to sign and an owner chasing a statement each need something different. You write the rules once; the line follows them on every call.
Applicants
- Is the unit still available, and what does it rent for
- Pet, parking and utilities policy, word for word
- Viewing requests captured for your team to confirm
- The same answers for every caller, every time
Owners
- Statement and payout questions logged for you
- Summaries emailed to the right manager
- A written record of what was asked, and when
- No more "did anyone call me back?"
Vendors
- Arrival times, access codes on your say-so
- Invoice and job-completion messages captured
- Spam calls flagged, and numbers you name blocked
- Every call summarised in your inbox
02Who it's for
Apartments, HOAs, single-family and short-term rentals.
The same line, set up for how your portfolio actually gets called.
Multifamily
- After-hours maintenance requests with unit and access details
- Leasing inquiries answered from your availability notes
- Overflow when the office line is busy
Associations
- Common-area emergencies emailed to the board's on-call contact
- Gate, amenity and parking questions answered
- A record of every resident call for the manager
Scattered homes
- One line for tenants spread across a city
- Owner calls captured and summarised
- Ideal for small portfolios without overnight staff
Vacation rentals
- Guest questions on check-in, Wi-Fi and parking
- Lockouts and urgent issues sent to your cleaner or on-call person
- Spanish-speaking guests answered in Spanish
03An illustrative call, start to finish
What happens at 2:47 a.m., and what lands in your inbox.
Every vendor promises "you'll get a message". Here is an illustrative example of the whole thing, written to match what the product produces: the conversation on the left, and the summary emailed to your on-call address minutes after the caller hangs up.
Call transcript · Tenant line
AssistantThanks for calling Maple Court. I'm the virtual assistant, and this call is recorded. What's going on?
CallerThere's water coming through my bathroom ceiling. It's dripping a lot.
AssistantI'm sorry, let's get this to the right person now. What's your unit number, and is the water near any lights or outlets?
Caller4B. It's near the light fixture.
AssistantPlease don't touch the light or its switch, and stay out of the bathroom. If you see sparks or smell burning, leave the unit and call 911. Is someone home upstairs in 5B?
CallerI knocked. Nobody answered.
AssistantUnderstood. I'm flagging this as urgent for the on-call manager right now. Can maintenance enter your unit if you're not in?
CallerYes, that's fine.
Summary · sent by emailUrgent
- Caller
- Tenant, Unit 4B, Maple Court
- Received
- 2:47 a.m. · 3 min 12 s
- Issue
- Active leak through bathroom ceiling, near light fixture. Suspected source: Unit 5B, no answer at door.
- Safety advice
- Told not to touch the fixture or switch and to stay out of the bathroom; to call 911 if sparks or burning smell.
- Access
- Permission to enter 4B granted.
Action items
- Call the tenant back on the number captured.
- Get access to Unit 5B and find the source.
- Send a plumber; check the fixture before power is restored.
Recording and full transcript attached. The assistant does not dispatch anyone or transfer calls. Your on-call person decides the next step.
—From the people using it
The same assistant, already answering their phones.
Not property managers yet, and we won't pretend otherwise: a psychology practice and a family court clinic, both with busy lines and callers who can't wait.
The days of paper logbooks and missed calls are over. … The AI voice assistant handles calls when our staff is busy, taking messages and scheduling appointments. … It’s like having a 24/7 digital receptionist that never takes a break.
Dr. William JulyLicensed Clinical PsychologistExceptional service, from the ease of implementing the system to the outstanding responsiveness and support we received throughout the process.
Joelene BamfordExecutive Director, London Family Court Clinic04What it doesn't do
No transfers, no dispatch, no software integration.
Competitors often promise all three. Ours does none of them, and it's better you hear that here than after you sign.
It doesn't transfer calls
Instead, it emails your on-call address a written summary minutes after the caller hangs up, marked urgent when it is. If you need a live warm transfer, a live answering service is the better fit: see the comparison.
It doesn't send technicians
It sorts the call, gives safety instructions you approve (911, the gas utility, the water shut-off) and tells the caller what happens next. Your on-call person or vendor acts on it. Our emergency list is a starting point for those rules.
It doesn't write to AppFolio, Buildium or Yardi
Each summary arrives with the caller, unit, issue and access details laid out so it pastes into a work order in seconds. If a direct connection matters to you, tell us. It shapes what we build next.
05What it costs
About $71, $101 or $215 a month.
Priced by how many calls you get on a busy day, month to month. Paying yearly saves 20%.
$71/month
Up to 10 calls a day
A small portfolio, or after-hours only.
$101/month
Up to 20 calls a day
A busy office line with overflow and nights.
$215/month
Up to 50 calls a day
Larger portfolios where the phone rarely stops.
Compare that with live answering at $1.28–$2.99 a minute, or a receptionist at a median $18.27 an hour before benefits. Full cost comparison.
06Beyond the phone
What else comes with the same account.
The phone line is the reason most managers start. These tools sit beside it, so the call doesn't end as a note in someone's inbox. Ask which are included in your plan.
Email summaries to your team
Every call becomes an email to the addresses you choose: who called, what they wanted, action items, sentiment, and whether it needs follow-up.
Caller records and follow-ups
Callers build up as contacts with their call history, so the second call from Unit 4B starts with context. Set follow-up dates and see what's due.
Search and export
Search every call, transcript and contact in one box, and export to CSV for your records or your property management software.
Maintenance and intake forms
Build your own request and intake forms, so tenants can send the non-urgent issues in writing instead of calling.
Viewing schedule and reminders
Keep showings and appointments on one schedule, with a reminder sent the day before, which cuts no-shows.
Leasing office check-in
Visitors sign in on a tablet in your office, and the right person gets a notification when they arrive.
Quotes and invoices
Send owners and clients quotes and invoices from the same account.
22 languages
It answers in the caller's language by default, or you can fix a line to one language. Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic and more.
Your data, under your control
Recording and voicemail are switches you set per line. Two-factor sign-in, a full data export, and call records deleted after six months with a warning first.
07The part that keeps you out of trouble
Consistent, bilingual and on the record.
Three things almost no answering-service page mentions, and every property manager should ask about.
Fair Housing
Every applicant should hear the same answers about availability, price and requirements. The assistant answers from what you write, and you should instruct it never to steer or ask about protected characteristics such as race, religion, disability, familial status or national origin. Review transcripts periodically to confirm it follows that instruction. HUD issued guidance in May 2024 on AI in screening and advertising (HousingWire). HUD withdrew that guidance in 2025, but the Fair Housing Act applies either way. Review your script with that in mind.
21.7%
speak another language at home
That's the share of US residents aged five and over, and 61.1% of them speak Spanish, according to the Census Bureau's 2018–2022 American Community Survey (Census). When a caller speaks Spanish, the assistant answers in Spanish, and your summary still arrives in English.
Recording consent
Most states need only one party's consent. These require every party to agree:
CADEFLILMDMAMTNVNHPAWA
CTMIORVT
Dashed: mixed or partial rules. Announcing "This call is recorded" at the start of every call is standard practice and helps, but it is not a guarantee of consent everywhere; decide how to handle callers who object, and check your states' rules with counsel. General information, not legal advice.
08Getting started
Four steps. No call-centre training.
Live services train operators on your accounts. Here we set up your phone number with you once, and after that you write and change the rules yourself.
Call the demo line
Ask it what your tenants ask. Hear how it handles a leak, a lockout or a rent question.
Book a setup call
We provision your number with you. No contract; billing is month to month.
Write your rules
Paste your emergency list, building details, office hours, pet and parking policy. Plain English is fine.
Forward your line
Choose which email addresses get summaries, then forward after-hours or unanswered calls to your new number.
09The buyer's guide
Everything to decide, on one page each.
Prices, emergencies, live versus AI and the questions managers ask, each written to be the most useful page on its subject.
Cost
Six vendors, one monthly number
At 300 calls a month: about $101 with us, $1,161 for MAP, $2,100 for Smith.ai. Set your own volume.
EmergenciesWake someone only when it matters
The three-question rule, a call-now list and a next-business-day list to copy.
Live vs AIWhere each one wins
Storm-night surges, Spanish-speaking callers, transfers and the things AI can't do.
FAQPlain answers
Cost, recording consent, software integrations, setup, and hearing it before you buy.
10Questions
Property management answering service questions.
Plain answers. There are more on the full FAQ.
What does a property management answering service do?
It answers your phone when your office can't: after hours, at weekends and when the line is busy. It takes maintenance requests, sorts emergencies from routine issues, answers leasing questions and passes everything to your team in writing.
How much does a property management answering service cost?
Live services bill about $1.28–$2.99 a minute on published plans; per-call services about $8.50–$11.50 a call; AI lines are usually a flat $79–$250 a month. Ours is about $71, $101 or $215 a month. See every vendor on one monthly number.
How does it handle after-hours maintenance emergencies?
It asks the same safety questions every time, tells callers to phone 911 or the gas utility when life or gas is involved, and emails an urgent summary to your on-call address minutes after the call. It does not transfer the call or dispatch a technician. Our emergency triage list.
How does it tell an urgent call from a routine one?
From the rules you write. Most managers start with three questions: is anyone at risk, is damage getting worse, and can it safely wait until morning. Anything else becomes a next-business-day request.
Can it connect with my property management software?
Not directly. Summaries arrive by email with the caller, unit, issue and access details, ready to paste into a work order in AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi or whatever you use.
Can it transfer calls to my on-call phone?
No. It emails a written summary instead, usually within a few minutes. If you need live warm transfers, a live answering service fits better.
What happens when many tenants call at once?
Every caller is answered. There's no single operator to queue behind, so a storm or power cut doesn't mean a line of tenants on hold. If you expect very large spikes, tell us your peak volume at setup.
Does it answer Spanish-speaking tenants?
Yes. If a caller speaks Spanish, it answers in Spanish, and your summary still arrives in English.
Tonight, let the phone ring.
Call the demo line and try to stump it with a tenant question. When you are ready, we set up your number with you, and you sleep through the dripping taps. Month to month, from about $71.
The demo line is the real assistant. It records calls and we see the number you call from, so we may call you back once to follow up. Tell the assistant if you would rather we didn't.