Lotly vs. Rent Manager for Mobile Home Parks

Rent Manager is one of the longest-established residential property management products in the market. It's a feature-rich generalist that works across property types — apartments, single-family rentals, and mobile home parks. For mixed-portfolio operators, that breadth is the main appeal. For MHP-only or MHP-heavy operators, the breadth comes at the cost of MHP-specific depth.

Feature	Lotly	Rent Manager
Lot-level occupancy tracking	Native	Workaround via custom fields
Lot rent vs. home rent split	Native, separate billing	Configurable but not native
Park-aware tenant screening	Built-in (TU + criminal + housing records)	Third-party integrations
ACH-first rent collection	Default; sub-$1 per transaction	Available; not default
Built-in certified mail	Native one-click	External integration
Infill stage tracking	Native 6-stage pipeline	Custom workflows
Owner statements	MHP-formatted, no QBO required	Configurable templates
Tenant portal mobile-first	Sub-90-second pay flow	Web-first
Pricing model	Per-lot, vacant-free, month-to-month	Per-door + module fees
Built specifically for MHP	Yes — designed for parks from day one	Generalist (apartments-first)

Where Rent Manager wins

Three areas. First, breadth — RM has 25+ years of feature accretion, so almost every edge case has a configuration somewhere. Second, accounting depth — the GL is mature and integrates cleanly with most external accounting platforms. Third, market familiarity — most third-party park management firms know RM, so transitions to a property manager are smooth.

If you operate a mixed portfolio (apartments + parks + single-family) and you've already invested in RM training for your team, staying on RM is a defensible choice.

Where Rent Manager doesn't fit MHP

The same breadth that makes RM useful for diverse portfolios makes it generic for park operations. Lot-level data isn't native — operators end up using custom fields and workarounds that break reporting. Certified mail isn't built in — most operators handle it through third-party integrations or manual workflows. Infill stage tracking isn't a first-class concept; you build it with custom workflows.

Lot vs. unit data model

Apartment software counts units; MHP needs lots. RM's apartment-first data model means MHP operators routinely build spreadsheet workarounds for occupancy reporting.
Per-door pricing

Charged per unit, including vacant lots if you set them up as units. The math gets uncomfortable for park-heavy portfolios — especially with module fees layered on top.
MHP-specific compliance

Certified mail, state-specific notice templates, infill milestones — all are bolt-on rather than native, requiring custom configuration to make work.

Pricing comparison

RM uses per-door pricing with module fees. Operators report effective costs of $1.50–$3.50 per unit per month, plus module charges for screening, certified mail, accounting, and so on. Annual contracts are typical. On a 500-lot park with 50 vacant lots and 50 POH (treated as separate units), RM might charge for 600 units — 100 of which generate no revenue. Lotly's per-lot vacant-free pricing eliminates that dead-weight cost.

When to switch

Operators typically migrate off RM to MHP-specific platforms when the workarounds start to outweigh the breadth advantage — usually around the third or fourth park, or when audit/reporting demands force the lot-level data model issue. The migration takes 6 to 8 weeks for a mid-size portfolio with parallel operation for the first month.

Best for

Rent Manager: Mixed portfolios (apartments + parks) where breadth across property types matters more than MHP-specific depth.

Lotly: Mobile-home-park-first operators who want lot-level workflows, certified mail, infill stage tracking, and per-lot vacant-free pricing without the apartment-DNA workarounds.

Pricing

Rent Manager: Per-door pricing with module add-ons. Annual contract typical.

Lotly: Per-lot pricing with vacant lots free. Month-to-month contract — no annual lock-in. See pricing →