Investment capital isn’t in short supply—plenty is available from China, Europe, the U.S. and other sources. So why are real estate investors working harder, yet finding fewer high-return opportunities? One dampening factor is increased investor choosiness arising from due diligence activities that increased starting in 2009, when a low market virtually guaranteed returns and asset prices would rise. Plus, the regulatory climate has thickened. But the main problem today is that the marketplace, especially the U.S. with its abundance of capital, is chasing relatively few investment opportunities. Can fund managers under pressure to place money they’ve raised find, evaluate and capitalize on good deals? Yes, says Rob Teel, Yardi’s senior vice president of global solutions—if they have the means and ability to unearth opportunities they ordinarily wouldn’t consider, or even know about.  We asked Teel for insight into how technology can be an ally in the effort to identify investment opportunities and manage assets through their life cycle. Q: What’s a key trend among the real estate property owners, managers and investors you encounter? Teel: A lot of people are seeing the advantage of automating investment accounting, performance measurement and investor reporting with an integrated investment and asset management system. They realize that having all decision-making tools within a single system exceeds what’s possible with spreadsheets and separate databases. Managers dealing with hundreds of combined funds, entities, properties and investors are happy to be free of manually uploading data, relying on cumbersome spreadsheets and mining data from separate systems. Q: What matters the most to investment managers as they evaluate potential acquisitions? Teel: Getting a complete picture that helps them decide to acquire an asset and the best option and optimal time for renovating or selling it. This underscores the importance of automating the...

Yardi Matrix has completed the first report that quantifies the amount of office space dedicated to coworking in office buildings with 50,000 square feet or more in 20 large U.S. markets. “Coworking represents a small yet growing segment of the office market,” the report says, noting that that 20 markets contain more than 1,100 coworking space encompassing almost 27 million square feet of space.  This total represents 1.2% of the total office space in those markets. Shared workspace originated in the 1990s to provide space for self-employed workers and employees traveling or working remotely. The practice expanded after the Great Recession, driven by a growing gig economy, cost-cutting strategies and other factors. Today, the report says, “coworking represents a small yet growing segment of the office market” that helps companies accommodate remote employees, attract talent, promote work satisfaction and reduce leasing costs. Eleven of the 20 metros in the Yardi Matrix study have more than 1 million square feet of coworking space for lease, led by Manhattan, N.Y., with 7.65 million square feet in 245 spaces and the Los Angeles office space market with 3.7 million square feet of coworking space in 158 locations. Nine other metros have at least 1 million square feet dedicated to coworking. Miami has the most coworking space as a percentage of total stock, at 2.7%. “Demand is high in markets with concentrations of knowledge workers—especially IT but also new media or industries such as biotechnology and telecommunications—that are friendly to startups [and] in metros where space is at a premium,” the report says, and lower in metros such as Dallas and Houston that have low barriers to construction and high vacancy rates.  The practice is more prevalent in urban settings due to the concentration of workers there and...

The user experience can make or break a piece of software, and user feedback is of key importance to the software development process. Companies strive to learn how customers respond to products wherever possible, be it through social media, focus groups, surveys or client conferences. Without input from users, software developers can miss out on opportunities to innovate new features that take into consideration the unique needs of their users’ daily workflows. Chris Ulep, Yardi vice president of multifamily product development, describes how a strong client involvement benefits his team’s development process. “Clients have a strong voice in the design of Yardi solutions. We value their input because it makes our development process faster and more responsive to their immediate needs. We embrace the opportunity to engage clients during development process, and leverage their vast experience and understand their requirements,” Ulep said. That philosophy is also evident in how Yardi develops content for its online staff training platform, Yardi eLearning. One of the main ways the Yardi eLearning team solicits input from clients is through monthly roundtable sessions, available to any client free of charge. “Our monthly client roundtables are interactive, informative and collaborative. Leading trainers and content designers from around the country gather for quick, one-hour sessions that cover a variety of topics. Our roundtables bolster creativity and foster new ideas by sharing new ideas on the screen for everyone to see. Prioritizing those ideas as we develop features and curricula is just one of the ways we ensure Yardi eLearning content stays relevant and in alignment with our clients’ needs,” said Patty Evans, director of corporate training and eLearning for Yardi. While inspiring conversation is valuable for participants, the camaraderie of the events is even more important. “The opportunity to meet regularly with a community of...

Are you feeling energized for 2018? It’s a new year, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities. And while every January can inspire a list of resolutions, for every real estate business one goal is likely to top the list year after year: reduce costs. When it comes to lowering operational expenses, going paperless for as many tasks as possible is smart. And here’s some great news: it’s easier to do than you might think, and the benefits are big. For Dallas-based apartment manager LumaCorp, centralizing and automating procurement and payables processing on its mobile Yardi property management platform using Yardi Procure to Pay has not only reduced costs for the company, but also saves its staff valuable time (in addition to sparing more than a few trees). And in just three months, by eliminating the cost of transporting invoices by courier, Procure to Pay paid for itself. Better Buying and Bigger Discounts LumaCorp manages 24 apartment communities with more than 6,000 units. According to Larry Orth, LumaCorp’s controller, the company’s maintenance, repair and operating supply costs fell by 4 percent the first year after adopting Yardi Procure to Pay, an end-to-end, paperless procurement and invoice processing system that’s part of the Yardi Multifamily Suite full-business platform. Orth said, “For me, the great thing about it is the time efficiency, both at the properties and in the accounting department. We are a full service Procure to Pay client, so the processing is handled by Yardi, which takes a lot off our onsite people’s hands. All told, Procure to Pay has reduced by up to 40 percent the time our team spends on the payables process. And it’s a paperless system, which obviously also benefits the environment.” LumaCorp has also gained savings from the negotiated pricing across...

Yardi Saskatoon participated in the Extra Life game day, a playtime marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital was the local beneficiary of the event. Extra Life  started back in 2008 with a handful of passionate gamers. Since then, the community has grown to more than 100,000 participants. To date, Extra Life has raised more than $40 million for children facing illness and major injuries. The Concept Ideally, Extra Life is a gaming marathon that lasts for 24 consecutive hours. While there is an official Game Day (often early November) gamers are able to contribute whenever their schedules allow. They’re also encouraged to take breaks and spread out the 24 hours as needed. Gamers can choose from a variety of game styles, from PS4 to card games and even hop scotch. It’s an entirely flexible fundraising platform that allows players to customize the experience based on the interests and expertise of those involved. Fundraising milestone are also customizable. Coordinators recommend a minimum of $100, but players are encouraged to select an amount that is personal. For example, Extra Life founder Jeromy Adams set his 2011 goal at $5,415. That odd number represents $5 for each day that his friend Tori spent fighting leukemia before she succumbed to the illness. Passionate participants begin by receiving achievement badges, milestones in raising awareness and rallying support. For every year of participation, gamers receive Legacy Badges that distinguish them from newbies in the field. Power Ups are the participants’ ultimate in-game reward! Each year, coordinators collaborate with partners to offer “gaming goodies.” These can range from discounts to expansion packs and merchandise. Platinum players receive Extra Life memorabilia such as t-shirts, medals, and exclusive prizes. The Event The event was held on-site on the...

Yardi’s powerful multifamily marketing and leasing platform, RentCafe, achieved double-digit year-over-year gains in 2017. The robust tool has also expanded to five markets. RentCafe helps multifamily professionals attract prospects, convert leads and retain residents via dynamic property websites, advanced SEO and SEM capabilities and convenient resident portals. Continued Growth “RentCafe demonstrated measurable success in 2017, reaching over 4.7 million licensed units,” said Patrick Lawler, director of RentCafe product development at Yardi. “One of the very exciting patterns we saw last year is the increase of online lease execution. The interest in electronic signatures continues to grow and we anticipate this to be widely-adopted in 2018,” added Lawler. RentCafe experienced the following gains: Platform adoption increased 34%, resulting in 4.7 million units Online leasing rose by 54%, creating over 4.2 million leads Online work orders expanded by 45%, generating over 4.8 million work orders eSignature adoption grew by 310%, exceeding 2.2 million eSignatures Online payments grew by 51%, totaling more than $18 billion “Yardi never stops innovating. It always raises the bar,” said Belinda Torres, corporate marketing director at Continental Realty Corporation. She has noted firsthand how RentCafe improves SEO, significantly increasing leads through nudge marketing for the company. Other RentCafe users include industry leaders such as Pinnacle, Continental Realty Corporation, The Bozzuto Group, and Monarch Investment and Management Group. Recent client highlights include a 34 percent lead conversion rate and a 20 percent increase in time spent online as a result of RentCafe. “Our clients’ successes are proof of our ability to respond quickly to industry trends and client demands for new features,” said Lawler. New Markets In addition to the flagship RentCafe product developed for apartment homes, the platform has expanded services into other markets. Users can now implement RentCafe’s powerful features for self-storage, affordable, student, senior and military properties. RentCafe is part of the Yardi...

The year 2017 marked the largest growth in coworking, and produced all-time highs in number of spaces as well as number of members. As the industry grows and evolves, what are some of the major Coworking trends to look for in the next year? Here are five trends that will shape the continued expansion of coworking in 2018. Increasing Demand It’s estimated that 50% of the population will be working independently by 2020. If this comes to fruition, the demand for shared space will continue to rise at a fast pace in the next year. According to some estimates, there could be up to 37,000 Coworking spaces worldwide by the end of 2018. Those interested in joining the movement see that Coworking has become a symbol of community, connectivity, efficiency, and networking. Not to mention it’s a cheaper alternative than leasing in a traditional office space. The demand will only continue to increase in 2018. Health Another trend we could see in the coming year is the value placed on health, both mental and physical. Sure, we’ll continue to see the added benefits of some Coworking locations such as workout spaces and yoga classes. But mental health has been brought to the forefront and working from home, or even in some traditional offices, can create isolation, among other negative factors. Today’s society is searching more and more for the positivity of community, a huge benefit of coworking. Larger companies Coworking spaces tend to gear toward small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. However larger companies have started to pick up on the trend and realized the added value of working in cross-functional teams instead of in more traditional set ups.  Not only does working within a coworking space offer corporations a more cost-effective alternative to test new...

To stay competitive, your properties and services must remain in the forefront of the digital marketplace. From a prospect’s search to a resident’s lease renewal, marketing automation can help you exceed renters’ expectations. Marketing automation streamlines repetitive tasks, follows user behavior and delivers targeted content. Such content ushers customers into your leasing pipeline and then helps you keep them as loyal residents. Watch a quick video about marketing automation. In a recent post, we interviewed Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing at Yardi. She explains the long-term benefits of automated marketing. “Attracting a new resident costs up to five times more than retaining an existing one,” explained Bonardi. “With automation tools designed to check in with residents, conduct surveys, provide contact support and offer timed renewal savings, both your retention rates and your bottom line will improve… automatically!” Learn to automate your marketing for an improved leads-to-leases experience! Below are just a few proven strategies for marketing automation. Nudge Marketing Nudge marketing is a website-based tool that tracks visitor behavior. You can use the tool to deliver targeted content to website visitors based on their actions. You can share a promotion with first-time visitors or prompt visitors to schedule an appointment after viewing floor plans. You control the content and the corresponding user behavior. Intelligent Text Response Text is the latest and greatest in rapid communication for businesses. Provide prospects with customized, automated responses that answer their questions without consuming leasing agents’ time. If a prospect wants to know more about outdoor living space, your automated response can give the square footage of the property’s decks. You can also use the service to send a link to available units. Timed Lease Renewals Increase resident retention and improve forecasted revenue with automated lease renewals. Send...

What does “digital transformation” mean to commercial property management beyond a catchphrase? Six thought leaders including Alex Stanton, Yardi’s commercial industry principal, provided clarity on the subject in a recent Realcomm-hosted webinar. Digital transformation extends technology beyond acquiring and managing property.  It’s driven by business factors such as profitability, occupant satisfaction and productivity along with new technologies including the cloud, data analytics and the Internet of Things. Digital transformation is “a strategy lever to achieve broader business agendas and create new levels of value,” according to panelist Marc Petock, chief communications officer and vice president of marketing for IoT technology builder Lynxspring. Digital transformation aggregates business, operations and IT practices into a common platform for people, processes, best practices and services, Petock said, with new technology embraced not for its own sake but to change thought and organizational culture. Executed properly, digital transformation can foster better resource planning, empowerment, technology collaboration and risk mitigation. With heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment comprising a major expense, for example, commercial building owners and operators are incentivized to adopt intelligent building technology that provides new insight into operations and equipment performance. Commercial real estate has traditionally been slow to adopt transformative technology; when the panelists were asked how much of the industry understands digital transformation, no estimate exceeded 30 percent. But that’s changing in the face of pressures for profits, high sustainability expectations and consumers’ technology sophistication. “Technology used to mean ‘support’; now it’s at the forefront of driving revenue and services,” said Sandy Jacolow, chief information officer for real estate developer, investor and manager Silverstein Properties. “It has shifted how we do business.  For example, mobile capability is no longer a luxury; tenants say ‘Is there an app for that?’  A poor interface or customer experience...

A grant from Yardi is helping owners and managers of hundreds of properties improve water and waste management practices in a Water and Waste Challenge program sponsored by the Building Owners and Managers Association International. The W2 Challenge is a two-year initiative designed to benchmark water and waste consumption and associated costs, and then develop new best practices for improvement. This year is dedicated to establishing a baseline using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® and 2019 will be focused on implementing performance improvements. Seventeen hundred properties signed up for the program so far. “Owners, operators, tenants and investors all have a stake in maximizing a building’s performance, and interest in the program has exceeded all expectations. The W2 Challenge is a unique opportunity to gain full understanding of water consumption and waste management, and take the industry’s sustainability efforts to the next level,” said Ken Rosenfeld, director of state and local affairs for BOMA International. “The program’s tips, tools and resources can help participants compare their performance to that of their peers, identify opportunities for improvement and reduce operating costs. Participants will also earn recognition for their leadership on this issue, including visibility at a future BOMA International Conference & Expo, use of the program logo and the opportunity to be featured as success stories that will be published in BOMA publications.” The Yardi Smart Energy Suite provides tools that can help building owners and operators obtain maximum value from the W2 Challenge, starting with automated data capture. For example, Yardi Utility Expense Management captures cost and consumption data directly from utility company invoices and Yardi Utility Billing allows companies to recover utility costs directly from tenants through submeter installation, maintenance and data administration services. Once the data is easily captured, building operators use Yardi...

At Yardi, community outreach is built into the fibers of daily operations. Yardi corporate empowers local offices to award grants to nonprofits within their communities. Each office receives a sum that can be shared between local charitable organizations. The Process In Scottsdale, the Yardi office organized a committee composed of volunteer employees. Each participant nominated up to two nonprofits. The nominations were accompanied by a presentation on the nonprofit including its mission and community impact. With presentations complete, the committee then voted to select six nonprofits that fit the criteria of Yardi corporate. The Recipients The following nonprofits received the committee’s final approval. Committee members hosted a small ceremony in which representatives from each organization could visit the office, speak on behalf of their nonprofit, receive the donation and share how the contribution would be used to uplift the community. Comfort Food Pantry is an affiliate of Feeding America, a program dedicated to delivering food and necessities to families in the East Valley. The organization offers non-judgmental assistance to those in need in an effort to strengthen the community. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention raises awareness and provides resources and aid to those affected by suicide. The organization funds research to improve interventions, educate clinicians in suicide prevention, and advocate for policy that will save lives. Save the Family helps families overcome homelessness through housing assistance, education and employment opportunities, caseworker support, and other life-enhancement programs Tempe Community Action Agency provides education, stability, and advocacy to working poor families, seniors and the homeless. The organization’s outreach programs benefit 43,000 people. Days for Girls: Love Girls, Period serves more than 1 million women and girls worldwide. The nonprofit provides washable menstrual hygiene solutions, health education, and social enterprises to females in need. Homeward Bound creates pathways out...

“We wanted innovation and efficiency,” Sandeep Manak, chief financial officer for Wesgroup Properties LP, said in November 2016, when his company announced its adoption of products from the Yardi Commercial Suite.  “We wanted a platform that integrated various departments so they could work more collaboratively.”  Other priorities included lower operational costs, more accurate budgeting and efficient management of an existing commercial and growing multifamily portfolio. One year later, how has that plan played out for Vancouver, British Columbia-based Wesgroup, a fully integrated real estate owner, operator and developer with 61 commercial and residential income-producing assets? “We have made good progress,” Manak says, starting with better access to lease and portfolio data. “Centralizing all lease and financial records in Yardi Voyager gives us a holistic repository of information that is easily accessible. We don’t have to look at different places or worry about version control or broken links.  We can drill down to lease clauses and very quickly understand an asset’s performance.” Wesgroup reduced costs by simplifying invoice processing with Yardi Procure to Pay, which automates the process all the way to vendor payment. “We pay several thousand dollars every month for document storage.  Storing images in Yardi Voyager significantly reduces these expenses in the long-term,” Manak says. Besides that, he adds, “approvers have immediate accessibility to vendor relationships by being able to review a vendor’s account and approve invoices for payment from the convenience as they are always out and about.” Meanwhile, Yardi Fixed Assets helps Wesgroup track assets that have varying amortization schedules.  “Previously each property had its own schedule —  for example, roofs amortized differently at different properties when the materials used to build them were identical, in the same geographical environment and were installed by the same builder. Fixed Assets automates...

We have the perfect holiday gift for Yardi eLearning users: fewer usernames and passwords to remember. Yardi eLearning is the newest addition to the YardiOne platform, which means users can get to training resources at the click of an icon. “There are a lot of benefits that come with being part of YardiOne,” said Patty Evans, director of corporate training and Yardi eLearning. “First and foremost is easy access. Being able to get to training materials quickly, including on the job, helps prevent mistakes and boosts productivity. Our clients’ employees now have the fastest and most efficient access ever to Yardi training.” The YardiOne interface was a popular topic at both Yardi Advanced Solutions Conferences in 2017. After each demonstration at YASC, clients asked when their favorite app could be added to YardiOne. “Our eLearning clients expressed a strong demand for YardiOne support. We’re proud to accommodate that demand with this new feature,” said Yves Hajjar, director of product development for Yardi eLearning. Automated User Accounts Also new is the ability for client training administrators to use Yardi eLearning to create user accounts much more efficiently. “Users can have a Yardi eLearning account instantly and automatically set up for them the moment they log in to Voyager for the first time. That saves a lot of time and manual data entry,” said Evans. Trainers can also take advantage of a hybrid option, which automates online user account setup even for users who do not use Yardi software. “This makes it possible for organizations to deliver a consistent experience to employees across the organization, include temps, cleaning crews and other staff who may not use Yardi software,” said Evans. Integrated with Leading SSO Software All of this is made possible by single sign-on (SSO) technology,...

Reliance on spreadsheets and manual processes in Asia will likely fade as investors and technology providers lay the groundwork for sweeping modernization, according to a recent survey of technology adoption in the region’s real estate industry. Yardi sponsored the survey and subsequent report on current and anticipated technology applications by real estate investment firms, developers and service providers in Asia.  Chinese real estate business intelligence source Mingtiandi completed the survey and report, which describes the region’s real estate’s current technology adoption as “firmly in the PC age,” with “significant reliance on manual methods for collecting and storing data” that makes it “slow to make the jump to database-enabled online solutions that can respond to marketing, analysis and property management challenges.” While companies have some systems in place, “the majority [of respondents] still see the Asian region in general, and the real estate industry specifically, as lagging world trends.” Key findings from the survey, the majority of whose respondents work in China, Hong Kong and Singapore: More than 55% of respondents perceive Asia as trailing the West in the adoption of technology within the real estate industry; less than 12% saw the region as the leader Almost 77% regard real estate as trailing other industries in technology adoption; less than 6% regard property companies as leaders More than 83% consider access to information a competitive necessity More than 42% manage leasing, sales and property management on spreadsheets 43% identify internal resistance to change as the single largest barrier to adopting online tools for improving workflows and streamlining operations Asked to identify their priorities, more than half of respondents want better information on deal-related data.  Forty-two percent listed access to leasing information and more than 35% identified better access to client contact information. ‘The results of...

Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager at Yardi Canada Ltd. and Sean Bremner, maintenance director at Baptist Housing, presented a session on Social Housing Technology to a packed room at Housing Central. The conference was held in Richmond, BC and hosted by the British Columbia Non-Profit Housing Association. During the presentation, Altobelli and Bremner explored how technology can improve organizational management and generate cost savings with high returns on investment. The presentation also gave attendees advice in preparation for change as they implement new technology. As vice president of a software provider that works with social housing organizations across Canada, Altobelli provided insight into the latest technology geared for non-profit housing managers. “The crucial value-adds that an organization will realize with the use of technology are automating tasks, improving the user experience with better tools to increase productivity, and simplifying staff management,” said Altobelli. Altobelli spoke about how automated processes are most effective when based in the cloud and optimized for multiple web browsers, including tablets and smartphones. Putting those solutions in the cloud makes it easier to create effective access for tenants and prospects, property and financial management and maintenance management. “When you are able to access accounting, budgeting, inspections, maintenance, energy and resident management data all on one system, it enables increased productivity for your entire team,” Altobelli said. Bremner presented a case study of how his organization, Baptist Housing, overcame internal challenges with technology. Focusing on maintenance workflows, Bremner described how former processes that required manual, handwritten notes often omitted relevant details, made it difficult to access active maintenance requests, created scheduling challenges and limited the capability of Baptist Housing to report on current and past maintenance requests. “We adopted a cloud-based software solution that drastically changed our maintenance program....

The spotlight shone on Yardi Canada for much of late November and early December at major industry events in Toronto. The company was the closing roundtable sponsor at the Global Property Market Real Estate Forum and sponsored the Toronto Real Estate Forum’s keynote session. Yardi Canada was also the top-level Title Sponsor and staffed a booth at PM Expo, the property managers’ exposition portion of The Buildings Show, Canada’s largest event for the design, architecture, construction and real estate communities. Yardi was also the Platinum Sponsor for the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO) 2017 MAC Awards gala, a dinner and awards show that recognized excellence in rental housing advertising, construction and renovations, environmental excellence, customer service and other categories. Peter Altobelli, vice president of sales and general manager for Yardi Canada, presented at PM Expo’s “Disruptive or Transformational Technology: Understanding the Impacts for Property Managers and Owners” session. Peter began the session by clarifying that disruption may be defined as an outside force that mobilizes technology transformation within an organization. We have seen these types of disruption in the way we access and use data analytics to inform business decisions and the way in which we store information in the cloud. An organization’s ability to transform through technology is the key force in maintaining their competitive stance in the market. “It’s all about changing a mindset and using advanced technology that can perform various business operations in new ways,” he said.  “Disruptive automation technologies can give property managers new insight into leasing, energy management and other operations that improves decision-making.” Yardi Canada was active in another session at PM Expo as Martin Levkus, regional director for Yardi Energy, Sales, moderated a discussion among three building energy management experts in the “Energy Data...

2017 – what a year! It was 12 months of milestones and accomplishments for us here at Yardi. We thought we’d take a look back at some of our most popular blog posts to give you a sense of what readers found most interesting in the last year. They included news about awards, product launches, acquisitions and working together to help those in need. The top 10 most-read blog posts of 2017 included: Yardi was been honored with a major award from Glassdoor as one of the top places to work in the U.S., a prestigious award that resulted from positive employee feedback. Earlier in the year, Anant Yardi, founder and CEO, was named to a prestigious list of the nation’s top corporate leaders by Glassdoor. Mr. Yardi received a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award recognizing the Highest Rated CEOs for 2017. Given the two honors above, it’s no wonder that internships at Yardi are a hot commodity. The Yardi internship program offers hands-on work experience, professional development and networking opportunities. On the product side, the amazing team behind Yardi Payment Processing has recently done some magic behind the scenes to add a great new feature to our payment platform. Bill paying was a popular topic in 2017. Another popular product article explained Yardi has developed new technology for vendors that makes processing invoices and payments, uploading insurance certificates and accessing statements, much easier. Team Yardi brought something different to the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) annual tradeshow and convention: Yardi Breeze, refreshingly simple software designed to make work easier for smaller owners, investors and managers. It was a big year for both of our YASC conferences in Washington D.C. and San Diego. The 2017 Spring Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) in Washington,...

Just what is a plugin anyway? How is it different from a patch? Or a full version update? The somewhat frustrating truth for most of us is that software is one of the few products we use that doesn’t seem ever be ‘done’. With all of the different types of software we depend on every day, it’s common for users to experience confusion, frustration and fatigue when it comes to software updates. Operating systems for smartphones, tablets and computers are constantly updating themselves with security fixes and new features. Every day it seems we get notices on our phones that app updates are ready to be downloaded and installed. Software that supports a team of professionals, such as Yardi property management software, is a good example of why updates are extremely valuable for users. Software updates address security risks, solve coding bugs and prevent unplanned downtime. Think of it this way: if your organization has developed an internal workaround to address a problem, and you haven’t updated your plugins lately, then it’s likely that problem (and perhaps others) has an official fix from Yardi ready to download and install. Laurie Swertfager from AJB Consulting talked about software updates at the Yardi Affordable Housing and PHA Forum in Atlanta. Laurie is an affordable housing consultant with extensive expertise in compliance, finance and technology. “My clients sometimes lament that little things they are looking for aren’t available in Voyager. In those cases, my first step is to see if they are up to date on their plugins. Chances are they have not, and often the uninstalled plugins have exactly what they are looking for.” says Swertfager. “Some clients work under the guise of ‘if it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it,” says Dave Kessler, vice president...

The new RentCafe Senior Living Resident App makes lets residents and families manage payments, maintenance requests and more on the go! While we are all used to seeing young adults glued to their smart phone screens, increasingly senior citizens are logging on to mobile devices and taking advantage of everything mobile apps have to offer. According to a recent study from the Pew Research Center, since 2013 the number of seniors who own smart phones has nearly doubled to roughly 40% of adults over 65. Smart Phone Freedom Smart phones have a lot to offer older adults, not the least of which is the ease with which they can connect with loved ones. With advent of online banking and one-click purchasing, seniors have begun to adapt to an era of convenience and (almost) instant gratification. In fact, the Pew Research Center found that “for Americans ages 65 and older who own a smartphone, having one in their pocket is a liberating experience.” Communities Go Mobile For senior living communities, the ubiquity of mobile devices amongst residents presents an opportunity to enhance communication and improve comfort and care. In the past, many senior living providers depended on paper forms to handle all manner of resident interactions, from account management to maintenance requests. Going digital has changed that dynamic, and with the advent of mobile apps, communities can now empower residents to take charge. RentCafe App makes it Easy Earlier this year, Yardi unveiled the latest update to its innovative Yardi Senior Living Suite with the introduction of the RentCafe Senior Living Resident app. Offering the convenience of mobile payments and maintenance requests, the RentCafe Senior Living Resident app provides residents and their families with easy, secure access to account information via iOS and Android devices....

When Grubb Properties decided to upgrade its Yardi Voyager property management and accounting platform to the latest version, the company knew it would meet a little resistance from its staff. Iris Esguerra, Grubb’s Information Technology Business Analyst and Yardi Project Manager, says, “While Grubb embraced the benefits of moving to 7S, our Voyager power users were a little nervous about the potential disruption an upgrade can cause. With a change management strategy that included a lot of communication and documentation through the testing process to go live, Grubb experienced a successful transition.” Our Upgrade Like a Rock Star series shares insider tips for the move to Yardi Voyager 7S. In this installment, Esguerra tells how Grubb made the conversion for its 4,448 multifamily units and 28 commercial properties. Testing and Training The upgrade process began in the fourth quarter of 2016 with a target to go live in late March 2017. Grubb relied heavily on its Yardi Consulting Practices contact, Tricia Wyatt, to stay on track and achieve a smooth transition to 7S. Esguerra says that Wyatt was instrumental in helping Grubb through the upgrade by supplying testing materials and guideline documents for each Yardi module. Relevant documents were distributed to keep testers focused. Since the upgrade would greatly impact the look and feel of the platform, the documents provided a clear breakdown of functionality which users tested and became familiar with in the stage database. Esguerra explains the process, “As the project manager for Grubb and single point of contact for the implementation upgrade, I was provided a project plan and testing checklist workbook. The workbook showed a timeline of goals to hit each week prior to the go-live date, testing results for each module, a list of Yardi root menu sets to...

Peter Altobelli, vice president of sales and general manager of Yardi Canada Ltd., recently spoke at the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) Conference. The social housing conference attracted more than 1,100 delegates including housing staff, board members and tenants from across the province, as well as service managers and government officials. Altobelli presented to a packed room and focused on the effects of automating property maintenance in the social housing industry. “Let’s face it. Keeping properties well maintained requires a lot of effort and capital resources. It also impacts the satisfaction of residents and staff. We’ve found that automating property maintenance can help housing providers cut facility management costs, save time and make life easier for everyone involved,” Altobelli said.. Three case studies helped illustrate how social housing organizations made property maintenance services more effective and efficient with  technology. The three organizations profiled during the presentation were Renfrew County Housing Corporation (Renfrew), Cochrane District Social Service Administrative Board (CDSSAB) and Lanark County Housing Corporation (LCHC). Renfrew County Housing Corporation manages housing in the largest (geographically) county in Ontario with nearly 3,000 square miles of land. With 15 staff to manage such a vast area, Renfrew was challenged with timely communication and manual processes. Prior to the adoption of technology for their maintenance management, staff relied on faxed documents and manual data entry into a desktop computer. The service team were required to commute to the offices to pick up work orders, which further ate into the lead time of each service request. Renfrew gained efficiency and connectivity with mobile solutions from Yardi. They improved customer service and made it easier for staff to identify high-priority repairs that needed immediate attention. Moreover, technology has helped Renfrew make their management more insightful and effective through complete...