2008 Review of Property Management Systems

With the products reviewed here, the choices are clearer than ever before.
No longer do you have to “buy up,” investing tens of thousands of
dollars on a product that contains more features than will ever be used. The
software products reviewed here, while also suitable for larger, mixed-use property
management companies, are also extremely flexible and affordable. They are designed
to work just as well for the smaller company, as for the larger company with
more sophisticated needs.

This review focused on the following areas:

Interface/Ease of Use
Arguably one of the most important areas in any software product, the product
interface is where all the action is. We take a look at the interface of each
of the products to determine exactly how easy (or not) it was to navigate through
the system. Can you spend five minutes familiarizing yourself with the interface
and feel comfortable enough to start navigating through the software or do you
stare at it forever, without a clue as to what to do next?

And just how easy is the software to use? Obviously, if you’re familiar
with a specific software product, it’s quite easy to use. But what about
a brand new software system? Can you easily determine where to set up your property
information? What about move-ins and move-outs? Will you need to spend weeks
setting up the system or can you have it up and running in days? These are the
questions that need to be addressed, particularly for smaller management companies
with limited resources.

Modules/Scalability
This is another important area, particularly for those looking to implement
a software product for the first time. Does the software contain an integrated
accounting module? A maintenance module? An applicant module? What, if any,
add-on modules are available? Module availability plays a large role when purchasing
a software product. Not only the modules that are needed today, but the availability
of modules that may be needed in the future, as well.
Scalability also fits in to that scenario. Can the product grow along with your
company, or will you be forced to upgrade to another product?

Integration
Integration may not be of prime importance to the property manager in the immediate
future, but it is something that needs to be considered. Can you integrate with
any third-party software products? Can the software integrate with payroll software?
What about applicant credit processing? Can reports be imported from third-party
software applications? Can you export reports to other applications such as
Word or Excel?

Reporting
Reporting is of the utmost importance to the property manager. It’s imperative
that the ability to run comprehensive financial and property reports is available.
All software products contain standard reporting functionality, but can those
same reports be exported to an Excel spreadsheet? And will the product work
with a third-party reporting tool such as Crystal Reports?

Support
The support aspect of any software product is difficult for a reviewer to accurately
judge. But we can provide information about the various options that are available,
as well as any Help/training capability that is available.

Summary
The summary section basically states the current system pricing, along with
a recommendation as to what property management portfolios the product would
likely be best suited. We also highly recommend that you visit the website of
any product that you may be interested in. A free demo is frequently available
to download or request. As with most purchases, the final decision should always
be what will work best for you or your client.

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