I was just emailed this article regarding the use of technology in property management: click here to read. The author interviewed property managers across the country to find out to what extend they were using technology.
The one telling thing I noted that the managers that embraced an software system to help manage were on average dealing with 102 units per employee while the ones with no system averaged only 61 units per employee.
Here at Realty Resource, you may have noted, we are not property managers, but much of the info in the article holds true in real estate as well.
Let’s look at our office – way back when 10 years ago or so when we would list a property for sale – into the MLS it went with 3 or 4 pictures, we might email it out to a database, and then we got on the phone to do the real marketing, calling buyers and agents of buyers who we knew were in the market. We still do this to some extent, but it is not efficient at all.
Now we get 100’s of pictures and every detail we can possibly think of and into mls it goes. The MLS sytem then loads all that same info into our web site RealtyResourceKC.com, we add a bit more stuff that the web site will allow and then with a click of a few buttons we send all that information out to a bunch of different web sites and virtually 1000’s of interested buyers. Yes we still email out to our private list of buyers and post on a few of our special social networking sites, because as sellers of a lot of investment property, we have buyers that buy several a year. But that automated online stuff brings in the new buyers – a lot of new buyers.
And our system also tracks where leads come from so we can follow up with potential buyers, see if they have questions, overcome objections and help them buy the property. We also track where we get the most leads – craigslist by the way, and can focus more of our attention to marketing there.
With all this automation, what would have taken me personally 3 days of work to complete to get the fullest marketing out to potential buyers, I can now do in about 2 hours. Allowing me and the agents here at Realty Resource the ability to market a lot more houses at one time.
If you are in the market to sell a house – a nice house for owner occupants or a nice investment property or even a junker that needs a total reno, be sure to look for an agent to assist you that has embraced technology. Because of the technology, they will be able to get your property in front of a lot more people virtually. They will be able to provide all those people with a lot more info allowing them to make decisions faster. Doing all this puts money in your pocket much faster.
1 Comment
December 19, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Yes, this is the basic concept and is the heart of it all. Can you demonstrate money in YOUR pocket or your client’s pocket in using technology. It sounds like the residential real estate agents can do that. In property management it is not as tangible. Often times the work can be done faster and with less people, which saves overhead for the company. Since many PM staff members know this, they are hesitant to adopt technology as it takes bodies away. The PM is so overworked now that they cannot conceive of doing more with less. It is a tough sell since it is traditionally a non-stop customer service business that has very little profit margin, if any at all. The PM firms do not have the capital to invest in the latest and greatest and the property owners refuse to pay for anything that will help the company get ahead. It is a struggle for things to change. It would be great to see examples of technology helping the PM industry. I challenge the industry to identify those opportunities and share experiences on how more money can be made. Once that is done, change will happen rapidly.
Thanks,
Linda@ManagerLabs.com