25 May 5 Advantages of Upgrading Your Property Management System

Proptech is fast becoming big business here in Australia. In just over six years, the sector grew by an astonishing 428%, with Proptech companies generating over $1.4 billion of direct economic output annually. The most prolific Proptech sector is Property Management with over half (53%) of companies servicing this industry.

With so many new Proptech advances, now is an ideal time to review your property management system. If you’re not sure if it’s worth the time investment, consider the following five advantages of upgrading your property management system to stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Up Your Efficiency

You likely already enjoy a myriad of efficiency benefits from utilising a property management system. But with the rapid expansion of the PropTech sector, there are a host of companies offering new and innovative solutions to help you improve your efficiency and by extension, your profitability.

A great property management system automates many parts of your business processes, such as rent collection, maintenance requests and tenant screening, freeing up a significant amount of time for other tasks. One example is the ability to simplify your accounting. Software can generate invoices, keep track of payments, calculate interest and late fees, and automate the process of sending out monthly statements. This can help prevent mistakes, enable faster payment collection and reduce the time spent on your financials.

However, many current property management systems are server based and this comes with a few disadvantages. The first is it can only be accessed from the server’s physical location, rather than on-the-go as most Property Managers are! There’s also a higher cost as the server requires maintenance and upgrades, plus it’s difficult to scale your business without substantial investment in additional hardware or infrastructure.

Upgrading to a cloud-based property management system negates these issues, particularly as you can access your data and tools from anywhere with an internet connection. The cloud also offers the advantage of easy integration with other systems, such as payment gateways, as well as automatic backup and recovery. That is a significant time (and cost) saving.

Better Data Management & Reporting

You can’t overestimate the value of your data in today’s economy. If you harness it correctly, it gives you a 360 degree view your properties’ performance, helping you make more informed and better management leasing decisions.

Newer property management software solutions have enhanced reporting capabilities. While they easily store and give you access to a full suite of data within your business, they also deeply analyse this it to generate detailed reports.

You’ll get everything from reports on rent arrears, vacancy rates and property maintenance, to advanced insights on tenant trends, market conditions and potential growth opportunities. These can help you make substantial improvements across all sectors of your company.

Enhance the Tenant & Employee Experience

Upgraded property management solutions often include features such as online portals and mobile apps, which can provide tenants with convenient access to information and services related to their rentals.

Instead of having to call your office for something relatively straightforward, owners and tenants can jump online and review their rent payments, maintenance status, inspection dates and so on. It’s all right there in one cloud-based platform. This can help improve the landlord and tenant experience and satisfaction, keeping your vacancy rate firmly in the black.

These enhanced communication capabilities also offer your employees a better workday experience. And in these times of workforce shortages, keeping your staff engaged, happy and willing to remain within your company is extremely important.

Depending on the system, employees can access properties on their phone while they’re on the go. Some systems also have a dedicated inbox containing all tenant and landlord communications, so your staff needn’t go back to their personal work email to hunt for information. It also means everyone has an updated view of the property, which not only saves time but reduces the risk of errors or miscommunications.

Improved Compliance & Security

Compliance is a must in the property management world. Failure to do so can result in big penalties and even license revocation. That’s why it’s a wise move to ensure your property management software contains updated compliance management features. things like tracking and managing smoke alarm checks, insurance expiration dates and pool safety.

Your system should also be able to deal with trust accounting effectively and comprehensively. An upgrade can give you access to vast improvements in proper record keeping and addressing discrepancies in your trust account, with in-built warning alerts, time-stamped user activity comments, read receipts and easy historical reporting exportation.

Another benefit of upgrading, particularly to cloud-based property management software, is enhanced security. it will help protect sensitive client, tenant and employee data, comply with ever-changing legal regulations, and reduce the risk of cyber threats.

Cloud-based systems typically offer robust security features, including secure data storage, user authentication, advanced encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection and regular security audits. In addition, they offer automatic software updates and backup, reducing the risk of data loss due to system failures. Conversely, server-based systems can be vulnerable to security risks such as hacking, malware, and data theft, especially if they’re incorrectly configured, maintained or updated.

Cost Savings

We’ve touched on the cost savings the come with upgrading your property management system, including increased efficiencies in automating many routine leasing tasks, enabling better business decision-making, and improving tenant retention.

But there are a number of other areas where an investment in a software upgrade can save you money. One is maintenance, a critical yet very time-consuming part of your role as a Property Manager.

Some of the latest property management solutions incorporate AI and machine learning capabilities to allow you to use predictive maintenance, which focuses on pinpointing equipment failures before they actually happen.

With smart home tech, you can now take advantage of:

• Smart thermostats to remote heat and cool systems
• Smart locks to allow tenants to use a code or smartphone app to unlock the front door, eliminating the need for physical keys (and the ability to lose them!)
• Smart security cameras to actively and remotely monitor properties for suspicious activity
• Smart lighting to improve energy efficiency and security
• Leak detection sensors to monitor for leaks and water damage
• Smart smoke detectors that send alerts directly to a smartphone, even if the occupant is away from the home, as well as the ability to alert emergency services
• Smart irrigation systems that adjust watering schedules based on weather conditions and soil moisture levels

Summary

It’s clear upgrading your property management system offers you numerous distinct advantages, such as helping you streamline your business processes, enhance security, make data-driven decisions, and communication and the tenant experience.

But perhaps the most crucial advantage is the chance to enrich your employee experience.

As Australia’s preeminent real estate recruitment agency, we understand the vital need for you to do whatever you can to retain your valued staff, especially in these talent-tight times. In addition to the employee benefits of upgrading your property management software covered here, we have plenty of further employee retention ideas, so please reach out to one of our specialists if we can assist you.