How to Choose Property Management Software Napa CA

Steps

1. Focus on what you are really looking for. The two main mistakes many people make are:
   1. Buying software that is overkill for their needs (thus wasting money and time).Overkill  Do you need software to manage your properties and your office too? Let your property management software do what it does best - manage property. For your office accounting and payroll, there are plenty of inexpensive products that are perfectly good for both large and small businesses. However, if you use another accounting software for your office expenses, you may want your rental property software to export your bank deposits and checks to your office management software. Other features that add to the cost that you may not need include:
      • Budgeting.
      • Double-entry accounting.
      • Asset and liability accounting.
      • Tenant background checking.
   2. Going for the cheapest alternative and getting software that has defects and doesn't fit their needs (thus wasting money and time).Underkill  Anybody with some web software can make an impressive looking web site, but underneath may be a piece of junk software. Look for these items as a sign of a good quality product:
      • Make sure you can run a full demo, and better yet a 'trial version' that allows you to 'try before you buy'.
      • Make sure the software can do the basic things you need:
        • Maintain a separate ledger for each Tenant and each Owner.
        • Deal with bank checks and deposits.
        • Maintain a vendor file.
        • Automatically post rent, management fees, and late fees.
        • Easily update your information, has a good interface.
        • Can handle a mixture of single family homes, multifamily homes, condos, and commercial units without having to buy extra modules.
        • Look for the ability to purchase add-ons, such as work order modules, online rent payment modules, or tax related modules -- you may need them in the future as your business grows.
        • Be sure to check the cost!
2. Select handy features. Some things may not be critical in your property management software, but are great to have:
   1. A reminder system to keep track of appointments.
   2. Log conversations and interactions with your tenants.
   3. A pop-up a list of tenants and owners that owe you money.
   4. The ability of the software to transfer your tenant information to an inactive file, so that you can later look up your tenant info for credit references and to log back payments.
   5. Automatically update rent amounts.
   6. Automatically post amounts to each ledger, and update your account names.
   7. Find a software that uses 'real' names for your accounts like 'Rent Received', instead of an account number, such as '300021 - Rent Received'.
3. Don't take the Technical Support bait. Most tenant management software companies don't even offer support, but even if they do, there may be big conditions. Some vendors force you to buy their expensive software updates in order to receive their technical support. Others offer free support for a short period of time then charge anywhere from a dollar per minute (with a minimum amount per call) to well over $100.00 per hour for support.
   • Look for at least a 60 to 90 day free support plan as part of the purchase, but better yet find an experienced vendor that offers free unlimited support.
4. Beware hidden costs. If you spend a frustrating hour doing battle with your property management software, what is that worth in dollars? Difficult, unfriendly software costs you time. And, if you have employees trying to figure out how to do something, you are paying them to read the 2 inch thick manual, and paying again if they have to call for support.
   • Make sure your software program is easy to install, easy to use, and has plenty of help.
   • Make sure you receive a printed user's guide with the program, a comprehensive built-in help file, and an online help page.
   • Research the "update" costs. Are you forced to buy it even if you don't need the new features? What have the last 5 updates cost the user base? Will you still receive any technical support if you have an older version? These are important questions you should always ask when shopping for property management software.

Tips

• Functional and Technical Specifications for a Web Based Real Estate Management Software System(Maisonette)
• www.scs-me.com
• Functional Specifications
• Introduction
• The software to be Delivered and deployed, henceforth called ?Maisonette? and designated by the abbreviation ?REMS? shall allow for the faithful representation and following up of the following major processes:
• 1. Definition of a coherent and extensible structure representing the real estate properties, their composition, the facilities and advantages each one offers, and a list of assets they contain.
• 2. Leasing (Sometimes called ?Renting?) of real estate properties for any possible usage over any desired period. Specifically we should be able to record and retrieve transactions relative to the leasing of apartment units, parking spaces, commercial facilities, storage spaces, etc.
• 3. Management of the accounts receivables through the recording of revenues, cash and check collections as well as reimbursements.
• 4. Paid booking (reservation) of facilities and waiting list management.
• 5. Preventive and curative maintenance of facilities and assets
• 6. Managing customer relationship.
• Structure
• General
• REMS shall handle the following hierarchal structure:
• ? A property is defined as a collection (complex) of lands, buildings or villas having the same location and owned by a single person.
• ? A component can be a single piece of land, a villa, or a building. A component belongs necessarily to a property even if it is the only element that does so.
• ? A unit belongs necessarily to a component. Among the types of units handled we recognize lands, apartments, showrooms, storerooms and parking spaces. The unit is the smallest manageable element by REMS and shall be the basis for leasing.
• Facilities
• REMS shall allow for the recording and retrieval of quantitative and qualitative information relative to the facilities offered by units, components and properties. For example, we shall be able to record that a unit has 2 master bedrooms, that a building contains 4 lifts and a swimming pool in the basement and that a complex of buildings offers a 1000 square meters of green space.
• For buildings with parking, it should be possible to link the parking spaces the units. Renting a unit will automatically include its designated parking if desired.
• Asset Management
• The target system should maintain a list of assets and enable their linking to any level of facilities; property, component, or unit.
• Assets should be identified by their ?Fixed Assets? code as specified by the financial system responsible for tracking asset book value and depreciation. Some assets should be uniquely identified by their serial number (e.g. lifts).
• When an asset has been used, but is presently retired from service, it should be kept for historical purposes, but not show on any list for future maintenance tasks.
• Leasing
• This is a core business process that generates revenue. An action of leasing is sanctioned by a contract between two or three parties and concerns the occupation of real estate space (unit) for a set period, against the payment of a set amount.
• We distinguish 4 major sub processes:
• 1. Creating a new contract. This will require the specification of the following information:
• ? The start date
• ? The end date
• ? The amount of deposit
• ? The percentage retention
• ? The percentage commission if done through an agent (properly identified)
• For every unit included in the contract:
• ? The usage
• ? The occupant (properly identified)
• ? The amount payable by occupant
• ? The tenant (properly identified)
• ? The amount payable by the tenant
• ? The standard asking rent (market value)
• ? The minimum rent (pre configured with the unit)
• 2. Renewing a contract. When renewing a contract, we copy most of the information from the old one, but we may adjust rent amounts while specifying a new period of validity for the contract.
• 3. Breaking a contract. Sometimes a contract has to be terminated before its planned expiry. In this case REMS should provide a means of computing and storing the amount that should be returned to the customer based on the number of days remaining in the contract. It should also be possible to input a processing fee that the customer pays when breaking a contract.
• 4. Check out. Upon contract expiry or breaking and before restitution of keys, a check out procedure has to be carried out whereupon a list of damages is established so that their cost can be deducted from the security deposit. We also have to record a utility clearance certificate before closing the case.
• Accounts Receivables
• This is a list of possible transactions affecting a customer?s balance:
• ? When creating a booking:
• o Debit for Booking Fee (new booking)
• o Credit for payment of booking fee
• ? When Creating a contract
• o Debit for Security Deposit (new contract)
• o Debit for Contract Amount (new contract)
• o Credit for Retention (new contract)
• o Credit for Booking Fees (if amount of booking is deducted from contract)
• o Credit for Cash or Check Payment in settlement of the above
• ? Upon a payment incident (bounced check)
• o Debit for Amount of bounced check
• o Debit for Bounced Check Penalty
• ? When checking out
• o Debit for any repair charges
• o Credit with payment of repair charges or compensate with deposit
• o Debit by returning rest of deposit to customer
• o Credit by getting retention back from customer (if any)
• ? Other
• o Settling a due or debt (i.e. Paying a bounced check or a penalty)
• REMS should be capable of computing and printing any AR statement and aged balances by customer, unit, component, property, owner, etc.
• Booking and Waiting list Management
• Booking
• Booking means that a customer pays to place a temporary reservation on a vacant unit (or to be vacated) until he completes required procedures toward contracting a lease on that unit. When a contract is achieved after booking, the booking amount is deducted from the contract value.
• At the end of the booking period, the reservation is released and the unit is marked as available if no contract has been enacted on it.
• No two bookings can be made for the same unit at the same or overlapping periods.
• Booking is equivalent to short term renting without moving in. It is mainly done to allow the tenant the necessary time to prepare the required documents and finances.
• Waiting list
• This refers to the process by which an interested prospect has no wish to reserve (or pay) for the booking of a specific unit, but wants to be placed on a waiting list for a specific type of unit in a specific region.
• By doing so, the prospect wants to be informed of any vacancy corresponding to his requirements so he may choose to book it or directly rent it.
• Preventive and Curative Maintenance
• While leasing generates the revenue part of the real estate equation, maintenance represents the expense part.
• Both preventive and curative maintenance should be possible by the target system.
• Curative maintenance requests are frequently claimed by customers, and information regarding the date and time of claim and that of action should be tracked enabling future analysis of efficiency levels. Curative maintenance requests should be evaluated and scheduled by the maintenance supervisor before a work order is issued.
• Preventive maintenance can be scheduled over any future period, and should specify the scope of work to be effected, and who should be involved, and whether it is covered by a maintenance contract or not.
• An act of maintenance can affect a unit, a component or the whole property. Here are some examples:
• ? Fixing a leak in a bathtub is allocated to one unit.
• ? Repairing the elevator is attributed to the component with no impact on a specific unit.
• ? Draining the pool in a complex of buildings is supported by the whole property?s account.
• An act of maintenance is embodied by a work order (WO) specifying a general description of the work to be done, its type, the supervisor of the job, the unit, component or property object of the maintenance, planned and actual start and end dates, and priority level.
• A work order contains a number of tasks to be carried out. Each task should be properly described with the following information:
• ? Duration,
• ? List of parts, appliances and equipments used with the cost of each,
• ? Internal staff or external contractor carrying out the task,
• ? Cost of labor
• It is often the case when a task is covered by a service contract with an external contractor. Whether it is the case or not, the job supervisor should estimate and record cost per task, setting the ground for advanced analysis of costs.
• REMS should allow for the scheduling of recurring work orders (preventive maintenance). The chief of maintenance should be able to print out a daily schedule of work to be done based on both preventive scheduling and open cases of curative maintenance.
• Work order tasks can involve the use of inventory items and / or equipments. In this case en evaluation of the cost of consumables and equipment usage shall be possible.
• In addition, work order tasks can be carried for a certain asset belonging to the facility or be kept on the level of the facility itself (property, component, or unit).
• Managing Customer Relationship
• REMS should by no means be a full fledged CRM software. The following requirements should be regarded as a means to enhance the agility of the business processes we have exposed above.
• Enquiry and Quotations
• Enquiry is a spontaneous event that comes from the customer or prospect and should be recorded in case we need to follow through. Quotations are also given to prospects with no obligation on their part. It is also required to record all quotations given to prospects for follow up.
• Waiting List Alerts
• Every day REMS should scan the waiting list and determine if a request can become satisfied through a new availability. For each one, REMS sends a mail message to the person on the waiting list informing him of the availability.
• Booking Expiry Alerts
• Every day REMS will look at all bookings not expired and extract those who are about to expire (based on a configurable look ahead delay of a few days). For each one a message should be sent to the customer informing him of the imminent expiry.
• Contract Expiry Alerts
• The same concept applies to contracts, where a tenant should be informed of the imminent expiry of his contract, inviting him to renew or release.
• In this case we distinguish three levels of alert; the first is issued 60 days prior to expiry and invites the tenant to renew. If it fails to bring a reaction, a second message is sent 30 days before expiry to remind him of the consequences of non timely renewal. If again the customer gives no heed, a third message is sent 15 days before expiry, requesting of him to prepare to vacate the premises.
• Maintenance Alerts
• The scheduling of a maintenance act on a unit -whether it originates from the customer (curative) or elsewhere (preventive) ? should be followed by a message to the customer informing him of the maintenance.
• Financial Alerts
• Three outbound customer messages related to financial issues should be provided:
• ? A message is sent to the customer a few days before encashment of a PDC check
• ? A message is sent to the customer when a check is rejected by the bank (bounced check), inviting the customer to settle his debt.
• ? If retention has been made on the contract, we should send a message to the tenant requesting to collect the retained amount after check out.
• Different media are using for correspondence with customers. Depending on the alert we can use
• ? Telephone
• ? Simple mail
• ? Fax
• ? E-Mail
• ? SMS
• Reporting
• Following is a non exhaustive list of printouts and reports that should be provided by REMS:
• Transactional Printouts
• ? Booking Receipt specifying the customer name and identity, unit details, amount paid and period of coverage. The receipt should provide information on the rules and regulations pertaining to the booking process.
• ? Lease Contract (Refer to DELUXE)
• ? Checkout and clearance receipt
• ? Booking Expiry Notice 1 week before booking expiry
• ? Contract Expiry Notice 60 days before contract expiry
• ? Contract Expiry Notice 30 days before contract expiry
• ? Contract Expiry Notice 15 days before contract expiry
• ? Notice of availability to prospect on waiting list
• ? Payments Voucher
• ? Maintenance Work Order
• Financial Control Reports
• ? Total Income grouped by type over a period (Booking, Contracts, Other Fees)
• ? Realized Income grouped by type over a period
• ? Maintenance Expenses over a period
• ? Journal of payments by method over a period
• ? Balance of PDC at any date (including rejected checks not cleared)
• ? Customer?s Aged Balance at any date
• ? Gap report comparing contracted rent, asked rent and minimum rent over a period
• ? Availability Status actual and projected (list of units available)
• ? Outstanding Rent Report (Aged)
• ? List of Retentions by customer and status
• ? Security Deposit, Final Settlement Status
• Analysis Reports
• ? Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly allocated revenue of contracts
• ? Availability Analysis (Lost Revenue)
• ? Capacity / Market potential (actual availability / Requests through booking, quotations and waiting lists), by property, building, neighborhood
• ? Contract numbers and values by Status (under process, signed, paid), property, neighborhood
• ? Variance analysis of Actual Rent, Asked Rent and Minimum Rent by unit type, property, neighborhood
• Technical Specifications
• ? Browser based, WEB Enabled. No explicit installation on users? machines. It is however possible to allow automatic deployment of scripts.
• ? SQL SERVER 2005 Database back end.
• ? All reports in the SQL SERVER 2005 Reporting Services reporting format.
• ? Should provide possibility of exporting any report to PDF.
• ? Possibility of sending reports and printouts by e-Mail to customers, prospects, and employees.
• ? A batch process for integration with ADPET.NET financials. Should be outside the main application.
• ? Role based security. A data structure for managing user authorizations should be provided.
• ? Logging of all application activities should be available and enabled. The logging process should write both to the database and to the Windows Application Log.

Warnings

• Some features, such as tenant background checking are usually done by well-known Internet companies. The software vendor buys the service first, and passes on a marked-up the cost to you, the software end-user.

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