Understanding Units, Properties, and Listings in Property Management Systems

Last updated: January 30, 2025

When working with property management systems, it's important to understand the key concepts of units, properties, and listings. This article explains the differences and relationships between these terms.

Properties

Properties refer to full buildings or collections of buildings. Examples include:

  • A duplex

  • An apartment complex

  • A single-family home

Units

Units are individual dwelling spaces within a property where residents can live. Key points about units:

  • A unit belongs to a property

  • Multiple units can exist within a single property (e.g., two units in a duplex)

  • Even single-family homes are typically recorded as both a property and a unit

Listings

Listings are records of units (or floorplans) available for rent or sale. They typically include:

  • Information about the unit being leased

  • Data related to Internet Listing Services (ILSs) where the unit is advertised

  • Images of the unit

  • Details about the agents handling the listing

Hierarchy and Relationships

The general hierarchy in property management systems is:

  1. Properties (top level)

  2. Units (belong to properties)

    1. Listings are a derivation of units, but focused on marketing and availability

  3. Leases (connected to residents and units)

PMS Variations

While this structure is common across property management systems, there may be some variations:

  • Systems like Rentvine and Buildium often cater to single-family and smaller buildings, resulting in fewer units per property

  • Platforms like Realpage and ´Entrata, which serve large property managers, may handle properties with dozens or hundreds of units

Despite these variations, the basic hierarchy of properties, units, and listings remains consistent across different property management systems.