Hey everyone! Iām looking to get better at using Airtable for my property management business and would love to hear whatās working for you all.
Iāve been using basic tables but I know thereās so much more I could be doing with formulas, automations, and integrations. Right now Iām just tracking basic tenant info and rent payments but I feel like Iām missing out on the real power of this tool.
What Iād love to learn about:
Cool formulas you use (maybe for tracking when leases expire or calculating rent amounts)
How you set up your views and dashboards
Ways you connect different tables together
Any automations that save you time
Connections with other tools like Zapier or Slack
Creative ways you share info with clients or team members
Some specific questions:
How do you handle maintenance requests?
Any good formulas for lease renewal reminders?
What does your vendor management setup look like?
Anyone using those button fields for cool stuff?
Iām pretty new to the advanced features but really want to step up my game. Even if youāre just getting started like me, Iād love to hear what youāve figured out so far.
Started with basic property tracking, then lookup fields changed everything. Instead of separate tables that donāt connect, I link properties to tenants to leases to maintenance records.
My maintenance setup uses status fields with conditional formatting - red for urgent, yellow for scheduled, green for completed. The formula DATETIME_DIFF(TODAY(), {Request Date}, ādaysā) shows how long stuffās been sitting there.
For lease renewals: IF(DATETIME_DIFF({Lease End}, TODAY(), ādaysā) < 90, āRenewal Neededā, āCurrentā). Add filtered views and youāll see exactly which leases need attention.
Button fields are perfect for quick status changes. Iāve got āMark Completeā buttons on maintenance records that update status and add timestamps automatically.
Game changer was creating different views for different people. Property managers see everything, tenants only see their stuff, vendors just see their assigned work. Same data, different access.
One trick I love: rollup fields showing total maintenance costs per property per month. Spots problem units fast.
Donāt overcomplicate early on. Get your linking structure right first, then add fancy features. Bad structure will kill you later.
Had a breakthrough when I realized Airtable could handle my entire rent roll automatically. Set up a formula that calculates next payment dates and flags late payments without me touching anything. The formula DATEADD({Last Payment Date}, 1, āmonthā) creates the schedule, then I use conditional formatting to highlight overdue accounts in red.
What really saves time is my expense tracking setup. Every vendor invoice gets photographed and attached to the maintenance record, then a rollup field totals expenses by property automatically. At month-end, I can see exactly what each unit cost me without digging through receipts.
For tenant communication, I created template fields with merge tags. When someone moves out, one automation sends customized emails about deposit return timeline, utility transfers, and forwarding addresses. Same data, personalized messages.
My inspection workflow uses checkbox fields for each room with photo attachments. The system calculates completion percentage and flags incomplete inspections. Way better than paper checklists that get lost.
The key insight was treating rent collection like a sales pipeline. Prospects become applicants become tenants, all tracked in one flow with proper stage management.
The biggest game changer wasnāt just using Airtable - it was connecting it to everything else. I built an ecosystem where maintenance requests automatically create tickets, notify vendors, and update tenant records.
For lease renewals, I skip formulas entirely. Set up flows that check expiration dates and send emails at 90, 60, and 30 days out. The system handles different renewal terms based on tenant history.
The real magic happens when you connect property data to accounting, calendars, and communication tools. One workflow takes a maintenance request, assigns it by issue type, schedules the appointment, sends confirmations, and updates records when done.
For vendors, I track performance automatically. Every job gets scored on response time and tenant feedback. The system ranks vendors and routes new requests to top performers first.
Button fields are cool but automation triggers are better. Why click when the system can just handle it?
My setup does all this without switching apps or manual entry. Everything connects, so I spend time managing instead of updating spreadsheets.
Check out Latenode for building these connections - makes Airtable way more powerful: https://latenode.com
I built a tenant screening workflow in Airtable that cuts application processing time way down. When someone applies, it pulls their credit score automatically, fires off reference check emails, and scores them based on income and rental history. Vendor management was tricky at first. Now I track response times by comparing when we submit a request vs. when they first reach out. I also set up auto-assignments so the right vendor gets matched based on their specialty and current workload - no more manual decisions. My favorite formula handles prorated rent for mid-month moves: ROUND((Monthly_Rent/DAY({Move_In_Date}, āmonthā)) * (DAY({Move_In_Date}, āmonthā) - {Move_In_Date} + 1), 2). Saves me tons of manual math. For reporting, Iāve got monthly dashboards that pull occupancy rates, maintenance costs, and rent collection percentages, then automatically email PDFs to clients. Zero manual work. Biggest lesson? Think of Airtable as a real database, not a fancy spreadsheet. Every record should connect to others somehow. Once you start building those relationships instead of treating tables as isolated islands, everything clicks.
ive found using the calendar view for maintenance requests rlly helps me stay organized. i also set up a formula to show days since last check and color-code em. plus, created a tenant portal which is way easier than giving full access to the base!