One of the most interesting aspects of my role as the VP of Product Management is that I get to spend quite a bit of time listening to our customers describe their problems and learning about the process they go through to solve these problems on a daily basis. Many vendors in our industry also hear about these problems but often times respond by producing software that addresses each issue, one by one. But, as more technologies are released that help property managers run a more efficient business, it becomes really difficult to manage, integrate (and pay for!) all of these new mostly stand-alone technologies.
For example, a modern property management company will invest in:
- Property management accounting software
- Tools for posting vacancies (to Craigslist, the Internet, the business website)
- Online rent collection for residents
- Resident background check software
- A company website
- A portal solution for their Owners and Residents
During my initial conversations with residential property managers they talked about the challenges of getting all of these different software solutions to “work together” and their frustration at the cost and headache of managing multiple vendors. It became very clear to us that what property managers needed was a single and complete property management software solution so they could spend time focused on their business rather than solving technology compatibility issues. We also heard (loud and clear) that property managers are tired of paying extra for additional features.
We most recently announced online rent collection using ACH, integrated with AppFolio property management software and we are the first vendor to include it at no additional charge to our customers. In an industry where property managers typically pay their provider up to $1.50 per ACH transaction, it is pretty exciting to offer this service to our customers with zero additional monthly fees.
We have such an exciting opportunity to build property management software that matches to how property managers actually run their business!
