Due to the Covid-19 pandemic requiring organizations to shift towards more virtual solutions, the use of online systems and apps, innovative marketing techniques, and sophisticated CRM tools has become more and more essential for a sustainable business model. Technologies such as cloud computing, mobile apps, and even artificial intelligence have been implemented to improve the way you manage your properties.
Proptech encompasses the marriage of property management technology, with cloud-based infrastructure, AI, and software for more efficient operations of daily real estate business activity. It is revolutionizing how property managers operate and manage their businesses. Over the next five years, technology will continue to expand its role in various types of real estate.
It may be difficult to grasp exactly how we can incorporate technology into property management companies when in reality they’re already replacing a lot of work for property managers and leasing companies. While there are several interpretations to Proptech, James Dearsley, Co-Founder of Unissu – Trusted PropTech Procurement, stated that it is generally viewed as a small part of a wider digital transformation in the property management industry. This covers practically any digital adaptation in real estate. If you look closely, you can see the evolution of proptech and how we use it — to do things like improving customer service over the phone or building a system that allows us to seamlessly move tenants from one property to another.
As supply channels are getting negatively impacted by the pandemic across all sectors (including real estate and property management), cost of goods rise and supply chains get stalled. Additionally, with the average property manager spending a staggering amount of dollars per year on the operations of the business, you would think that the solution to their problem would be simple: automating tasks like rent collection and save money on labor. And it is! These strains on organizations provide a strong argument to consider adopting PropTech in order to counterbalance the financial burden.
In this article, we take a look at some of the trends to watch out for this 2022.
WHAT IS PROPERTY TECHNOLOGY (PROPTECH)?
Property technology or proptech is the process through which real estate agents, investors and property managers use technology to increase efficiency, reduce cost, help with decision-making and improve customer service.
It is most commonly associated with the use of computers in the buying and selling process — software platforms that automate tasks like finding a house on Zillow or marketing your property on Redfin. These allow you to manage your listings online from anywhere at any time and from virtually any device. They also make it easier for you to use and stay organized by helping with tasks such as managing leads or tenant applications, managing your calendar so you can get to everything on time, dealing with maintenance tickets, billings, and much more.
Proptech solutions are designed to help you run your business more efficiently and save money. They can help you deal with customers more effectively, automate your processes, and make important decisions easier for you. Proptech products include services like virtual office technology, computerized property management systems, digital marketing platforms, mobile apps, and more.
It is a rapidly growing industry that should be taken advantage of by everyone in the real estate space.
WHY SHOULD YOU START USING PROPTECH?
If you’re a property manager that relies on paper processes like leases, applications, and rent payments, you’re missing out on a lot of savings, of both your time and money:
The number of tasks property managers have to perform has increased significantly over the last decade. The need for more efficient processes is common in all segments of the industry. And with technology making it easier than ever to find out how other companies manage their properties, there’s a lot of competition out there for your business.
The word proptech may be new to some people in the industry, but many of these tech products have been around for some time. For example, computers are used heavily in real estate businesses already. And some features of proptech have existed for years as well — like property management software or the MLS online listing platform. In addition, proptech companies are able to secure more funding as of 2021 at US$ 7.1 billion compared to its previous year, and is expected to continue to grow. Reason being, millennials make upto 65% of first home buyers and these consumers show interest in smart technology according to FinTech Global.
A lot of property organizations have invested in this at the top level because it really does have a place in the property tech world.
But why? The answer is simple: the advantages of this technology are clear. Property technology powers the sector, enhances transparency and ultimately enables better working. Here are six advantages of using the most relevant property management software for your properties:
Save Time
Managing multiple rental properties can be very time-consuming — especially when you use archaic methods like paper and pen for everything. But when you switch to proptech, you’ll save loads of time by automating common tasks. For example, when you use electronic leases instead of paper leases, you don’t have to waste time manually inputting all that information into your database since it’s automatically collected for you. Virtual home tours, a service currently offered by several companies, save landlords and property owners plenty of time they’d normally be spending on property viewings.
Increase Efficiency
In addition to saving time, proptech has other efficiency benefits as well. For example, online portals allow residents to submit maintenance requests at any time instead of having to call and email you. Cloud based property management softwares like appfolio or propertyware allow Property Managers to keep connected to their teams and customers, ensuring business continuity. By properly utilizing these apps, the efficiency increases as work can be done from anywhere, anytime.
Reduced cost
Paper processes are slow, error-prone, and expensive. The more time you spend on paperwork, the more money you lose on things like late fees, because it takes longer to chase down delinquencies when you’re relying on paper checks. Proptech automates many tasks that were once done by hand, saving your company money. Platforms like Zillow help automate the process of advertising property listings – reducing costly man made errors, or reducing the time to advertise the listing, allowing the business to save on the labor cost
Improved accuracy
You won’t have to worry about lost or damaged documents with proptech solutions, because they’re all stored digitally and backed up regularly in the cloud. Data is always accessible and safe from damage in proptech systems. Additionally, you can even accurately determine the best investment plans to determine how much you could earn by renting out property based on over 500,000 calculations.
Streamlined systems and processes
Automation doesn’t have to be complicated. It can just mean streamlining processes and making sure that as many tasks as possible are completed on time. Take your rent checks, for example. Your landlord might have you mail them, or you could have a system that automatically deposits money into your account so you never miss a payment. Services such as Intuit QuickBooks allows tenants to pay you with a click of a button and consist of many other great functions. The more automated your tenant management systems are, the more you can do.
Automation reduces the amount of time you spend on tasks like verifying rent payments and communicating with tenants. It also frees up your valuable staff members so they can focus on other things
Better insights into your business
When everything is automated, data becomes much easier to analyze because there’s a lot less of it to deal with — and you know it’s going to be accurate in each case because it was machine-generated instead of entered by hand by people who might make mistakes or copy information incorrectly.
The right software can help you manage your property, streamline maintenance work orders, and ensure that you’re being paid on time.
There are so many factors driving change nowadays that you need to be able to adapt quickly if you want to keep ahead of the game.
WHAT ARE THE TOP PROPTECH TRENDS?
Proptech can come in many forms. Some tools are more akin to advanced search engines that let brokers quickly locate properties they want. Others are applications that automate common tasks like scheduling appointments or entering data into CRMs. Many of these tools have been around a while, but they’re now catching on with property managers because of the unlimited benefits that help them work smarter, not harder.
Consider these top trending PropTechs that can grant you the competitive advantage you’ve been looking for:
CLOUD-BASED PROPERTY MANAGEMENT.
The Cloud enables property managers to:
- You can access your data from any device, anywhere, anytime.
- You can collaborate on projects more seamlessly and effectively with your team members (Zoom, Slack, etc)
- Your data is more secure and less prone to errors.
- You can keep your costs down because you don’t have to pay for servers or IT infrastructure.
- You’ll improve communication with your residents by allowing them easier access to rent payments, maintenance requests, and other critical information.
It is quickly becoming a worldwide standard. In fact, according to a survey conducted by findstack., 80% of respondents said that they either use or plan to use cloud-based software in the next 3 years. While 56% of them save they have already adopted multi-cloud.
If you’re still using on-premise or desktop software, it’s time to consider migrating your system to the cloud. Yardi Breeze is a top contender.
3D VIRTUAL TOURS
The introduction of 3D virtual tours, which allow prospective buyers to virtually walk through a house with ease, will help them envision just how comfortable the space might feel.
There are already several companies offering virtual tours of property by using your smartphone or tablet. Instead of calling up a property manager and asking them to take you on a tour of your dream home, you can now use your iPad or smartphone to ‘walk through’ the property with a virtual tour. Buyers can literally feel what their house would be like before they even move in.
With this kind of technology, there’s no reason why you couldn’t have beautiful virtual tours for your properties on your website, as well as an interactive 3-D model that offers multimedia experiences such as 360° video and laser scanning. Some known software include iStaging, Tourwizard, My360, etc.
RENTAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
it’s a comprehensive solution that provides all the tools required to run a rental business. Most of the rental management software products available in the market are highly customizable and can be used for renting out a wide range of products, including vehicles, equipment, media, furniture and accessories.
Here are some of the key features offered by rental management software:
Rentals tracking: This feature allows users to track the status of their rentals. It also provides several filter options to find the required information quickly and accurately.
Inventory management: This feature allows users to manage their inventory efficiently by tracking the movement of rented items. The feature also allows users to track item availability and maintain stock levels. It also helps in scheduling maintenance activities.
Reporting: This feature offers advanced reporting functionalities that provide insights into various aspects of an organization’s performance, helping them make informed decisions. Using this feature, users can generate reports based on various parameters such as rentals due, overdue rentals, reservations or payments due, etc.
Rentals billing: Rental billing is one of the most important functions performed by rental management software products. These products efficiently manage rental billing activities including preparing invoices, processing payments, sending out reminders and generating financial reports.
Top PM rental software include – Buildium, TurboTenant, AppFolio, Propertyware
BIG DATA AND PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS
Predictive analytics is the use of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. The goal is to go beyond knowing what has happened to provide the best assessment of what will happen in the future.
This approach helps you make proactive decisions around your business, instead of relying solely on hindsight. For Instance, property managers can better understand
- their target resident demographic
- create targeted marketing campaigns
- and streamline operations
— especially when it comes to maintenance requests.
Tango is a great software for property management industries.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
This can be employed by property managers in a number of ways, including:
automating routine tasks like responding to tenant inquiries
- handling rent payments
- improving customer service via chatbots on websites
- or managing maintenance needs automatically with AI-powered sensors that monitor appliances and other equipment in units
ensuring they’re working properly or signaling when they need attention.‘Different’ is one of the leading Ai technology for property management companies.
BLOCKCHAIN
It is technology that is quickly becoming a key component of real estate tech. It’s used for tracking and storing all kinds of data that are needed to complete the sale, lease, or transfer of a property, including finance, title, and property management.
Blockchain is also crucial when it comes to the exchange of payments between buyers and sellers as well as communities and smart contracts that enable buyers to purchase properties in new ways. The use of blockchain will enable greater privacy by eliminating the need for intermediaries and the risk of fraud. An example of this would be ConsenSys.
VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
Property management technology has undergone a significant transformation over the past few years. The introduction of cloud-based software and mobile apps has led to greater access, streamlined workflows, and smarter reporting for property managers.
But one trend that’s taken a bit longer to materialize is outsourcing. Offshoring tasks like administrative work, accounting, and marketing have long been a part of the business world. Property managers are just now realizing its potential benefits.
THE TOP REASONS TO HIRE A REAL ESTATE VIRTUAL ASSISTANT:
- it can be more cost-effective than hiring an in-house staff member
- is more efficient because you don’t have to train them or figure out how to use their technology.
- They can also be accessed remotely, 24/7.
Rocket Station has built a platform that allows you to build your own unique team to support your business, with each virtual assistant receiving training on your specific needs and processes (including any onboarding needed by your software systems).
Outsourcing is a trend that will continuously grow as technology allows more processes to be streamlined.
The days of managing your property in a binder and shuffling paperwork between your office and home are long gone. Today’s property managers have the luxury of using technology to manage their properties, tenants, finances, and much more – all from the comfort of their phones. They’re using them to connect with other people, and that leads to an increase in what’s called “virtual” space.
Virtual assistants and property management technology are only the beginning of an exciting new frontier that will revolutionize the way people do business. Soon, businesses will have on-demand access to virtual assistants who can be tasked to complete tasks across multiple platforms, who have access to all relevant information needed to complete each task, and who can do all of this at a low cost.
The combination of both proptech and virtual assistants is a game-changer.
