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Reasons To Use Property Management Software

This article shares benefits of using property management software, like affordability and advanced security.

Matt Boley 4 Stories

Tuesday January 03, 2017 , 3 min Read

The recent developments in the software industry are well understood. The specific innovations in rental management software have been equally well documented. The process of collecting payments, making adjustments to payments and building and using a database with this and other data has never been easier than when using the latest property management software. Many property managers, however, are still reluctant to implement this software into their own professional routine. Reluctance to some to adopt new methods of doing things is not surprising, of course, in any profession. There will always be those who, for better or worse, choose to be a Luddite and resist the increased use of technology. While it is not surprising that some property managers have yet to fully incorporate property management software into their business, what may be surprising to some is that many providers of property management software actually agree with their decision. Most quality property management software advisers encourage potential customers to make sure the software fits their specific needs before making the decision to purchase and use the software. These software companies understand that property managers may have a variety of reasons for their reluctance to use the software, including cost and inexperience, among others. With this in mind, here are a few reasons many property management software companies do encourage prospective customers to consider using their products.

Privacy

Many property managers may be using software that is outdated. Because they are familiar with the older software, they may resist purchasing more advanced, recent versions of property management software. In a perfect world, this would be a fine decision. After all, if a property manager’s current methods are working to make their business successful, it is difficult to find fault with their resistance to change. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the saying goes. The potential problem with this line of thinking, as it relates to property management software (and indeed, many other forms of software), is that it does not exist in a vacuum. As software develops, so do the methods of hackers who seek to steal confidential data from insecure databases. Of course, there is a lot of confidential data involved in any property rental scenario: names, addresses, bank account information, etc. This is one reason users of older software might consider upgrading to newer software even if the older version is working just fine. Often, newer versions of tenant software are equipped with more advanced security functions that keep the confidential data stored more securely. This provides valuable peace of mind for owners, managers and tenants.

Cost

Speaking of value, cost is another reason many property management software companies are encouraging property managers to consider the latest versions of their software. This may seem counterintuitive. As mentioned above, cost is probably one of the top reasons property managers may be reluctant to begin using software or to update existing software. The reality is that property management software has never been a better investment. This is due to both an increased number of features available and the increased availability of the technology behind the software. Not only does new property management software do more, the widespread use and increased competition has driven real costs down relative to the earliest versions of the software. So, if you’re thinking back to your first investment in property management software ten years ago and cringing at spending the same amount of money again, you might be surprised at the affordability of the latest software.