There are many people who have experienced such things as typos, delays in deposit and remittance processing. Real estate management has a lot of information that needs to enter or confirm so there is always the risk of making mistakes.
In order to greatly reduce human error and centralize information management. We recommend using convenient tools such as real estate management software.
Currently, there are many products on the market for real estate management software. So you must choose a product that is easy to use and has good after-sales follow-up. Therefore, this time, we will introduce in detail from the advantages and disadvantages of introducing real estate management software. it will help you to select real estate management software.
What is real estate management software?
Real estate management software is a business support service that allows you to manage important information in real estate management in a dedicated system environment .
Real estate management is a business that properly manages and grasps the status of rental properties owns by the owner, and the amount of information to input depends on the rent and property type.
Spreadsheet software such as Excel may use for management systems, but if the amount of information is large, the reading process will be heavy, and input errors and omissions will often occur.
It is an inefficient management system because it is not possible for multiple people to open files and work in parallel.
However, real estate management software has software on the server, and multiple people with access authority can access it at once. Unlike spreadsheet software, there is no need to save data and send it to others, and the enter data immediately reflects on the server, so updating work does not delay..
There are two types of operating environment for real estate management software: on-premises and cloud .
On-premises is a format in which software installs on an in-house server, while cloud is a format in which software installs on a server on the net. The real estate management company will choose whether to manage the data in-house or keep it in the cloud environment.
Then, what kind of functions does general real estate management software have? The following is an example of the basic functions that the user can operate.
- Property information management
- Room information management
- Contractor management
- Creation of expense reimbursement report, contract, and important matter explanation
- Management of rent payment status
- The management of inquiries from residents
- Management of repairs and restoration
- Creating invoices and invoices
The real estate management software has an easy-to-understand user interface. You can also easily operate it by selecting the above functions.
In addition to centralized data management, it is also possible to automate things such as remittance to the owner’s account and book entry by confirming payment from the resident.
Advantages and disadvantages of real estate management software
By using real estate management software, many office work such as contract work and deposit and remittance work can be streamlined. But it’s not just about the benefits. Of course, there are disadvantages to introducing real estate management software so that any tool is suitable or unsuitable.
Advantages
Eliminate loss of documents and data
Real estate management software exists on the server, so data stores safely. There is no risk of misplacement or accidental throwing away, which is common with paper documents and USB memory sticks.
On-premises using an in-house server worries about lightning strikes and fires. But if you choose the cloud, it will be easier to avoid such disasters. By operating the management work in the system, accuracy and maintainability guarantees, and it also appeals to the landlord.
The transfer work between the person in charge or the department is simplified.
The data in the rental management system greatly simplifies the transfer between personnel.
Although it depends on the characteristics of the system, each data such as property, contract, billing, etc. are linked. The real estate management software can also save the correspondence history. So the person in charge who came later should check how far the work has been done.
In addition, the entered characters and numbers are of course organized, preventing cases where the data is handwritten and the characters cannot be read.
Easy to manage data during the busy season
It is also a merit that you cannot overlook the fact that it is easy to manage data during the busy season at a real estate management company.
From January to March, when the number of residents changes rapidly. The amount of data input increases. There are many human errors such as forgetting to enter or changing information in spreadsheet software and documents. Since real estate management software can centrally manage data, it is easy to update resident information and contract information, and manage property repair information .
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Disadvantages
Work efficiency may drop immediately after system introduction
The disadvantage of real estate management software is that the work efficiency of the person in charge temporarily deteriorates when a new system introduces.
It will take some time to get use to the detailed work such as where to enter what and where to click to see the necessary information. However, this disadvantage will disappear after the person in charge has become accustomed to the system.
How to choose real estate management software?
Many people may be more interested in real estate management, which has many merits to introduce. However, not all real estate management software expects to improve work efficiency.
In order to select real estate management software that is suitable for your work and is easy for anyone to use, let’s select it by referring to the four points introduced here.
Select by software operability
The first thing to check when choosing real estate management software is the operability of the software.
Since various information can access with this software, the screen layout may be difficult to understand in some cases. Let’s take a look at the following three points so that education after introduction will be easy.
- The main menu is located in an easy-to-understand position
- The page for entering details such as property information and resident information separates for each item.
- Lights up so that the field you are entering is easy to see
For this software, we recommend customizable products that are easy to use and can set .
The following is an example of customization settings that are useful to have.
- Screen layout change
- Quick menu where you can register frequently used functions
- Memo function that can uses as a memorandum
- Registration of image files and Excel files
What kind of screen is easy to use depends on the person in charge. Office work will become more efficient if the customization with a high degree of freedom improves usability .
Choose by high development ability
When using real estate management software, there are many scenes where I think “it would be convenient to have such a function”. When you want to improve the functionality of software. It is important for the service provider to have high development capabilities.
High development ability does not mean that the request reflects in the software as it is.
Basis on the requests from users, we need a system to think about why improvements need and develop the functions that requires .
If you are a provider with low development ability, you can think that there will be no updates that will make it easier to use in the future. Also, if there is any trouble, it may take time to respond.
Therefore, be sure to choose a provider who is familiar with the real estate industry and can develop software that is easy for users to use .
Choose by cost
It is inevitable that introduction costs will incur when using real estate management software. However, it recommends to consider how the cost will incur and how much it will cost in long-term operation.
Keep in mind that the cost of thiis software depends on whether you choose to provide it on-premises or in the cloud . In general, the cloud version has a low initial installation cost but the running cost is set high. On-premises has a high initial installation cost but the running cost is set low..
Choose by support system
Since the real estate industry greatly affects by law revisions and tax rate fluctuations. Real estate management software must also upgrade on a regular basis. A full support system is indispensable for adding a calculation system and new functions in accordance with the law .
In addition, in order for users to master real estate management software. It is necessary to check the manual and support system for responding to inquiries.
To determine if the support system including system updates is substantial. Check the latest information from the official website of the real estate management software. If new information hasn’t been updated for half a year to nearly a year, it’s likely that you’re not focusing on support. It can be said that
the support system is sufficient if the response to the revision of the law is quick and the functions are added regularly .
In addition to regular patch support, real estate management software that has a call center and provides remote support over the phone can be said to have a support system in place.
Summary
Real estate management software is a system that can centrally manage data in real estate management. Centralized management of data can expect to improve work efficiency.
In addition, it is possible to reduce human error and handing over work that occur when entering information. It is also a measure against the risk of data loss. At the beginning of the introduction, the burden of learning operations and organizing data will incur only for a period of time at startup. But once you get used to the operations, you can improve work efficiency.
When choosing real estate management software, consider the four points of software operability, high development ability, cost, and support system. Not only is the software itself easy to use. But it is also important for continuous use to be able to flexibly respond to user requests and real estate-related legal amendments.
