What is A Property Management Platform?

February 26, 2020

Property Management Platforms

The word platform is often used loosely by software developers to describe a custom, all-inclusive programmed IT solution for customers. It is a comprehensive solution that provides an array of related services customers want.

Is a property management platform going to solve your pains in 2020? If you find the right one, it could make a substantial difference in your profit and sustainability.

Let’s take a closer look at the fuzzy world of platforms for property management so you can ask better questions during the buying process.

The Major Consumer Platforms

There are platforms for nearly every area of online business you can think of from sales to customer service. You’re already using many of them.

Facebook, Google and Amazon are big scale examples of business IT platforms. They incorporate a wide array of financial, account information, and transactional features for customers. They have cloud platforms, ecommerce and payment platforms, and marketing platforms. The tech descriptions of platforms are only comprehensible to IT managers.

Platforms can also be looked at as a business framework too. Platform developers can build out new and better services faster and cheaper, thus promising to provide customers with better value in future. That’s important for landlords or property management companies looking to stay competitive in an industry that will get tougher.

Platforms are a Collection of Integrated Services

The word platform shouldn’t scare you. It’s simply a collection of services served by a secure, powerful computing system. Not all platforms are created equal or relevant of course. As an SMB property manager or landlord, you want an affordable one that’s built to to help you do work and grow, all in one place.

ManageCasa is described as such an all in one platform for property managers.

The Hunt for Better Property Management Solutions

Landlords and property managers typically begin their search for new management technology solutions because some aspect of their business isn’t doing well — their pain (renters paying with cash and needing handwritten receipts, or tenant maintenance and repairs are becoming too time-consuming, regulatory requirements, or inhouse IT costs becoming too expensive).

They’re looking for specific help, and what they discover is that they actually need a whole new digital property management system — a platform as an all in one solution. They discover a new realm of work automation tools that helps their staff and tenants and raise performance significantly.

There are solutions, software, apps, packages and of course platforms available, but what are the differences, and what do they all mean for inexperienced landlords and property management startups?

A Business World that’s Very Nichey

For most SMB’s, success comes from capturing a market niche and serving up niche services. Any solution a property manager considers has to serve his/her specific needs. Although some platforms are all in one solutions, they must still be appropriate to SMB manager’s niche market.

Property management tech has to serve end users who have different business models, different types of rental properties, in unique cities and neighborhoods, facing unique revenue opportunities, taxation issues, rental regulations, and numbers of units to manage.

Landlords and property managers want solutions that are perfect for their business niche (e.g., multifamily apartments, mixed-use buildings, retail stores, single family housing, HOAs, Community Associations, hotel and vacation properties, student housing, parking lots).

Most property management companies may do all work in house, or they may outsource for services. No two property management companies are alike, but you can’t tell that from their website.

A Platform Should Provide the Right Mix of Services

Serving the enterprise multifamily sector and small SFR landlord simultaneously is very difficult. Some solutions don’t serve both audiences well. This has been an opportunity for niche property management solutions. They’re streamlined to provide the right mix of features.

Despite the proliferation of mobile SaaS services and stand alone solutions available, a property management platform, for instance, better integrates the digital services and features it offers. When using a platform, you have better protection of your data, better security, better interoperability of apps, and the inclusion of specialized services, such as an online payment system, tenant communications apps, and specialized accounting.

In an ideal world, apps and services could stand alone. But they can’t right now. This might be the era of public cloud networks and shared computing. Unfortunately, there are real security and regulatory reasons such as user data restrictions and proprietary financial data, that prevent open sharing.

Additionally, there are technical incompatibilities with different companies, along with banking and cross border restrictions. Many software products can’t be used in other countries. These are big issues that property management software platforms are having to deal with.

“ManageCasa is a modern, interactive, all-in-one, online and mobile property management platform which which helps property managers and landlords manage their properties, tenants, lease agreements, maintenance and accounting files online from one central place.

Can SMB’s Use a Property Management Platform?

Fortunately you can. Platforms such as ManageCasa contain all the services your business needs to deliver. And they’re priced well for SMB companies. From secure data handling, to document hosting, to double entry bookkeeping and online rent payments, bank reconciliation, and web marketing, you can conduct almost all of your business on the ManageCasa Platform.

In closing this discussion of property management platforms, let’s remind ourselves that software isn’t necessarily a platform, and enterprise level platforms might not be right for your property management company.

Have a good look at ManageCasa with your requirements in mind. You’ll find its handy online rent payment, easy and powerful bookkeeping functionality, and tenant communications are essentials. Most property management pros are looking for these key benefits.

As a platform, ManageCasa is continually updating, since it was designed for this growth in services and integrated, you can rely on it to keep performing for you. Many software providers don’t know where they or the IT market is headed.

Please see our posts on property management trends, proptech, niche renter markets, and Instant Tenant Services.