Hello Real Estate Professionals! It’s a New Year and it’s time to start checking off those New Year’s Resolutions for 2012! Some people want to lose weight, some save money, some make more money and some want more education. Although, you may want everything that I just mentioned, there may be one thing in particular that you want the most and that’s to invest in an Online Property Management Solution for your rental property business!
Sure you’ve increased your sales and have retained some tenants in your units last year, but you are worn out and believe there’s a more efficient way out there! Yes, you have your manual system down to a science, from dotting “I’s” and crossing “T’s”, but you’re missing many crucial elements in your business, one of which is being mobile and being able to manage tenants and pay bills all in one place. You don’t want to just manage your business online, but you want the ability to do it anywhere in the world. All the other “bells and whistles” that come along with the software will be an added bonus for you right?
Ok, so to make your life a little easier and to help you decide what kind of Online Property Management Software Solution is right for you, you need a checklist to help you out!
Here are Eleven Steps to Selecting the Right Online Property Management Software
1. Research the Online Property Management Software Market – Surf the internet, read blogs to gain more knowledge on the state of the property management software market.
2. Prioritize Requirements – Start at a high level by identifying what challenges you want to solve and what your current system isn’t doing for you.
3. Present to Management – Prove that the benefits of the new software vastly outweigh the costs.
4. Build a List of Software Vendors – Start with a list of products eliminating systems that don’t serve your specialty, size of business or high-level functional requirements.
5. Educate the Vendors – The more the software vendors know about your needs, the better they can communicate how their software can help you.
6. Evaluate Live Software Demonstrations – See the system in action, great detail and keep track of your thoughts.
7. Score and Rank the Software Systems – Using a 1-10 scale, score and rank the systems you have evaluated.
8. Gather and Compare Price Quotes – Ask the vendors to provide a detailed price quote, including all the costs associated with the system.
9. Verify Vendor References- Ask your top choice to provide one or more customer references that share your division and business size.
10. Review License Agreement – Make sure you purchase enough licenses for the entire organization.
11. Last but not least, Re-evaluate your final choice before making your ultimate decision.
Following these 11 steps should definitely help you to make your New Year’s Resolution come true and get the Online Property Management Software Solution that is just right for your business!
