Joel says to Rebecca, “We’ve got a match from our real estate company. It’s only four blocks away. Let’s go see what the house looks like.”

Within minutes, the couple is outside the 714 Longview Rd. home. It happens to be exactly the type of home they wanted, in the exact neighborhood they wanted to live in. They call their real estate agent to set up a viewing.

How did this happen? How was the couple instantly notified of the opportunity, perfectly merging buyer requirements, location and timing? The answer involves a combination of “geo-fencing,” mobile phones and GPS technology.

If you’re a tech savvy real estate agent or property manager, this powerful combination of technology represents a great opportunity to gain new clientele. Many real estate buyers do not have the time to review new listings online, travel to viewings or patrol their desired neighborhoods for opportunities. But the vast majority of real estate buyers do have mobile phones they carry with them nearly all the time.

This technology would help real estate and property management companies capitalize on business that may otherwise slip through the cracks. Software Advice would like to see this type of mobile marketing become a permanent feature in today’s property management software systems to help advertise real estate and rental properties.

Let’s see how that could be done.

Geo-Fencing + Mobile Phones = Powerful Real Estate Marketing
What if a buyer looking for a place to live didn’t have to do anything beyond choosing what features they wanted in a home? What if a buyer was automatically alerted to nearby properties that matched their needs?

This is what we’re talking about with the next generation of mobile real estate marketing.

The use of “geo-fences” surrounding properties really drives the location-based marketing engine. A geo-fence is a virtual boundary surrounding a geographic region. When a person with a mobile phone crosses a geo-fence boundary, a notification is automatically issued to that mobile phone. Traditionally, geo-fencing has been used to send alerts when users exit a certain area, instead of entering one.

Geo-fencing has been used in conjunction with GPS technology for a while now and for a variety of uses:

• Tracking senior citizens with Alzheimer’s;
• Ensuring mobile employees don’t travel outside of certain areas; and,
• Monitoring hazardous cargo, to name a few examples.

We’re confident that someday, we’ll be able to add “Market real estate” to that list. Here’s how we see this new form of mobile marketing working in the real estate industry:

Create geo-fences. Before real estate and property management companies set up their online portals, they’ll need to create geo-fences around all of their properties. This will ensure that if a qualified user crosses the geo-fence with their mobile phone, that user will be notified about that property.

We’d like to see geo-fencing modules built into today’s property management software, allowing companies to quickly create geo-fences around their properties by drawing them on a digital map.

Collect buyer needs online. Real estate and property management companies can create online portals on their web sites, where prospective tenants and buyers set up notifications tailored to what they want in a property.

For example, a user could create an alert based on square footage, number of bedrooms, pet friendliness, special amenities, and zip code, to name just a few of the myriad of options available. Once they’ve entered their cell phone number and submitted those housing preferences, all they have to do is carry their phone with them to receive notifications.

We’d also like to see today’s property management software vendors integrate these online portals into their systems. Many property management software vendors offer web site design and hosting packages to their customers. A geo-fencing module could be another module that’s presented as an option to a management company when they purchase the software.

Let the notifications begin. The notifications are where this entire concept of location-based mobile marketing comes together. The geo-fences have been set up. Users have entered their housing preferences online to receive notifications. All that is left is for the users to go about their normal lives, with their GPS-enabled mobile phones, of course.

When they get close to a property that matches their wants, they’ll be automatically notified on their mobile phone. Property management software can then integrate all of these contact points with customers into their CRM system, to track the effectiveness of the messages and review properties with clients.

House hunting couldn’t get much easier than that, could it?

The Benefits
Hopefully by now, the benefits of this unique marketing method are clear.

First, since the user opts in to receive these marketing notifications, there is no feeling of intrusiveness or annoyance as with unsolicited messages. This type of marketing is perceived as a service, not an intrusion.

Second, from a marketing standpoint, notifying the right person, at the right place, at the right time about your product is powerful.

It’s the holy grail of marketing:

• You have a desirable product;
• You have identified the person that wants your product; and,
• You can automatically tell that person that your product is nearby.

Finally, this marketing method is scalable. A real estate or property management company could theoretically have dozens (or more) of users taking advantage of this service at any given time. Beyond taking calls to schedule viewings, it wouldn’t require any extra labor on the part of the management company.

Conclusion
We don’t expect this spin on mobile marketing to be installed in every real estate and property management office tomorrow. But whether through geo-fence triggers or other GPS-centric methods, the real estate industry will undoubtedly continue to make a huge effort over the next few years to connect with buyers and renters through their mobile phones.

The technology is too compelling to ignore.

What are your thoughts on geo-fencing’s affects on real estate marketing? Too far-fetched? The holy grail of marketing? Share them in the comments.

• Make tenants’ lives easier and more convenient;
• Improve collaboration and communication with building owners; and,
• Make the property manager more efficient in their operations.

How does it work?

The TSPM certification considers a management company’s technology capabilities across the following fifteen qualification criteria, in three major areas:

Certified by: Property Management Software Advice

Property management companies that apply for the TSPM certification are scored on their adoption of each of these capabilities on a binary basis. That is, they have either implemented that capability or they have not. The TSPM certification is vendor-agnostic, meaning that a property manager can deploy any technology to fulfill the qualification criteria. It is not tied to any specific technology vendor. Building owners that are evaluating new property managers can look for the TSPM certification badge on the property manager’s website. An example is shown at right (Alternate versions are available). Property managers that qualify to display the TSPM badge will benefit from the third-party validation provided by the Software Advice TSPM certification.

How can a company qualify?

The TSPM qualification process consists of a brief questionnaire that will determine the extent to which a management company is taking advantage of important property management technology. Upon completion of the application, a Software Advice researcher contacts the applicant to verify the answers and explain the certification results. If the manager is accepted, the company receives a badge that they can display on their web site to show off their “tech savvy” credentials. Software Advice will regularly verify technology use and implementation to maintain the credibility of the TSPM certification.

Why Software Advice

As a third-party organization – not a property manager or a property management software vendor – Software Advice is uniquely qualified to manage the TSPM certification. Our team of experts have researched the property management software market in-depth to determine which capabilities are most important to clients and tenants, as well as how those capabilities correlate to effectiveness and efficiency.

Software Advice has solicited feedback on the fifteen qualification criteria from a range of property management software vendors and property managers. We will continue to update the TSPM certification to include new criteria as technologies and market demands evolve.

How do I get started?

Click the link below to get started. After completing the application, our team will contact you to let you know your status. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Thorman at (512) 364-0118 or by e-mail at chris@softwareadvice.com.

We invite you to download the full results of our survey (PDF) to review these trends and stats and blog about them on your own web site.

We’ve covered a handful of the more interesting results here.

Technology Characteristics of a Growing Business

Nearly half of the companies we surveyed grew their business last year, either by revenue or by number of units. Below is a chart detailing the rate of technology adoption by those companies:

Figure 1

The companies that were able to grow their business in a down economy made extensive use of technology.

Over 60% of those growing businesses use property management specific software system, such as Buildium, Appfolio, Maxwell Systems or Spectra.

In general, those that were successful were able to:

• Automate tasks
• Track online leads well
• Provide their tenants with online options

Like with virtually every other industry, the successful property management companies are moving online.

Great Software Equals Efficiency

We asked our respondents how many units their company managed and how many employees worked at their company. We broke down the averages, compared them to who was using property management software to manage their company and who wasn’t.

Figure 2

Companies who used property management specific software managed an average of 102 units per employee. Those that using generic software or spreadsheets only managed an average of 61 units per employee.We acknowledge there are other factors to consider here. But we’re firmly in the camp that an integrated software suite frees up property management employees to do more tasks. It just makes sense:

• Less time spent moving between programs
• Less time spent learning multiple systems
• Quicker and more efficient data management
• Many automated tasks

We’d love to hear from those of you whose experience has differed from this.

Companies are Struggling to Track Online Leads

The property management industry has a strong presence online, from Multifamily Insiders to Let’s Talk Property Management to PropertyManager.com. Much of the discussion on those web sites is centered around online marketing and lead generation.

Figure 3

That’s why it was surprising to see 36% of property managers don’t even use computers to track online leads. Instead they rely on a tenant to mention it on an application.

In addition, 19% of our respondents don’t track leads generated online, which was perhaps the most shocking statistic.

As we noted above, those companies that are effectively tracking online leads are growing their business.

Social Media Use Widespread But Is It Effective?

Despite the evangelization of social media over the last few years, our survey showed no sizable growth in business between companies who are using social media and those who are not.

Figure 4

This begs the question: What strength does social media have in the business of property management? Facebook and Twitter are fantastic for networking – but does that generate leads and provide a return on investment?

We’d be curious to hear from those of you who have defined ROI metrics for social media.

Thoughts from the respondents

One more job responsibility – managing and forecasting a building’s carbon footprint – should be added, according to Ross Sharman, director of Australia-based Knowledge Global and Oracle Magazine’s 2009 Green IT Architect of the Year.

EMMA Technology Flow

Sharman and Knowledge Global, a sustainability consultancy, have created a comprehensive, automated environmental monitoring system for buildings called EMMA (Environmental Management Solution). The EMMA system is a solution for property owners and managers who want to measure, track and forecast exactly how much energy a building is using/losing, while simultaneously educating their tenants about their carbon output.

Let’s take a look at how EMMA works and its most interesting capability: How it displays the energy information it records and how that affects human behavior.

Measure everything

It’s well-known that events and processes that are measured improve more quickly than those that aren’t. That’s why at the heart of the EMMA system is the constant measurement, tracking and analysis of dozens of pieces of environmental and building data.

The EMMA system gathers environmental data from a variety of electronic monitors inside and outside of a building. This data is aggregated by a variety of software applications and displayed in a digital user interface. The information provides an ongoing snapshot of the “health” of the building.

Metrics the EMMA system measures and how they are tracked include:

• Gas, water, electricity use, waste and weather information through the monitoring of meters
• Human traffic through security systems and thermal imaging technology similar to what shopping centers use
• Occupant demographics through tenant profiling and human resources
• Building space through floor plans and tenant agreements
• Well-being of occupants through online surveys

Imagine the possibilities when you’re able to unite these pieces of data. For example, by measuring human traffic, you would have an “occupancy rate” number to measure against your energy use statistics. This would be valuable information for determining to what extent people are influencing a building’s energy use.

Over time, patterns about energy use would emerge allowing building owners to forecast energy costs. They also would be able to easily identify energy efficiency opportunities as numbers fluctuate. And problem areas which the precise measurement of the carbon footprint of a building exposes over time.

How EMMA is different

What’s different about Knowledge Global’s environmental monitoring system? According to Frank Buytendijk of Oracle, it’s how it’s implemented – by putting energy use directly in front of people on a daily basis.

It’s not a one-time energy audit but an ongoing effort to maintain a watchful eye over a buildings’ carbon output. The ultimate goal: Making people more conscious about their carbon footprint.

Another big difference is the environmental display monitor placed in the building’s lobby. The EMMA system draws on historical energy use data and even weather forecasts to create a daily, optimal forecast for a building’s energy use. The display is similar to the online interface pictured below.

EMMA Web Interface

Throughout the day, the building’s real-time environmental information is fed to this graphical display and compared against the optimal forecast. When an aberration occurs, the property manager is notified via e-mail or mobile device of the issue, and the discrepancy is shown graphically on the monitor.

Imagine that: Visitors and tenants of an office building are met front and center with real-time information about the environmental health of the building they are in. Talk about getting in your face about the reduction of energy use.

This display is also online, where it can be checked at any time. Property owners and managers who own multiple properties would find this web-based approach especially useful.

Changing behavior

There are a handful of services out there that monitor building energy use but none of them modify behavior like the EMMA system does.

The EMMA monitor in the lobby of buildings displays energy use by floor, room and even by tenant. This makes it easy to organize competitions that motivate tenants to reduce the amount of energy they are using.

EMMA’s wireless “eggs” are another visual incentive for reducing tenants’ carbon footprint.  These egg-shaped devices sit throughout a building – in common areas and on each floor, for example – and glow red or green as energy use fluctuates against the optimal forecast. This constant reminder about energy use encourages tenants to use less, or at least, makes them aware of energy use in areas they may have not even thought about before.

What else?

Will we see this level of monitoring in residential homes? Possibly. The carbon/energy monitoring industry is still young, with Google’s Power Meter perhaps the only service that has even begun to creep into the public eye. It’s not out of the question for people to eventually consider the carbon output of their homes just as relevant to the environment as the carbon output of their cars. Right now, it’s not practical for home owners to outfit their homes with a monitoring system as sophisticated as EMMA. However, a simpler version of EMMA may be in the future of residential building construction.

Could this type of technology become part of a governmental regulatory program? Likely. If governments can regulate automobile emissions, then it’s reasonable to assume they could create some sort of carbon “cap” for homes and office buildings. With the momentum that “green” initiatives have experienced, some level of governmental control of a building’s carbon footprint is likely inevitable. And if that does happen, EMMA’s detailed reporting will make carbon footprint reporting – which would be the cornerstone of any regulatory program -  accurate and consistent.

What we would like to see

We’d really like to see property management software include green monitoring features in their systems. To date, none of them track this information. But that’s more because the carbon tracking industry is so young and not a reflection on the state of property management software. I predict that green monitoring features will be a part of web-based property management software systems at some point. It makes too much sense – both environmentally and financially – to keep a close eye on the environmental health of a building.

What are you thoughts? Is the EMMA system (or some variation of it) the future of green building management?

Disclaimer: Software Advice and Knowledge Global are not affiliated in any way.

This week, we’re moving from the anecdotal to the empirical with our Property Management Technology Survey.

Click the image to begin the survey.

The survey is a short one – only 15 questions – and will only take you a couple of minutes to complete. Our goal with the survey is to create a 2009 snapshot of how property managers are using the vast amount of technology available to them.

We’re trying to gather as much data as possible so please forward this blog post to your colleagues so they can participate.

The survey will close on Wednesday, December 9th, at 9 PM central time.

The Property Management Software team at Software Advice has broken down the program to show you what to expect for borrowers, tenants and property managers.

Before a borrower is eligible to rent their home under Deed for Lease program, they must have a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure agreement (DIL) in place with Fannie Mae. This agreement means that the borrower has agreed to give the title to their property back to Fannie Mae in order to satisfy the terms of their mortgage.

Basically, it’s an agreement that says, “Take my house and we’ll call it even on the mortgage.”

Penalties may apply – a ding on the borrower’s credit report for one – but those penalties will be less harmful than a normal foreclosure.

Once a borrower is deemed eligible for a DIL agreement, that gives the Fannie Mae the green light and they will contact a property manager to initiate the D4L process with the borrower.

If a borrower agrees to renting his home, the property manager will:

• Review the leasing conditions;
• Determine if the borrower qualifies under the terms of the D4L program (see below);
• Inspect the property; and,
• Approve the lease.

The property manager will also be the one who sets the rental rate for the next 12 months.

Essentially, Fannie Mae will outsource the administration of the new leases to a third-party property management company.

If the borrower does not qualify for D4L, the property manager will inform the borrower and the normal DIL process continues. The borrower will lose their home and not be able to remain there as a renter.

Who is eligible?

In order to be considered for the Deed for Lease program, a borrower must meet these requirements:

• Have a Fannie Mae mortgage that is in a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure agreement;
• Requested a loan modification and been turned down;
• Show proof of income that the rental rate will not exceed 31 percent of the borrower’s monthly income (e.g., If the rental rate is determined to be $1,500 a month, the borrower must show proof of a monthly gross income of at least $4,838);
• The borrower can’t be involved in bankruptcy proceedings; and,
• At least three payments have been made on the property from the time the loan started or since the last modification. The borrower also cannot be more than 12 months past due on their payments.

As you can probably imagine, thousands of borrowers around the country are potentially eligible for the Deed for Lease program.

What about the property?

In addition to the requirements for the borrower, the property itself must also meet certain requirements:

• Be in good condition;
• The property in question must be a primary residence (not a second home or a vacation home);
• In compliance with local rules and laws; and,
• Not targeted for any corporate, government or community plan that will need the property for non-residential us.

The property manager hired by Fannie Mae will determine if the property meets these requirements.

What about properties that are already being rented out by their owners? Fannie Mae will work with the borrower to determine if the tenants are interested in renting through the Deed for Lease program. If they are, the property manager assigned to the property will work with the tenants to execute a lease. The property owner will give up his or her property and the property manager assigned by Fannie Mae will become the tenants’ landlord.

If either the tenants don’t want to work within the Deed for Lease program or a tenant does not qualify for the program, the property will not be eligible for the D4L program. Basically, the tenants, not the owner, must agree to the program for it to move forward.

Own to rent: Do the numbers make sense?

City	Median home price	Mortgage	Rent (2 BR)	Savings
New York	$469,300	$2,868	$2,200	$668
Los Angeles	$584,800	$3,574	$1,749	$1,825
Chicago	$273,500	$1,672	$1,440	$232
Dallas	$149,500	$914	$908	$6
Philadelphia	$230,200	$1,407	$1,095	$312
Houston	$149,100	$911	$900	$11
Miami	$371,200	$2,269	$1,600	$669
Atlanta	$171,800	$1,050	$1,000	$50
D.C.	$431,000	$2,634	$2,030	$604
Boston	$402,200	$2,458	$1,850	$608

How much immediate relief can someone who enters the D4L program expect to get by renting?

Since housing prices vary greatly from one region to the next, it would be difficult to pin down a single set of numbers that describes the potential savings of moving from renting to owning across the country. We’ve gathered data on the top ten metropolitan areas in the United States by population to cut the widest swath.

Here’s our methodology for calculating how much a borrower could potentially save each month by agreeing to the D4L program:

• The length of the loan is 30 years;
• The APR is a 6.18%, the December 2006 average from Fannie Mae;
• The median home price for the metro areas is based on the National Association of Realtors’ 2006 single family home report;
• The monthly mortgage amount was calculated using HSH.com; and,
• The average rental rate comes from Zilpy.com.

As you can see, every household would hypothetically save money each month by trading in the deed to their property and renting it out.

Yes, they still have to give up their property to Fannie Mae and lose the equity in their home. But they wouldn’t have to move during an undoubtedly rough transitional period and would avoid hefty security deposits if they were to move to a new rental unit. It’s a desirable solution relative to immediately foreclosing on a home and having to search for a new place to live.

Your turn: How will this affect borrowers, tenants and property managers?

This is where you come in.

Do you think that the Deed for Lease program makes sense for Fannie Mae, the borrower or property managers administering the new leases?

What problems do you foresee?

I want to point out six things that property managers can really master in the 21st century, thanks to the latest property management software systems.

Running your office on one of the leading property management software applications will allow you to:

• Generate e-mail blasts to your tenants and rental owners
• Create community forums to discuss important topics and feedback
• Manage online calendars of events and important dates

In short, your property management software becomes your communication hub between you, your tenants and your rental owners. There’s no need to combine three of four different, separate services that don’t talk to each other. Moreover, you’ll be present without having to knock on every door.

Automation of Regular Tasks

If the rent deadline has passed and a tenant has not paid their rent yet, what do you do?

Typically, you either call them on the phone or drop off a notice at their door. That’s too much manual effort. Your property management system should email them an alert or late rent notice immediately. No need for you to type, print, mail or deliver.

Property management software can even ease the pain during one of the most stressful times of the year – tax season. Buildium’s property management software will automatically generate 1099 tax forms for vendors and rental owners and even file them electronically to the IRS. All of this is done from within the software itself.

The advantages of automation are clear: more time to focus on more important tasks (like finding leads), fewer mistakes and an overall higher level of efficiency.

Others tasks that have been automated by property management software are:

• Rent increases
• CAM charges
• Preventative maintenance scheduling
• Lease expiration notices
• Tenant log in to view account details

Many of your automated notices to tenants can be emailed directly from the property management software or even sent to mobile phones.

Advertising with Popular Web Sites

Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective tenant. Where are you going to look first for a new apartment or home? More than likely, you’re going to start your search at Craigslist or another website.

Property management software company Appfolio integrates the ability to post listings to Craigslist directly into it’s software, making posting vacancies to the hugely popular web site that much easier.

Appfolio uses the information you’ve already entered and are managing about your properties and ports that information directly to Craigslist. No double entry and no time wasted managing your Craigslist account separately.

And it’s not just about making it easy to post to Craigslist. Appfolio allows you to design a custom template (pictured right) that makes your Craigslist posts stand out among the typical, text-only ads.

Building a Web Site that Integrates with Your Software

If you can count the number of pages on your web site on one hand, chances are it’s not doing much to help keep your occupancy rate high. You need more than a digital business card. What you need is a web site that appeals to prospects, tenants and property owners alike.

A good number of property management software systems out there give you the option to build a slick, fully functional web site that integrates directly with their software.

Property Ware and Rentec Direct are a few of the many property management software suites that give you this build-a-web-site option in addition to their other property management software services. They’ll build a fully customizable web site with all of the features you need.

Advantages of customizable property management web sites include:

• No coding or site maintenance is need on your part
• Installation is quick and painless
• They’ll manage your domain name
• Web site analytics built into the software
• Built in forms increase your lead generation
• All of this is integrated directly with the property management software

Instead of having one company handle your web site design and hosting and another handle your property management software needs, why not have one company do both?

Going Green

Eco-conscious tenants are increasingly concerned with the environmental footprint of their home, even if they are a tenant rather than an owner.

Here’s a list of ways that property management software helps property managers save energy and save paper:

• Storing documents digitally, resulting in fewer lost documents and less paper
• E-mailing renter’s statements at their request instead of printing out paper statements
• Scan renter’s checks and upload them electronically
• Web-based property management eliminates the in-house server, saving energy

Going green isn’t just about saving energy and trees. It also helps you increase your efficiency:

• Digital document storage cuts the time searching for documents dramatically when you can type in a search instead of rummaging through a massive file cabinet
• E-mailing out monthly statement’s is quite a bit quicker than printing, stuffing envelopes and making the rounds on your property dropping off statements
• Imagine eliminating those weekly, sometimes daily, trips to the bank when you can scan and uploading a renter’s check from your desk
• Web-based property management software virtually eliminates IT headaches (and time spent dealing with those headaches) because your software vendor hosts the software on their own servers

If you do take these energy saving measures and advertise them, you’ll attract more customers. And depending on the extent of the “greening” of your properties, you’ll be able to charge more in rent too.

What else does property management software help you do better? What things do you want your property management to take care of that it currently doesn’t?

So, Software Advice has put together a list of smartphone apps we’d like to see developed for property management. Most of the technology already exists in property management software and other mobile apps, it just needs to be mashed up for our use. Some of these save time. Others save money. And some of them are just plain cool.

1) Augmented Realty Applications – By far we are most excited about “augmented reality” applications. Augmented reality is the blending of computer graphics and real-world data in real-time. The idea dates back to 1990, but interest in the field has reignited with the arrival of camera phones.

Here’s how it works: turn on your smartphone video camera, then point it at your property. The augmented reality app will overlay data about the property in your viewfinder. This could include things like vacant units, tenants with overdue rent or repairs that need to be finished.

To get specific details, simply touch one of the onscreen captions to go to a tenant account, work order or vacancy report. From there, click-to-dial a tenant for overdue rent, send out a work order to maintenance staff or email a prospect about viewing a space. This would all be tied to your punchlist and to-do’s would automatically be removed as you complete them.

To prove this isn’t entirely far-fetched, check out this video of an augmented reality app for home buyers.

2) Mobile Marketing – Marketing and tenant screening are critical to maintaining profitable occupancy rates. Smartphones can make those processes easier. To start, a marketing app could perform a credit and background check from your phone. Most tenant screening services already offer this over the web, so making “an app for that” would be easy.

After approval, tenants could review and sign the lease electronically using your phone. Not only would this save time, but also a lot of paper and any associated costs (purchasing, printing and archiving). Best of all it could all be performed on location after showing a space. Just remember to use the ol’ pinch and release to zoom in on that fine print.

3) Wireless Building Maintenance Management – Gone are the days of walkie talkies and making multiple trips back to the office for work orders. Smartphones keep engineers in the field and on task. Best of all, this already exists…

Deep Forest Systems, makers of OnCite Software, offers a wireless work order application. The app allows maintenance staff to access and edit work orders in the field. One notable time-saver is the “acceptance feature.” Work orders can be dispatched to multiple maintenance crew members. Whoever is closest to the property accepts the request. The “to do” is added to that engineer’s punch list and removed from others’ queues.

We’d like to see this developed one step further. Utilizing GPS in smartphones, the app could ping crew members’ phones, then automatically assign the task to whoever was geographically closest.

4) Voicemail Broadcasts – Need to make an announcement to all tenants? This app would allow you to create a voice recording and broadcast it to all tenants using a robo-dial feature. Start by building a call list of specific tenants — simply drag and drop from your database — then hit “go” to mass-dial each one.

This app would be handy for making general announcements, lease renewal notifications and emergency alerts. If it was a little more sophisticated, the app could automatically create and dial call lists for you. For example, the app could identify tenants who haven’t paid rent, build a call list, then send your standard “overdue rent” message.

For the record, a similar version of this is already available from SayNow. The app allows you to broadcast voice and text messages to a group of people. But there is a drawback; SayNow has the right to put ads in your text and voice messages.

5) Tenant Portal – A great app for apartment managers and residents alike. Apartment managers could use the app as an online bulletin board, while tenants could use it to pay rent or communicate directly with property managers. For example, after logging in, tenants would see a bulletin board of daily notices (e.g. pool closures, crime alerts, new office hours, parking announcements, etc). From there, they could perform a number of activities like pay rent, put in maintenance requests or even renew their lease.

This app would also be useful for community development. Managers could send out invitations to social events or make recommendations about local restaurants and retail shops. Tenants could use it to meet other residents, post event announcements or buy and sell furniture.

A sophisticated version of this would allow residents to opt in to a GPS sync. When they arrive at the property, their smartphone will recognize the location and load up any of the day’s alerts.

Of course all this could be applied to commercial property management. Businesses could leave comments for cleaning crew, place requests for repairs, etc.

Share Your Ideas
We could go on listing many other uses, but we’d like to hear your ideas instead. What app would you like to see developed? Leave a comment. Who knows, maybe we’ll see your idea posted in an app store.

Founded in 2005, Software Advice matches technology buyers with the right software for their organization. The company serves a range of vertical markets, including the construction, medical, property management and retail industries. In turn, Software Advice also provides a powerful marketing channel for software vendors that are looking to reach buyers in these industries.

When deciding where to move the company, founder & President Don Fornes said that Austin’s favorable business climate and high quality of life made the central-Texas town stand out.

“We wanted to move to a city where we could grow our business cost-effectively and have a great quality of life. I also wanted our employees to love where they lived. Austin gave us the best combination of a friendly business environment, outstanding professional talent and a quality of life that that is unmatched.”

Austin’s reputation as a technology hub played a large role in the move, Fornes said.

“We knew that as the company grew, we would need to find talented employees with a background in technology and Internet marketing. Moving to Austin means that we can find that talent right here while helping to strengthen local business.”

The company is connecting with that talent by hosting a meet-and-greet happy hour for Austin’s blogger and tech community. The event begins at 6 P.M. on August 13th at the company’s downtown office (Click here for our flyer with more information).

Software Advice also walks the walk on the environmentally conscious business philosophy that is shared amongst so many Austin companies. The Software Advice office at 7th & Congress is paperless. Any documents that come into the office are scanned and stored digitally before being recycled. Each month, the company prints fewer than 20 sheets of paper.

Meanwhile, every Software Advice employee commutes to work by foot, by bicycle or by bus. Employees also man the company’s internal recycling program by sorting and transporting recyclables to Ecology Action of Texas every Friday.

“We definitely made the right choice,” Fornes said. “We love Austin. It’s a great fit. Over time, we hope we can have a positive impact on Austin’s local economy, while continuing to serve software buyers across North America.

About Software Advice
Software Advice (www.softwareadvice.com) has helped over 13,000 businesses of all sizes make the right technology decisions. The company has developed sophisticated technology for software needs analysis and requirements matching. Software Advice experts use this technology to match buyers with the right software system during its free telephone consultations. Currently, the company serves the construction, medical, property management and retail industries.

For more information, please contact Chris Thorman at (512) 364-0118.

Update: Here is video from our 1st Annual Summer Bash.

Thank you to everyone who came!

With almost 30,000 monthly searches for “property management software” in Google, Yahoo and MSN, there is clearly strong interest in automating core property management business processes. Software Advice saves buyers weeks of research by providing the “lay of the land” in the property management software industry. Visitors to Software Advice can research and compare leading systems to narrow down a “short list” that will meet their needs.

Moreover, visitors to the website can interact with the company’s knowledgeable team of experts to receive:

• Free telephone consultations
• Software demonstrations and pricing information
• Answers to the toughest questions about software

“Amidst the current recession, real estate investors and property managers are looking to gain every efficiency possible,” said Don Fornes, founder & CEO of Software Advice. “With new project starts dropping dramatically, companies are looking to cut costs, limit vacancies and ensure returns on existing investments. The right software can make a huge impact.”

For property management software vendors, Software Advice serves as a powerful marketing venue. Vendors receive highly qualified sales referrals when visitors request information about their products. Market leaders such as Buildium, Domin-8, Maxwell Systems and Property Boulevard are currently participating.

“Software Advice is great at delivering value to software buyers and vendors,” said Heidi Simon, Marketing Communications Manager at Maxwell Systems. “They consider a buyer’s time frame to purchase, business requirements and budget before making recommendations.”

Participating vendors offer a wide range of software systems including residential property management software, commercial real estate software, and retail real estate software, and cover the range of application capabilities, including tenant administration, facilities maintenance, budgeting and accounting.

In 2009, Software Advice will expand its coverage to address needs of large corporate and institutional tenants. These firms are looking to better manage their relationships with landlords, track leases, plan space requirements and manage capital programs.

Property Management Software Advice is now online at: http://www.softwareadvice.com/property-management/.