One quote that stood out to me was, “Companies who used property management specific software managed an average of 102 units per employee. Those that used generic software or spreadsheets only managed an average of 61 units per employee. We acknowledge there are other factors to consider here. But we’re firmly in the camp that an integrated software system frees up property management employees to do more tasks.”  This certainly shows that a company using a well integrated property management program can do more with less people.

Over 60% of the growing companies surveyed used a property management software product.   Other technologies were listed as well, including emailing statements, electronic maintenance requests, online rent payments, integrated accounting, tracking leads electronically, and auto-posting to Craigslist.

One respondent said, “I feel web based software is coming of age …”

I found the survey very interesting and encourage you to check it out.   Staying on top of what is happening in technology is a good idea for any company, but it is essential for a property management company, since increasing the number of units being managed without increasing costs at the same rate is ultimately the goal.

For some tips on researching what products are available today, check out my blog Picking a Property Management Software Solution or checkout our web based property management software as an example of a fully integrated solution.

Rob Crichlow
DIY Real Estate Solutions

1. Marketing of Properties Online
   Having the ability to advertize available properties online is critical today.  Our clients want the ability to have their own custom property website, as well as, being able to update popular sites with property information automatically, without having to update all of the sites individually.  Some popular sites that have been requested were CraigsList, Google Real Estate, and RentalHomePros.  Rental Home Pros is a NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers) sponsored aggregate site that also feeds over 20 other sites like Google Base, RentalHomesPlus, Tenant.com, HomeTownRent, Rentals.com, and of course CraigsList.
2. Tenant Screening
   For residential property management software, having an integrated process of getting credit and criminal screening reports is a must.  Our clients often request tenant screening services through Credit Retriever, a subsidiary of TransUnion.
3. Custom Rental Lease Forms
   Every property management company establishes a lease format that they use for their tenants.  The ability to interface with a site that provides custom lease forms that will include the lease information stored in the property management database is a common request by our clients.  A popular site providing custom lease forms is Blue Moon.
4. Rent Collection Service
   A highly requested feature is to interface to a tenant debt collection service from within the property management program, automatically sending on needed data to the service with a click of a mouse.  The service requested by our clients is NCC Business Services.
5. QuickBooks Interface
   Having a QuickBooks interface is useful, even if the product has a full General Ledger accounting system built in.  It allows for copying of the data to a highly popular product for additional financial reporting or auditing needs.

Make sure any property management software you are looking at has the above features or simply checkout our rental property management software to see how these features will benefit your organization.

Rob Crichlow
DIY Real Estate Solutions

We will posting on a regular basis and look forward to feedback and discussion.

Rob Crichlow
DIY Real Estate Solutions