As the responsibilities of FM professionals become far more exhaustive and challenging, CAFM has become an integral support in their ability to perform their duties efficiently and effectively.

A new world of opportunity

This technology has opened up a new world of opportunity for organizations in all industries, enabling them to reduce costs, oversee assets, manage space, support employee wellbeing and much, much more. It has taken what was once a mountain of paperwork riddled with out-of-date

As the responsibilities of FM professionals become far more exhaustive and challenging, CAFM has become an integral support in their ability to perform their duties efficiently and effectively.

A new world of opportunity

This technology has opened up a new world of opportunity for organizations in all industries, enabling them to reduce costs, oversee assets, manage space, support employee wellbeing and much, much more. It has taken what was once a mountain of paperwork riddled with out-of-date or inaccurate data and made it reliable, digitized, accessible and useful to companies.

In this guide to CAFM systems, we will break down what this technology accomplishes, list its wide range of features and benefits, and outline what steps businesses need to take to incorporate this powerful software into their infrastructure.

If you would like to learn more about our specific approach to CAFM and the all-encompassing solutions we’ve developed over the past 30+ years, get in touch with our team today.

What is CAFM?

CAFM, or Computer Aided Facilities Management, is the term for technology designed to help users manage the various assets, tools and processes that affect business continuity. CAFM was developed to streamline facilities management and maintenance, driving greater efficiency, boosting business performance and generally making life easier for FMs, employees and wider building users.

But what does this mean practically? Well, before CAFM systems became available, facilities managers were forced to compile the huge volumes of information they had about their buildings in lengthy paper trails. Spreadsheets, blueprints, layout documents, folders – all of which needed to be kept up-to-date with the latest details relating to asset maintenance, space management, property information and much, much more.

This approach was time-consuming, resource-demanding and more open to human error. The introduction of CAFM was to alleviate these problems and provide much-needed support to FM professionals, as well as support data-driven decision-making across the facilities the system is responsible for.

Among the various types of facilities management software, CAFM is primarily focused on the physical workplace and everything within it. As we’ll discuss in further detail in this article, this can cover everything from tracking asset lifecycles and scheduling maintenance tasks, to managing room reservations and use of space throughout the office.

In addition, CAFM tools are recognised for their incorporation of CAD (Computer Aided Design) and BIM (Building Information Modelling) functionality. This visual realization can offer significant benefits in understanding the layout of a building, plotting maintenance routes and optimizing the use of space in a structure.

The origins of CAFM

The history of CAFM programmes stretches way back to the 1960s, when space forecasting technology was used on mainframe computers. At this stage, it was specifically focused on making the space within a building as cost-efficient as possible – now it has evolved to a mixture of this and supporting people’s wellbeing.

In the decades that followed, these applications evolved and their capacities became even more powerful, moving beyond space management into asset management, lease management, and building cost accounting. It then started to incorporate systems for maintenance planning, workflow management, portfolio management and more, becoming a more and more universal tool for the FM industry.

At this point, CAFM solutions gained popularity among large complexes and similar facilities, to today where they lend their benefits to organizations in practically any industry and to any scale. Since 1990, our team has been working hard to support the evolution of this essential technology, with the aim of empowering businesses to control their environment and streamline the duties of FM professionals.

CAFM vs IWMS

It isn’t uncommon for CAFM to be referred to simply as “facilities management systems”, or to be lost in the alphabet soup of acronyms that denote other types of this technology.

IWMS (Integrated Workplace Management System) is an example of this. While it bears resemblance to CAFM and both can work together to provide significant benefits to FM users, we feel it is important to distinguish the differences between the two to cut out any confusion and settle any “CAFM or IWMS” debate.

While CAFM systems primarily focus on the physical space of the building and the people and assets that operate in it, an IWMS is considered an all-inclusive tool for facilities management. It encapsulates the five fundamental domains of FM.

While CAFM solutions can touch all of these aspects in some form, comparatively speaking it is a more singularly focused technology. However, that does mean that an IWMS is typically a larger investment, so it is important to distinguish the needs of your organisation before making an investment.

If you’re interested in managing your physical space, a CAFM service is an ideal fit. For more complete system management an IWMS is a more complete solution.

CAFM vs CMMS

Another acronym that can often be confused with CAFM is CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System). As the name suggests, a CMMS is focused solely on handling maintenance requests throughout a facility, coordinating everything from request ticketing to task delegation and dispatching the appropriate engineer.

As we will explore in the article, a CAFM system in itself can lend itself to help manage planned preventative maintenance (PPM) by collating critical information about your asset and their life cycles. Therefore in a similar way to how an IWMS is considered a more comprehensive CAFM solution, CAFM is more extensive than a CMMS.

However, if your sole interest is on a system to manage maintenance throughout your facilities, a CMMS may offer a more cost-efficient fit.

The core functions of CAFM software

While the capabilities of one CAFM system can notably vary from another and there is no universal template to follow, there are some functions and features that users should expect from their solution.

Before we break these down, an effective CAFM solution should offer an intelligent, helpful user interface. With a core objective of CAFM packages being to streamline the responsibilities for FMs and to support strategic decisions over the management of their facilities, it needs to be easy to interact with and present data in an accessible, engaging way.

This can come in the form of:

Without the ability to present meaningful information in a digestible way, FMs will not enjoy the full benefits of their CAFM software. With that established, below we have identified some of the fundamental functions that a CAFM solution can provide:

Asset Management

CAFM programmes can be employed to keep track of the locations of physical assets across a building to a granular level, even covering individual chairs or desks. Beyond that, it can house accurate and up-to-date asset registers, containing critical data relating to where they were procured from, what maintenance they require, and other essential details.

This is important as the more gaps there are in your asset knowledge, the less in control you will be of employee wellbeing, costs and resources. CAFM helps teams consolidate their understanding of the assets throughout their facilities, and what must be done to keep them performing optimally to support overall business continuity.

Planned preventative maintenance (PPM)

With a greater understanding of assets and their specific requirements, CAFM can lend itself to organizing PPM tasks. Having the knowledge to analyze the status of assets and prioritize maintenance based on accurate data saves time and protects the operational efficiency of a business.

Through a CAFM system, FMs can organize their maintenance work more effectively, and in accordance with the specific needs of each asset, rather than by estimations. This will make their work more efficient and more proactive.

Stock control

CAFM can help in giving teams a clear understanding of their stock levels in real-time. This allows them to plan in advance if a particular resource is running low and automate the restocking of this if it reaches a certain trigger point. Consequently, this also reduces the risk of overspending on a particular item, which will have a positive impact on an organization’s budget.

Help desk assistance

While it is beneficial to be proactive when it comes to maintenance, these issues can’t always be predicted. The help desk feature of most CAFM systems provides an effective balance between the proactive and reactive aspects of facilities management, with access to real-time updates on the status of the building and its assets, and providing a location for people to log issues when they are identified.

Space management

By incorporating floor plans and layouts of a building or set of structures, CAFM can optimize how these spaces are managed and occupied. Through this teams can track which spaces are most frequently occupied or vacated, and this data can be used to determine what can be done about spaces that aren’t being employed effectively.

Inefficient space usage can be a significant drain on resources. By highlighting vacant, occupied, part times and hot desks, a CAFM solution can empower employees to make better use of their available space and, in instances like the COVID-19 pandemic, organize people to reduce the risk of overcrowding.

Room reservations

In a similar vein, CAFM systems can also assist in organizing room bookings, eliminating the risk of double-booking a space and again enabling employees to arrange meetings and other sessions independently, knowing an area will be free when they require it.

This can also help manage both preparations that need to be made prior to a meeting, such as setting up projectors or ensuring the right number of seats are available, and cleaning up of the area after the meeting has taken place.

Building operations

CAFM has made life significantly easier for FMs in how they manage the infrastructure of their buildings. This can include remote management, where facility managers can turn on air conditioning or lock and unlock windows and doors from their desk, or this can be accomplished automatically in response to various triggers.

This can improve efficiency, save energy and reduce the burden on FMs in their day-to-day.

Property/estates management

CAFM solutions can provide a true picture of the state of estate assets and the degree of efficiency, or otherwise, of their operation at any point in time. By presenting an up-to-date record of trends and outcomes, this allows operators to optimize their use of this data to improve the efficient performance across numerous aspects of estates management.

This technology can also maintain accurate records of leases, rents and tenures, and set alerts to these to ensure that no renewals are missed.

Employee and user support

While its core focus is on a building’s infrastructure, CAFM can be just as effective at supporting the employees and personnel within it. Whether that is through self-service functionalities that empower them to take control and look after their working environment, to providing team members with dedicated workflows and risk reports for their various tasks, CAFM’s technology is firmly people-focused.

Contractor management

CAFM tools can play a big factor in ensuring that the contractors and subcontractors you employ are compliant, well-managed and recompensed for their work in a streamline, straightforward way. By providing check-in tasks and other fail-safe measures to help guarantee that work is going according to schedule, organizations can have a firmer grasp on any third parties involved in their operations.

Payment processing

A CAFM solution can be a valuable asset to the financial department in any organization. From presenting accurate information to manage budgets, purchases, invoices and other project costs, to providing automatic alerts for contract renewals and track spending against KPIs, CAFM can play a key role in improving cost efficiencies within a company.

Furthermore, by displaying repair, maintenance, and upkeep service records, FMs gain visibility into where funds are being spent, which can present potential opportunities for savings.

This is just an overview of the potential that a CAFM system can offer an organization in controlling their facilities. Beyond this, it should have the capacity to be tailored to meet the exact needs of the client in question, ensuring they receive the full benefits for their precise circumstances.

The benefits of CAFM solutions

As the prior section demonstrates, the capabilities of a CAFM system are far-reaching, and can provide universal benefits to the maintenance, strategy and overall performance of an organization.

These range of benefits include:

Reduced costs

The initial investment into CAFM packages is one of the biggest barriers in the widespread adoption of this technology. However, this delivers effective returns in a variety of ways, including:

Improved efficiency

As well as keeping a better handle on costs throughout a company’s physical infrastructure, CAFM systems can also significantly enhance efficiency throughout an organization. This can be as a result of being able to plan and manage maintenance schedules more proactively, and by better organizing the engineers responsible for carrying this out with distinct workflows, tasks lists and clearly defined routes around the property.

Plus, with the capacity to automate and complete menial tasks with greater accuracy, such as identifying necessary repairs and automatically reordering low-stocked items, CAFM helps to make day-to-day work run more efficiently and feel less repetitive.

Greater employee wellbeing

CAFM’s techniques stretch beyond the building itself, and can enable businesses to take strides in their support of their staff and other end-users.

Whether this is automatically adjusting room temperatures to keep staff comfortable throughout the buildings, enabling them to reserve their own meeting spaces, or by making it easier for them to log work and highlight any issues across their workplace that need to be remedied, it plays a role in making their working environment a more pleasant place to be.

Empowering FMs

CAFM systems are developed with the intention of making the work of FM professionals more seamless and less straining. This in turn means they can devote more time on less menial, repetitive tasks and can truly think strategically about how their facilities can run in the most efficient, cost-effective and beneficial way.

Furthermore, by enhancing their ability to quickly respond to issues when they arise and proactively plan for potential disasters and emergencies, CAFM allows FMs to be in full control of their environment and prepare for any eventuality.

Enhanced space usage

In any organization, there is the potential for space to be underutilized, but still adding to the overheads they pay every month. Through a CAFM system, these areas can be effectively identified and highlighted, allowing FMs and other decision-makers to determine what should be done to either make that space more meaningful, or to reduce the overheads associated with it.

Plus, CAFM’s use of CAD and BIM visualisations give employees a greater understanding of the layout of their workplace, and help ensure that rooms throughout the facility can be reserved accurately and clearly, removing the headaches associated with double-bookings.

Stronger decision-making

By providing an exhaustive list of accurate, accessible data, and by alleviating many of the menial, predictable tasks involved in facilities management, CAFM opens up more room for data-driven strategic decision-making within a business.

The dashboard should offer meaningful data representing the analytics of the business, which in turn can be used to devise strategies to increase efficiencies and reduce unnecessary spending, which will benefit the company long-term and help achieve their KPIs.

Longer asset life cycles

With all data associated with an organization’s assets stored and kept up-to-date within a CAFM system, this real-time information can be used to better maintain assets and extend their usefulness to the maximum. This reduces the costs involved in repairing or replacing these components on a regular basis, so they perform more efficiently.

Environmental benefits

If your CAFM solution has information relating to the energy usage throughout your facilities, you can use this data to identify any areas where this can be reduced or any alternative solutions that can be applied to make your organisation more energy-efficient and, consequently, environmentally friendly.

Improved reporting

Due to the visualization and user-friendliness of the most effective CAFM services available, the information stored within these systems can be easily captured and translated into useful reports.

These reports will help FMs and other users to demonstrate the ROI their solution is providing for their business, and highlight what their efforts are accomplishing in ensuring the company is working in as efficient and cost-effective a way as possible.

What industries does CAFM lend its advantages to?

Any business that has physical premises can benefit from CAFM. As this technology’s aim is to improve how efficiently and effectively buildings run and support the people within these environments, its various functions can be seamlessly applied to practically any industry, from tech start-ups and data centres to warehouses.

CAFM solutions fit in perfectly within agile workplaces that allow for free movement, but also blend well into more traditional environments that are seeking to make facilities management easier through these user-friendly programs. In offices with many cubicles and communal desks, CAFM can lend itself to help organize hotdesking and making sure staff can best utilize all of the space available to them.

In our own organisation, our clients across the globe represent a wide assortment of industries. For example, CAFM is a great fit within the retail sector.

With many of its metrics geared toward performance measuring and improvement, and the challenges of maintaining multiple outlets to ensure they’re performing optimally, CAFM can oversee the operation of the estate, remotely, in a way that minimises any distraction from selling, particularly in relation to asset management and restocking.

Who benefits from CAFM?

Fundamentally, CAFM systems are installed to support the work of FM professionals in their duties to maintain and manage the facilities they’re responsible for. The task of juggling the various financial, HR and logistical tasks associated with their role is significantly streamlined through this technology.

This empowers them by removing the hassle of menial tasks and repetitive responsibilities so they can devote more time to the strategic thinking that supports big savings and enhances efficiencies throughout the work environment. In fact, many companies employ dedicated CAFM administrators to control this technology to allow for FMs to focus on big-thinking.

However, as we’ve discussed earlier in the article, CAFM can benefit employees and other end-users throughout the workplace, enabling them with the tools to understand their environment and play a key role in ensuring this is well-maintained and providing a welcome, pleasant setting for everyone.

How important is CAFM in the modern workplace?

CAFM systems have provided modern solutions to the problems that have plagued workplaces for decades. It is not as though issues such as the effective maintenance of assets, the efficient use of space in an area and overall building management have only recently become apparent.

But the accessibility, functionality and flexibility of CAFM solutions and how this technology can seamlessly integrate with other software to boost business performance makes it a critical tool for any modern organization that is looking to get the most out of their properties.

In years gone by, traditional FM would be solely concerned with the core activities of estates and property services. CAFM technology now enables FM to encompass day-to-day operational activities, from what meetings are going on throughout a building, to what hot food the restaurant is offering each day.

We’re seeing working environments where employees walk into a building, tap their ID card and the systems know where they work, which floor, have the lights on ready for their arrival and their phone configured with their personal contacts. This saves a huge amount of time and energy, for both employees and the building itself.

As its role has expanded to business processes, CAFM can integrate finance, HR and other strategic management software packages into one interface, along with services provided by external suppliers. This has led to it becoming a powerful organizational tool and an essential source of information for the strategic management and direction of a business.

At the same time, technology is enabling employees to raise problems in real-time. For example, some workplace apps include an interactive chat log for raising an issue so employees can put on a public feed that it’s cold in their particular working area. If other employees post the same, then the facilities manager suddenly becomes aware of a wider situation, not just one person at one desk on the fifth floor saying they are cold.

In this way, CAFM is enabling businesses to run more efficiently, services to be more streamlined and staff to be more productive and engaged.

Furthermore, with secure cloud computing, sensor technology and the Internet of Things, CAFM can monitor an environment in more detail than ever before. FMs can respond to this wherever they are. Mobility and seamlessness are the natural extension of a business’s movement into web enablement.

As CAFM has evolved from being just about ‘hard’ services to essential business processes, the integration of services and the experience of employees in their working environment, so facilities managers have moved from being a support role as FM ‘operators’ to being an integral part of the strategic business team.

From managing business financials and maintenance requirements, to supporting overall satisfaction of clients, employees and other building users, CAFM’s place in the modern business landscape is more important and more integral than ever.

What is the best CAFM software available?

If the benefits of CAFM presented above have encouraged you to consider procuring a system for your own organisation, it is important to ensure that you select a solution and provider that matches your needs as an organisation.

Are members of your team familiar with CAFM software, or will they need extensive training and support? Do you need a solution that’s scalable to the growth of your business? Are you interested in a system that’s cloud-based, hardware-based, or a hybrid of both? Do you require an industry-specific solution?

There are a lot of available options out there, which means determining the right choice for your circumstances requires a fair amount of thought and research. As a provider ourselves, we would encourage you to consider the following when looking to procure a CAFM system:

For a CAFM supplier, the sale of a system is no longer just about installing the software package. We have long recognised this shift from the provision of an operations framework to the need for a fully-fledged range of complementary professional services, leading ultimately to the deployment of a tailored CAFM system that delivers the anticipated value to the business.

The consultants behind the solution should spend time discussing and documenting your reporting requirements, building tailored outputs and, where appropriate, digital dashboards that offer streamlined access to key information. This correspondence with a CAFM provider is critical to ensuring the system meets your needs, and that you’ll receive effective support should anything go awry with it.

With this in mind, a number of the most prominent CAFM managers and providers include:

MRI Software

With over 30 years’ experience in developing and delivering cross-industry CAFM solutions, including our comprehensive Facilities Management solutions, we have worked with a wide range of clients across the globe to improve the management of their estate, assets and working environments.

We are constantly evolving and expanding the capabilities of this technology, with the aim of benefiting all areas of an organization and empowering teams to take control of FM like never before.

CAFM Explorer

CAFM Explorer is a prominent and well-respected provider of CAFM systems, with their focus on maximising the efficiency of working environments, providing scalable solutions to growing businesses, and improving compliance with the various regulations they must conform to.

Service Works Group

Service Works Group’s BIM and CAFM software is employed across multiple sectors and across the globe. Their powerful, flexible and user-friendly software for facilities management and PPP performance management helps organisations save time, improve productivity and reduce costs across their operations.

Cloud FM

Cloud FM’s goal is to re-establish the trust that it believes has been lost in the FM industry by providing solutions that restore the relationships between FM providers and their clients. This is delivered through CAFM systems designed to manage building portfolios in a cost-effective, compliant and quality-led way.

With this just a small snapshot of the wide choice of CAFM providers across the globe right now, it is critical that when procuring your own system you take time to research and engage these and other providers to determine which offers the most fitting solution in your circumstances.

How to implement CAFM in your business

Even when compared with just a few years ago, the number of updates and new developments within technological solutions suitable for the FM sector have advanced at a bewildering rate. This has increased the choice in how they assist their management of their property portfolios, but has made choosing and implementing the best solution more challenging.

There are several common pitfalls companies can fall into when it comes to implementing and integrating a CAFM system into their infrastructure:

These can hamper or halt the introduction of this technology in its tracks, and result in organizations not reaping the full benefits of these highly-effective solutions. So, how can these problems be avoided?

Fundamentally, at the heart of any successful CAFM project should be a truly interactive relationship between a vendor and a customer. This service-driven approach makes it easier for the customer to define the kind of project and resources that they expect, and helps to ensure that the end result delivers on increasingly sophisticated expectations.

With that in mind, your CAFM provider should provide relevant insight into the best practice for implementing and integrating their solution into your existing structure. This may include setting up a project management team, appointing CAFM administrators or champions for each department, and creating a communications plan to successfully launch the system.

You should also be provided effective CAFM training to ensure your team becomes familiar with the new systems put in place – the more familiar you are, the more value it provides.

Keep in mind that CAFM systems are not ‘plug and play’. It has massive potential to improve the efficiency of your business, but you need to choose the right long-term partner. Look beyond the technology and consider if the supplier has sufficient knowledge, experience and resources you can call upon in the years to come.

With regards to securing stakeholder buy-in, this is critical as CAFM systems will likely touch every aspect of an organization. If one department or entity isn’t on-board or does not utilise the technology properly, the chances of it proving effective drop dramatically. Consult with your partner to put forward a professional business case, identifying the benefits this technology will offer and the outcomes you expect in relation to your business.

As part of the implementation process, it’s also important to be wary of information overload. Housing too much or irrelevant information, or presenting this in a way that isn’t user-friendly, will discourage people from accessing these systems. Ensuring there are effective functions to filter, manage and present this data is vital to ensure all team members are able to benefit from their CAFM software and incorporate it into their day-to-day routines.

Is the investment in CAFM worthwhile?

As noted, there is significant potential within a CAFM system to enable organisations to harness their facilities and assets, make meaningful strategic decisions relating to cost, efficiencies and workflows, and to generally make life easier for FMs and their wider workforce.

However, this depends on knowing what to look for in a quality CAFM solution and partner. This is essential to unlocking the full potential your system offers and increasing the likelihood that it becomes a permanent fixture of your operations moving forward. Factors involved in this include:

Remember that the purchase of a CAFM solution is individual and unique to the business and its operation. ROI will therefore depend on many factors and isn’t always predictable. You should always weigh the qualitative benefits of a CAFM against the limitations of your budget.

But, by working with a trusted, experienced provider, you can feel reassured that you devise a workable system that is delivered on time, on budget and to requirements.

The future of CAFM

With the growing realization of CAFM’s potential as a true enterprise system, introducing more all-encompassing solutions from the outset will be prioritized moving forward. As more and more organizations begin to adopt this technology and reap the benefits from it, the focus is developing it further for greater ease of use and integration with an ever-evolving digital business landscape.

We believe CAFM systems have a significant role to play in the rise of flexible working, at home or remotely, as well as the desire for businesses to reduce expensive office overheads and minimize floor space.

We also anticipate that the emergence and influence of both the IoT and AI will continue to be driving forces in CAFM software, with the outcome of more predictive maintenance and enhanced synergy between the various assets, systems and people within a building.

Of course, whatever the future of CAFM holds, we’re committed to playing a part in shaping and guiding it. For over three decades we have transformed the way businesses and teams operate, allowing them to run smarter, safer and more efficiently. As we continue to refine and enhance our offering, it will always be with that goal in mind.

Our approach to CAFM

At MRI, our industry-leading technology delivers absolute accessibility for owner/occupiers and global scalability to the world’s largest service providers. We are giving FM professionals the power to take control of their portfolios, harness valuable data and make meaningful strategic decisions to revolutionize the way they work.

Through our comprehensive CAFM/IWMS solution as well as our exhaustive collection of workforce and workplace apps, our technology is at the heart of streamlined workloads, optimised resources and enhanced reporting in organisations worldwide.

If you’d like to know more about our Facilities Management solutions, get in touch with our team today or arrange a dedicated demo.

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This blog was written by Ella Gross, Managing Director at HomeScreen Tenant Screening.

HomeScreen is a non-profit tenant screening service that provides property managers with modern, data-driven solutions that create stable and equitable rental housing within communities. HomeScreen’s screenings are simple, fast, and customizable to meet the needs of all residential managers, while supporting the HomeScreen mission of ending the affordable housing crisis. Learn more about

This blog was written by Ella Gross, Managing Director at HomeScreen Tenant Screening.

HomeScreen is a non-profit tenant screening service that provides property managers with modern, data-driven solutions that create stable and equitable rental housing within communities. HomeScreen’s screenings are simple, fast, and customizable to meet the needs of all residential managers, while supporting the HomeScreen mission of ending the affordable housing crisis. Learn more about HomeScreen here.

Tenant screening is a universal practice for property managers looking to find the best tenants for their affordable housing communities. We know that good screening helps property managers accurately assess which applicants will pay their rent on time and take good care of the units so that they can report positive outcomes to the owners. However, the best practices for tenant screening services have changed as the rental housing market becomes increasingly more competitive for market-value rentals, and especially for affordable housing units.

The real estate market is often used as a lens with which to view the economy at large. Rising inflation is causing rent prices to increase at the highest rate in decades, forcing more Americans to look for affordable housing and compete for the scare units.

1. Be consistent, even when application volume is at an all-time high

You likely have a lot of interest for available properties. To stay within the Fair Housing Guidelines, be sure your process is consistent for all applicants. When pre-screening, ask all interested renters the same questions and require that all qualified occupants 18 or older undergo the screening process, including spouses, adult children, and roommates.

Consider processing applications on a first-come-first-served basis to ensure fairness and avoid discrimination claims. Remember that the Fair Housing Act was set up to protect the most vulnerable renters, so be prepared to make reasonable accommodations to your approval criteria for those protected by the Fair Housing Act, like applicants with disabilities.

2. Recognize that income verification is more important than ever

During the Covid-19 outbreak, many people changed their work hours, joined the gig economy, or took the opportunity to start a new career entirely. Property managers need a tenant screening service that provides verification of an applicant’s current income through AI solutions, including bank deposit analysis, for the most accurate information.

Experts predict we may be heading toward a recession in the near future, again. While we may be living in a post-Covid world, the importance of keeping income verification accurate and timely will continue to be important as we move forward through unstable economic conditions.

Ultimately, with the current affordable housing shortage, AH managers must ensure that all applicants are within the income limits for these scarce units, or risk being out of compliance with their funders.

3. Consider tenant screening services with broader data sources

As rent, food, and gasoline have become more expensive throughout 2022, and Covid-era relief programs run dry, more Americans are at-risk of homelessness than pre-pandemic. Property managers should look for screening services that value diversity, equity, and inclusion for those who have been affected by the current market.

Screening services can tap into alternative data sources, like INSIGHT scores instead of FICO scores, to evaluate applicants in a more equitable manner. INSIGHT scores evaluate utility and telecom payments, like cell phone and cable bills, so that lower income renters without credit cards, car loans, or mortgages, can still be evaluated on their payment history.

Be proactive – More changes are coming

With the novel and sudden changes happening in the economy, and particularly the housing market, it’s more important than ever for property managers to review their screening process and stay informed of industry trends. Tenant screening services should not just react to the uncertainties of today, but be forward-thinking, providing property managers with the tools they need to be successful for tomorrow’s economy.

When it comes to driving corporate sustainability, a key factor, and major hurdle to overcome, is having the tools to efficiently target and measure performance. Targeting, firstly, revolves around the relationship between energy consumption and relevant driving factors, such as production outputs and weather. This relationship is then analyzed and used to create a baseline. A baseline uses historical data to generate a usage model of what to expect average consumption will be for a certain time period.

When it comes to driving corporate sustainability, a key factor, and major hurdle to overcome, is having the tools to efficiently target and measure performance. Targeting, firstly, revolves around the relationship between energy consumption and relevant driving factors, such as production outputs and weather. This relationship is then analyzed and used to create a baseline. A baseline uses historical data to generate a usage model of what to expect average consumption will be for a certain time period. After the baseline is created, variations in energy usage can be identified and realistic targets can be set to identify areas to reduce consumption.

Targeting and measurement issues usually stem from a wide variability in production output, which creates a very manual and tedious job involving data entry, extraction and spreadsheet creation. However, when creating targets and key performance indicators (KPIs), you need the right data. The need for standardized data then becomes extremely apparent when attempting to effectively report on energy usage and consumption.

Energy management software (EMS) has the unique ability to solve a variety of energy management hurdles, including resourcing, metering and integration, utility analytics, reporting, and change management, as well as provide a turnkey solution that consolidates energy related data into one system.

So how does an energy manager utilize energy management software to improve targeting to evaluate KPIs? In this blog, we’ll highlight how to overcome the hurdle of managing targets and KPIs, as well as the role the EMS plays in this process.

Eliminating manual processes – An EMS’ role

Targeting and performance measurement are key to ensuring a corporate energy program succeeds. What’s usually a time-consuming and manual process, requiring a large amount of manual data entry and spreadsheet creation, generating and evaluating targets where utility consumptions are compared against the production activity that drives them can be a daunting task.

With a turnkey energy management software, like MRI eSight, energy managers can replace those spreadsheets and manually generated reports with automated processes since the EMS can consolidate utility data and production volumes. A turnkey EMS can also generate consumption targets based upon production volume forecasts, production schedules, outside air temperature and other driving factors. These targets can then be recalculated and updated daily, based upon the latest estimates and forecasts to ensure fair and accurate objectives. Also, real-time interval data in the EMS will make it possible for short interval control of utilities, and it can capture equipment performance metrics to view live and historic trending of equipment efficiencies and other low-level data.

The ability to measure usage paves the way for proper energy management. Being able to view any meter’s live or historical readings over any span of time is a necessity in order to accurately gauge trends and create dynamic forecasts.

Enterprise-wide management

The energy management software would be the central repository for all utility metering data, providing a complete toolkit for viewing data, identifying and correcting data problems, analysing consumption patterns, finding anomalies and centralising the reporting of KPIs for utilities.

Empowered with this data, energy managers can now bring this key information out of the managers’ offices and into the fingertips of equipment operators. This will prove to be a pivotal factor to gain energy management buy-in across all sectors of an enterprise.

Achieving corporate sustainability goals and driving energy efficiency is essential for modern businesses. It requires a complete rethink of how you approach the role and projects. You might be in this position, so how do you balance all these everyday tasks and meet your business’ aggressive sustainability goals?

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Energy Management software

Monitor, analyze and reduce energy consumption.

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Property managers in multifamily communities wear many hats, and it’s impossible to be an expert in all of them. In the leasing office, you have to be a marketer, a lawyer, detective, and credit agency all at once – but everyone who’s made this attempt at perfection knows that it’s not reasonable to think we can excel at everything.

To paraphrase the great Ron Swanson from the popular show Parks and Recreation, “Don’t do a poor job at multiple things; do a great job at one thing.”

Property managers in multifamily communities wear many hats, and it’s impossible to be an expert in all of them. In the leasing office, you have to be a marketer, a lawyer, detective, and credit agency all at once – but everyone who’s made this attempt at perfection knows that it’s not reasonable to think we can excel at everything.

To paraphrase the great Ron Swanson from the popular show Parks and Recreation, “Don’t do a poor job at multiple things; do a great job at one thing.”

It’s no secret that property managers are worn out. From the disruption of the pandemic to recession fears, it’s been a rollercoaster ride since 2020. Change is happening at a faster pace than ever before – other industries are struggling with staff retention, high turnover, and onboarding new hires, and the multifamily sector is no exception. With more people working from home, residents are relying on the property management office even more.

Mental and emotional health for property managers

A recent survey conducted by NAA in partnership with SwiftBunny highlighted the emotional and mental health challenges within the industry. The survey respondents included “corporate office personnel, regional operations team members, and on-site employees, with 73.5% representing on-site employees.”

The survey confirms what many property managers already know: stress and increased workloads are affecting people’s personal wellbeing and their ability to provide the best service to their communities.

The findings of the NAA survey are consistent with what we’ve seen in MRI Software clients. Based on conversations with some of the larger property management companies that use our software, we observed the following:

The dangers of stress and how to manage it

We’ve all been told that too much stress is bad for us, but did you know it can create serious long-term health problems?

It’s been estimated that stress is the underlying cause of 75-90% of all hospital visits. Prolonged stress can disrupt many of the body’s processes and increase the risk of heart problems, high blood pressure, and stroke.

But perhaps just as bad as the physiological aspect is what stress can do to your mental and emotional well-being. Studies show that prolonged stress can lead to mood swings, difficulty sleeping, decreased concentration, and an overall feeling of being totally overwhelmed. It’s no one wonder so many property managers feel burnt out!

Factors that impact wellbeing and work-life balance

Despite the increase in stressors, property managers are still driven to provide outstanding service to their clients.

Tasks that add value to the community and make residents happy – such as undertaking regular maintenance projects and completing unpredictable resident requests in a timely manner – can also take up big chunks of emotional bandwidth, making it ever harder to maintain a work-life balance.

Left unchecked, this pattern traps hard-working property managers in a nonstop cycle of stress. Increased workloads can lead to stress, which leads to staff retention issues, which leads to exhaustion. That leads to lapses in resident satisfaction, and the cycle restarts.

It’s time to rethink how we do things!

Life as a property manager doesn’t have to be lived one fire drill to next. There is a way out of stress, and it involves a series of practices that can help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. With the following ingredients, you can gain back your peace of mind and find that perfect balance between a healthy working life:

How technology can give you time for what matters

You’ve probably heard the famous quote from the book Atomic Habits: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

It’s time to let technology do the work for you, so that property managers don’t have to wear multiple hats or be the bad guy. Finding the right tools and services to handle the different areas of operation can seem daunting, but no one knows what you need better than you do, and the perfect solution is out there.

Here are ways that software can help save time, letting you achieve more without sacrificing your personal wellbeing:

The multifamily industry is made up of people who stick together and support each other, through good times and bad. With the right tools, you can take better care of your residents, your business and yourself.

Workplace apps are not new in the age of workplace efficiency, but with the trend in hybrid working continuing its rise in popularity, they are becoming a key solution in taking the employee experience to a new level.

What are workplace apps?

Using applications in the workplace allows your business to create an easy way for teams to communicate better, collaborate more efficiently, and reach their goals faster. Removing or simplifying tasks that often are labor-intensive or time-consuming

Workplace apps are not new in the age of workplace efficiency, but with the trend in hybrid working continuing its rise in popularity, they are becoming a key solution in taking the employee experience to a new level.

What are workplace apps?

Using applications in the workplace allows your business to create an easy way for teams to communicate better, collaborate more efficiently, and reach their goals faster. Removing or simplifying tasks that often are labor-intensive or time-consuming provides your employees with an easier workday and creates a better experience.

Here are a few reasons why workplace apps are helpful to your organization;

Sign in/out apps

A helpful workplace app that provides your employees with the best experience by keeping them safe and secure when they’re working is a sign-in/out app.

Implementing a sign-in/out workplace app in your organization makes it effortless for your employees to enter or exit your locations and gain greater visibility of where they’re working. Sign-in/out apps make it trouble-free to communicate with your team about hazards, important notifications, or alerts. It powers your organization to foster a hybrid workplace culture by better understanding occupancy levels, empowering teams to choose their work station, and more.

Let’s dive into the 5 key reasons your organization should use a sign-in/out app to empower employees, aid your compliance obligations and create an excellent employee experience.

Effortless entry and exit

Make it easy for employees to enter or exit your organization with automatic sign-in/out and remove the stress of manually signing in and out of your location. When an employee arrives or goes to leave for the day, your employee’s device triggers a prompt, and they can enter or exit your location securely. Now your employees can help keep your records accurate without lifting a finger, as the workplace app does all the heavy lifting for them. Brilliant!

Emergency assistance

It’s essential to ensure your employees are safe to provide an excellent experience when they’re working. In an emergency, accident, or high-stress situation, provide your team with the ability to activate an emergency alert from their device. This application can assist with delivering your safety team or first responders with accurate, detailed information to help staff as quickly as possible.

Arrival and instant message notifications

Creating the best, welcoming experience for visitors to your workplace isn’t just about coffee and flowers. Create a unique and personalized visitor experience using workplace applications with visitor arrival notifications. Reduce the time your visitor is left at the sign-in screen and inform their host of arrival, regardless of when they show up at your door.

Have a hazard on level 5 in the stairwell and need to alert your teams? A workplace app removes the admin and provides a fast method to send an urgent update to everyone in your duty of care, informing them of the hazard. Give your safety team an extra capability to protect your employees, keeping them safe, secure, and aware of any hazards on-site.

Create a hybrid workplace

If you’re looking to create a flexible workplace, your employees can use workplace applications to notify you when they’ll be on-site and where they’ll be working. Give your team the flexibility to manage their next working day, week, or month and enable them to select the spaces they need to have a great workday with desk booking and employee scheduling.

Gain crucial insights into occupancy levels, and learn what spaces are utilized in your workplace, offering you the potential to save on workplace costs. Meet your policies and procedures without worry, and empower your teams to choose where and when they work best, powering your locations to craft a hybrid workplace culture.

Remote teams

The workplace isn’t all about being on-site, and workplace apps provide benefits and efficiencies for your remote workers too. Whether your team often works from home, on the road, or in remote areas, have them sign in for work on the go, right from their device.

By confirming and updating their geolocation, your nominated safety contacts within your organization can monitor their location, keeping at-risk employees safe, and easing health and safety concerns.

OnLocation Mobile

Get the workplace app that makes it easy for your employees to sign in/out of your locations. OnLocation Mobile assists your organization in creating a safe and secure workplace and helps you comply with your health and safety obligations.

Provide a convenient way to send important notices to your entire workforce, make it simple to check in with those working remotely, and keep the whole team safe with emergency SOS functions just a tap away.

Improve the accuracy of your people presence data and make it uncomplicated for employees to arrive or exit the workplace with automatic sign-in via a geofence. OnLocation Mobile also empowers your workforce for safe collaboration with fast and stress-free desk booking from their device.

Get a free trial today and strengthen the security of your workplace, instill confidence in employee safety and create fantastic employee experiences with OnLocation.

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Workplace

Software solutions and services for workplace management, lease administration and lease accounting.

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As a property manager, recommendations are key to your growth.

When you pay attention to the two fundamental factors of service (quality and your ability to deliver), you can persuade clients, such as landlords and homeowners associations (HOAs), to spread positive word of mouth and talk about you to their network.

As a property manager, recommendations are key to your growth.

When you pay attention to the two fundamental factors of service (quality and your ability to deliver), you can persuade clients, such as landlords and homeowners associations (HOAs), to spread positive word of mouth and talk about you to their network.

Property Management Software

Multi-discipline technology for property owners, investors and occupiers.

Therefore, to continue scaling your income, the experiences of your current clients need to become a number one priority.

What if we told you there was a way to:

All while continuing to satisfy your stakeholders? No compromise required.

With MRI’s property management software, you become the agile manager that the real estate market demands.

What is property management?

Property management is the work you do to maintain and operate your real estate assets. This includes taking care of properties, making agreements, listening to requests, and managing vendors – and sometimes finding renters and collecting rent on behalf of your landlord clients.

It can be too much for any property manager.

What does property management software do?

Property management software is a tool that can automate your workflows and help you organize what needs to be completed and when.

High-quality cloud-based property management programs allow you to:

Advantages of using property management software

In today’s digital age, it seems there are unlimited benefits of condo management software.

Fewer human errors get made and you spend less time apologizing for things that have slipped through the cracks. So, potential clients are bound to look positively upon businesses that use property management tools efficiently and effectively.

By using software for condo property management, you can:

Benefit 1: Save time

Administration tasks have been a complication for managers since the dawn of time, but, when everything you need to do to organize your properties is all in one system, you can be more proactive and reduce delays.

Benefit 2: Cut wastage

With the help of property management software, you can ensure the ongoing quality of your properties. Instead of missing deadlines for necessary and important maintenance that eventually leads to an expensive fix, you’ll have a platform providing regular reminders.

Benefit 3: Enhance communication

With the right property management tools in place, communications between yourself, your employees, and your clients can be streamlined – allowing you to create healthy relationships based on trust and understanding.

Benefit 4: Control your finances

When you are starting to increase your real estate investment portfolio, the amount of work that needs completing piles up. Software for property management provides an overview of your different rental incomes and ensures you are charging fair (but profitable) rent levels.

Top property management software features

Essentially, when you onboard smart and comprehensive property management software, your job starts to get easier.

1. Accounting and Budgeting: Streamline and automate your finances by reviewing accurate forecasts, analyzing rental values, and designing effective budgets. 2. Building Maintenance and Management: View timelines of properties that need work and be alerted of any legal procedures you need to conduct (i.e., testing fire alarms). 3. Fee Tracking: Predict when you need to have conversations about association fee increases or one-time assessments, as you approach the end of an agreement period. 4. Resident Portal: Easily action client requests through an easy-to-use portal.

With MRI Software’s property management solution, you can manage the total lifecycle of your real estate investments – onboarding renters, fulfilling your obligations, and continuously delivering the best service possible.

Choosing MRI Software for condo management

When it’s time for you to browse through the various property management software systems available on the market, choose one that will best enable your growth.

Step 1: Look at what systems other condo managers have adopted. Consider the size of their operations, the type of clients they work with and the type of properties they handle.

Step 2: Consider buying a property management software package that has proved itself a market leader, with a strong reputation within the industry. Look for case studies and seek references.

Step 3: Calculate how much time and resources you can save, which can be reinvested in new business development. A great software package should present significant opportunities to market your services more widely.

Step 4: Find out about the business insights that a property management system can offer. For example, it may allow you to view your property data to produce detailed forecasts and reports.

Step 5: Consider the online and self-service functionality of a property management system. New clients will place a high value on this aspect: it improves communication, speed of response and data integration while saving money and time.

Step 6: Seek out a system that can offer you the ability to market to both landlords and residents, driving revenue from all building users.

Step 7: Prioritize a supplier with a well-worked out mobile and apps strategy, together with Software as a Service (SaaS). This shows that you are at the forefront of adopting new technology to the benefit of your clients.

Step 8: Choose a system that can allow high levels of collaboration between all stakeholders in the property management process, driving further efficiencies through the whole supply chain.

Step 9: Above all, you need to look for a property management software provider with strong training and support. As a manager wanting condo management software, you can’t expect your employees or clients to be IT experts – so adopting and understanding software quickly is vital to your success.

Property management software – FAQs

What are the basics of property management?

Property management often entails rent setting, building maintenance, admin, and communication with key stakeholders.

How much is property management software?

Many property management software tools are priced depending on the complexity of the tasks you want to complete. Some can include or exclude various features that aren’t of use to you, making a platform more affordable. If you want a direct quote for your block management business, speak to MRI Software.

What is cloud-based property management software?

Cloud-based property management software is a tool that allows you to maintain and control your real estate assets anytime, anywhere. It uses the internet to allow you to access data, so, when you are out prospecting clients, you can still keep track of your properties.

What makes MRI’s property management software different?

In summary, to achieve optimum results and grow your revenue, it is crucial to have demonstrable technology that supports the following areas:

1. Accurate and well-managed service charges. 2. Excellent relations with contractors, together with fast response times. 3. Frequent and full communications to all stakeholders. 4. Efficient administration and good use of resources.

MRI’s property management software checks all the boxes.

By embracing our software and being an effective property manager, you can take on more work, upgrade your offerings to new clients, and start to achieve economies of scale in your administration.

Sound appealing? Request a free demo of our property management solution today.

In residential property management, following up on leads and maximizing occupancy are crucial to the success of your multifamily community.

Residential property managers often struggle to maintain a steady stream of qualified applicants, and the digitalization of the modern world has raised residents’ expectations, making it difficult to keep them satisfied.

So, as a matter of priority, you need a way to maximize occupancy rates for property management and retain your tenants.

In residential property management, following up on leads and maximizing occupancy are crucial to the success of your multifamily community.

Residential property managers often struggle to maintain a steady stream of qualified applicants, and the digitalization of the modern world has raised residents’ expectations, making it difficult to keep them satisfied.

So, as a matter of priority, you need a way to maximize occupancy rates for property management and retain your tenants.

What is an occupancy rate?

An occupancy rate refers to the percentage of occupied properties you have across your entire portfolio at any given time.

It gives you a clear picture of how much used space you have versus how much you have left to rent out, allowing you to calculate a new strategy for filling those spots.

Plus, by understanding short-term occupancy rates, you can also measure how much potential you still have left within your properties; revealing how much more you can scale your income.

How to calculate rental occupancy rates

Calculating a rental occupancy rate is as easy as working out any other percentage.

1. You want to take the number of properties that you have filled (for example, 65).
2. Then, subtract the number of properties you have in total (let’s say you have 80).
3. Next, multiply the result by 100 to work out the percentage.

In this example, the answer would be approximately 81%, leaving you with 19% of your properties that still need tenants.

If it’s easier, you can also display your occupancy rate as a ratio and leave it at that. Therefore, you’d have 65:80 filled properties.

Why understanding your occupancy rate is so important

Although many property managers don’t have a clear idea of their occupancy rate, it’s really important you find out what yours is.

It can give you a really succinct overview of how well your business is doing, and even go as far to reveal any large issues that quickly need addressing.

For instance, you might decide to work out your rental occupancy rate specifically to a multifamily building.

On the face of it, 30 tenants in an apartment block with 50 units doesn’t seem so bad. However, this is only a 60% occupancy rate… and you can do much better.

Once you know what properties you need to fill, you can set SMART goals, start advertising, and plan accordingly.

How to increase your rental occupancy rate

If you’re in a position where your rental occupancy rate could use some work (although don’t expect a perfect score), then you likely need a little extra support for finding high-quality tenants.

This means a change in:

Largely, occupancy rates are significantly impacted by low tenant turnover. You should focus your efforts on securing tenant retention.

Thankfully, technology can help.

7 ways technology can increase your occupancy rate

Going forward, then, you need to deduce what software can point you in the right direction, and how it can boost your brand awareness, reputation, and rental occupancy rates.

1. Attract qualified prospects

According to MRI Software’s Multifamily Marketing Survey, technology use in the residential property management sphere is increasing rapidly. Out of our pool of respondents, 59% had already begun using social media as a marketing tool. Statistics like this indicate just how important technology is becoming in the industry.

It’s for this reason that MRI offers Market Connect; a comprehensive occupancy rate tool you can use to network on a variety of digital platforms and attract potential residents on the internet.

2. Be honest and upfront

With Market Connect, you can develop quality content outlining your pricing, availability, and other important information about your community and get your message out to qualified prospects. You’ll also be able to give potential residents virtual reality tours of your units on a website that is both professional and optimized for mobile use. This means tenants have an accurate view of the property they are signing up for, increasing their likelihood to continue renting from you for the long run (and increasing your occupancy rate).

In addition, you’ll be able to increase staff productivity by providing an easy way to access real-time pricing, availability and floorplan info on the go via tablets and mobile devices.

3. Follow up on quality leads

When you attract more qualified leads with Market Connect, you’ll need to have a proper, flexible phone system ready to field calls from prospects. Only then can you boost your rental occupancy rates.

No one likes working through an automated phone answering system only to end up leaving a message that goes unanswered.

MRI Software’s Callmax is a smarter automated answering service designed specifically for multifamily property managers. Enhance the on-call experience for prospects and residents with innovative speech recognition technology that can provide callers with the answers they’re looking for right away. Even if the caller doesn’t leave a message, your leasing team will see the topic discussed over the phone, leading to better lead generation, and, soon after… occupancy rates.

4. Improved resident screening processes

Background checks and credit score checks have become a standard process in evaluating potential residents for your community, but are these really the best solutions to a complex challenge?

Background checks can often be rife with errors revolving around poor reporting, and FICO scores often provide a limited picture of a resident. They’re “one size fits all” solutions that rarely ever fit all.

With MRI Software’s Resident Screening, you can sort through applicants in a more detailed way that best fits your community.

Resident Screening is designed to provide a comprehensive background check that includes online and in-person research to create a more accurate history of the potential resident. This can reduce resident delinquencies and minimize evictions across all types of housing, including conventional, student housing, affordable housing and more.

Therefore, you’re less likely to have unfilled properties and more likely to have a strong occupancy rate.

5. Optimized property inspections

Performing property inspections with a pen and clipboard leaves too much room for manual entry errors. This damages tenant relationships and makes them more likely to leave.

Paperwork gets lost or ruined, handwriting can’t be read, and filing it all away for each resident in each unit is time-consuming and inefficient.

Say goodbye to your occupancy rate.

You shouldn’t have to worry about keeping up with the paper for sometimes thousands of different residents across multiple locations.

MRI Inspections help push the inspection process into the digital era by moving paper checklists to mobile devices. The software streamlines move-in, move-out, and transfer inspections by automatically scheduling each inspection with unique forms that suit your community’s needs. Take photos, record comments and mark ratings during each inspection that will then be stored in a digital server where staff can aggregate and securely share the data, eliminating the need for lofty filing cabinets with hard-to-monitor staff access.

Not only does this streamline the inspection process and increase efficiency; but you’ll also be able to conduct these inspections 100% offline.

6. Track tenant satisfaction

However, rental occupancy rates aren’t just reliant on your ability to network with and convert tenants.

You also need to ensure your tenants are having the best possible experience renting from you and aren’t looking elsewhere for a different property.

Not only is this a loss to your profit margin, but it’s damaging to your reputation.

With technology, you can track tenancy analytics to better understand what you need to be doing to maintain their favorable outlook of you. This can give you information into the market and help you predict when you should take action.

7. Communicate with your tenants

However, sometimes it’s not always obvious.

Communicating with tenants is key to maintaining rental occupancy rates, and this can be done easily through a variety of software portals.

Then, when you are starting to understand the desires of your tenants and delivering on them, you can build trust with each tenant. This means they are likely to come to you when they are facing issues, rather than simply sending a notice of vacation.

In turn, you are much more likely to retain their contract and protect your cash flow.

How to increase your rental occupancy rates – FAQs

Therefore, it seems there isn’t just one easy solution to rental occupancy rates.

You have to combine a mix of updating your tenant attraction and onboarding processes, and continue to offer the best service possible while they stay with you. Need a little more guidance with all that?

Perhaps these FAQs can help.

MRI’s Software for Increasing Your Rental Occupancy Rate

All of these technologies, from Market Connect to Callmax, are optimized to work together and form a cohesive multifamily property management software package that best fits the needs of your community.

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Multifamily software used by the top ten NMHC managers

Take full control of the lead-to-lease process

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Through them, you can listen to feedback, answer concerns, conduct tenant background checks, and more – all with the goal of increasing your rental occupancy rates.

To learn more about the technology solutions that can help boost your business, request a property management software demo today.

As a property manager, there’s no question that you need systems in place which can help you stop renter scams before they happen. After all, whoever originated the phrase “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” clearly never saw their property associated with fraudulent activity.

It’s hurtful, embarrassing, and best avoided.

As a property manager, there’s no question that you need systems in place which can help you stop renter scams before they happen. After all, whoever originated the phrase “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” clearly never saw their property associated with fraudulent activity.

It’s hurtful, embarrassing, and best avoided.

Resident Screening

Protect your community with applicant screening that does all the legwork.

What is tenant fraud?

When a prospective renter completes an application for an apartment using false information (or with bad intentions), this is considered tenant fraud. It is a disastrous situation for any property manager trying to build up a good reputation and boost tenant retention.

Who is liable for renter scams?

The property leasing office is responsible for evaluating the application and determining if the information is valid. Insufficient screening processes can result in fraudulent residents living in an apartment community for free, or on someone else’s dime. Anyone offering a property for lease needs to be aware of housing scams targeting property owners.

The consequences of rental scams targeting landlords

Fraud occurs across many industries, and real estate is no exception. The majority of property managers become aware of tenant fraudsters in their community within the first six months after the resident moves in, and they’ve already missed out on a valuable source of income. What’s worse? Addressing the situation can lead to:

So, if you want to continue to run a thriving property business, it’s crucial to understand how malicious tenants can sneak their way into your properties.

13 “red flags” of rental scams targeting landlords

Forged documents, missing information, and identity theft are key pathways that renter scam artists can use to get into your properties. While some of these vulnerabilities may seem like relatively small access points, they can lead to disastrous effects: an estimated 5.2 million renters in the U.S. have lost money from rental fraud. Are you one of them?

Renter scam 1: Fake documentation

Fake documents are a common tactic used in tenant scams as part of the apartment application process, particularly regarding paystubs. “Fake paystub for apartment” is such a high-volume search term that it shows up in Google’s Autofill feature.

While some fake documents might fall on the “unbelievable” side of forgeries, others are quite convincing and reasonably difficult to detect, meaning you have to remain on the lookout. Sometimes, tenants might claim they have a recent credit score you can use for their application. You should refuse and do your own research.

Renter scam 2: False identities

In recent years, the application process for real estate properties has largely moved online. Tenant fraudsters have come to take advantage of this. Alongside submitting fake documents (or digitally manipulated ones), they’ve been able to create entire false identities.

Without the proper systems in place to conduct background checks, your property could end up with leases signed by non-existent residents. To avoid this, hold yourself to a high standard and refuse to cut corners when it comes to conducting background checks. Secure the future livelihood of your business by being careful with the platforms you use to research information.

Renter scam 3: Information theft

In some cases, the details you’ve been provided check out. That doesn’t mean something dodgy isn’t going on. The profile your potential tenant uses could be built from data they’ve stolen elsewhere.

In some instances, tenant fraudsters have legally changed their name in order to sell your property to someone else and then disappear with the money. Other examples include:

Renter scam 4: Consistent avoidance

Even face-to-face interactions with applicants could be fraudulent, and there have been many times when property managers and landlords alike have fallen prey to the trusty old “my friend will meet you” and “my assistant can pick up the keys.”

These prospective tenants make it seem like they are unable to meet you in person because they are overseas, or ill.

Although not every such instance is enough to set alarm bells ringing (sometimes, a person will genuinely be telling the truth), be conscious when a renter is avoiding meeting you personally or is claiming to be making an application for someone else.

Renter scam 5: Time-pressure

Another less common, but equally troubling tenant scam, is when the applicant tries to make you feel guilty about not processing their application fast enough.

In these cases, they might claim they have children they need to house or are currently homeless and need to move in within a manner of days. Then, they might persuade you to review their documents after they’ve got the keys.

Look out for key phrases such as, “I haven’t got them ready yet! They’ll come through next week after we’ve moved in.” If you feel that someone is extorting you to move quickly, then stay alert. They might have bad intentions.

Renter scam 6: Biased background checks

Be wary when only family and friend references are provided. The people you speak to might have been educated on what to say and when to back up the claims of your tenant.

Additionally, loved ones might also be biased in their opinions, and more interested in helping your applicant secure a rental property than in keeping you safe. If this happens to you, push for professional references.

Renter scam 7: Incorrect contact details provided

In the same vein of rental scams targeting landlords, the contact details you receive from tenants might not necessarily be for the right people. For example, if you want to speak to a past property manager of theirs, they can lie and give you the details of a friend who can pretend to be someone they’re not.

Thankfully, in today’s digital environments, it’s easy enough to cross-reference the number you’ve been provided and make sure it is owned by the person you want to speak to. Most businesses will have a contact number on their website.

Renter scam 8: Inaccurate tenancy reports

Another little detail that might alert you of possible tenant fraud is a small white lie that can be hard to distinguish, telling you the wrong number of people that will be moving in with them. This might be done to comply with the landlord’s occupancy limitations that are outlined in the lease agreement, but it could allude to something more illegal going on.

Stay alert.

Renter scam 9: International transfers

Where possible, always get your deposit and first rent payment paid upfront – shortly after the application is signed, but long before you hand over the keys. Wire transfers are dangerous territory and are often at risk of fraudulent activity.

Overseas tenants usually send a certified check that amounts to more than what is needed and then request a refund of the difference. However, after this has been sent, the cheque bounces and the property manager loses out. If you are dealing with international tenants, choose an FCA-regulated payment platform like Wise.

Renter scam 10: Purposeful rental eviction

Now that we’ve covered some common tenant scams that occur while an application is made, you also need to be wary of issues that can arise after someone has moved into a property. This includes a refusal to pay rent or a deliberate breaking of your lease agreement so they can live rent-free until the eviction notice has been served.

It’s a nightmare situation for any landlord, and you need to recognize the signs early on.

Renter scam 11: Incorrect purpose

Residential and commercial buildings have different legal obligations. However, throughout the pandemic, there’s been a rise in small business owners who might use their leased apartments to ship and package goods. A surplus of waste might suggest that someone is using your property for something other than their living quarters. In this case, it’s a good idea for landlords to understand the type of business their tenants are running on the property.

Renter scam 12: Selling your furniture

Some tenants might seem great on the surface. Then you notice your furniture has been listed online for them to make a quick buck.

Goodbye washing machine. Goodbye sofa. Goodbye antique bedframe.

This is a nuisance and an expensive loss to property managers at best, and a scam at worst – especially if they manage to make a profit on the rent you’ve charged and then quickly move out.

Renter scam 13: Stealing your listing

Not only is your furniture at risk of rental scams targeting landlords, but your whole building could be, too. Some tenants might pretend they own the property they live in and sell it on the private market.

Although it would legally remain yours, this is a bad situation to be in – and could result in legal action that is time-consuming and costly. Court proceedings might occur even if you are totally innocent.

How to prevent tenant fraud in 2022

Fraudulent and malicious rental activity is getting harder and harder to recognize. You can’t do it alone.

Step 1: Educate stakeholders

Awareness is crucial to stopping fraud before it happens. Ensure you:

1. Teach your staff members about the risks and inform them of the “red flags”.
2. Speak to your long-term (trustworthy) tenants about what to look out for.
3. Have concrete communication channels in place for feedback.

If you have any reason for doubt, don’t proceed with the application process. It’s not worth the risk.

Step 2. Conduct tenant background checks

Once you’ve made sure that people know what to look out for, make sure to always be thorough with your tenant research. Look into instances such as:

1. Duplicate addresses: Some fraudulent applications may have the same address used on multiple applications.
2. Questionable personal information: If a fraudster has used a burner phone number on his or her application, this check will reveal any discrepancies between the number and the affiliated carrier.
3. Multiple credit card uses: If the same credit card has been used on multiple rental applications, and by multiple people, this is a red flag that warrants further investigation.
4. Written references: Always call someone to confirm they have written the reference provided, and done so recently.

You should also use your own platforms (such as this ID verification software from MRI) to browse credit scores and address history, and never accept someone’s claims at face value. Ask for evidence, look for discrepancies, and speak to other property managers in your area to see if they’ve recognized any dodgy applications.

Step 3. Use SaaS to combat renter scams

The world is changing. It’s time to update your property management and tenant onboarding process. With the number of digital applications on the rise, you should start wielding technology to your advantage. Services that can help you discern fake documents from real ones and conduct detailed tenant checks include MRI’s Resident Screening.

Preventing tenant fraud – FAQs

In 2021, private property managers in the UK lost a total of £7 million. To avoid becoming another negative statistic, you need to be careful with how you approach sourcing and vetting potential tenants. These FAQs might help.

Avoid tenant scams with MRI Software

No matter what action you take to defend your property against fraud, it’s vitally important that you make sure your solutions are reasonable.

Recognizing renter scams before they happen is crucial to the reputation and upkeep of your properties, but overly cumbersome processes can also plummet satisfaction lower amongst renters who are following the rules.

At MRI Software, empowering property managers and other real estate businesses is at the core of what we do.

To help identify rental fraud, MRI offers a range of resident and tenant screening products that manage risk and help you keep fraud out of your multifamily complex. Through MRI’s Partner Connect network, you can access screening solutions from our many partners and choose the solution that works best for your business.

Protect yourself from costly rental mistakes. Find out more about our multifamily property management software solutions.

If you manage a commercial building, ensuring it meets the relevant energy efficiency standards is crucial. Energy standards such as IPMVP (International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol) and ASHRAE  (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers) can help in this regard.

Utilizing these standards will not only help you to avoid the hefty fines associated with noncompliance but also ensure the building is energy efficient. However, conserving

If you manage a commercial building, ensuring it meets the relevant energy efficiency standards is crucial. Energy standards such as IPMVP (International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol) and ASHRAE  (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers) can help in this regard.

Utilizing these standards will not only help you to avoid the hefty fines associated with noncompliance but also ensure the building is energy efficient. However, conserving energy is not always straightforward, and  analytics may not be in place to highlight what’s draining energy in the commercial building in the first place!

There are, however, some short and long-term actions that can be taken right now to improve the energy efficiency of a commercial building.

In this blog, we’ll share five specific ways to conserve energy in a commercial building, helping building owners and managers to be compliant with the relevant energy efficiency standards.

1.Identify which appliances/functions are draining energy

The first of our five ways to conserve energy is to start with any appliances that are draining energy within the building.

Maybe some appliances are damaged and/or working below the optimum energy efficiency standards and if so, energy management or reporting software should be able to pick this up if it is in place. Damaged, energy hungry appliances are likely to fail in the future and will cost far more than if they were replaced right away.

2.Come up with a plan to replace energy inefficient appliances

Having identified what’s draining the most energy – the next step is drawing up a plan to change those appliances

For example, if the building uses incandescent bulbs, upgrading them should be a key consideration. While more affordable than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) at the point of purchase, they only last on average 1,000 hours, whilst CFLs and LEDs can last up to 8,000 and 25,000 hours on average respectively. CFLs and LEDs cost more at the point of purchase, but over their lifetime will cost significantly less than incandescent bulbs which will need to be replaced on a regular basis. Energy efficient solutions overall may cost more at the point of purchase but will be much more affordable over the long term.

Building managers should also invest in lighting sensors and controls. Lighting sensors use motion detectors to determine if an area is uninhabited and if it is, the lights will turn off after a short delay. Lighting control systems, on the other hand, are designed to provide the right amount of light when and where it is needed. For example, during the day the control system will automatically dim electric lights in response to the level of available daylight (this process is known as daylight harvesting).

Another source of energy worth considering is solar. Setting up solar panels on the building’s roof could provide an additional (and free) source of energy. This energy could then be used to light the building during the early hours or at night – far more affordable than using the building’s standard lighting!

3.Regulate energy usage Peace of mind with MRI eSight software

Work out how to optimize the building’s energy usage so that energy is only being used when it is actively required. For example, turning off the lights when they are not required (lighting sensors will also help in this regard) and ensuring cleaners operate in the early morning to harvest daylight and reduce disruption. Also, encourage tenants to turn off office equipment as the energy used by devices, even on standby, can quickly accumulate and be costly. Also, if those devices are not ‘energy efficient’, a standby state can influence their longevity.

4.Continue to monitor equipment and functions and maintain/repair them if necessary

Even with all the above in place, continue to monitor lights, ventilation, heating, water, etc. to see if everything is working to an optimal standard. For example, ventilation controls and monitoring can help to better circulate air – providing air to areas that need it – whilst ventilation monitoring tools will help to evaluate the performance of the ventilation system to ensure it’s operating optimally.

Preventative measures will ensure that hefty costs for maintenance and repair are avoided. Also, by monitoring the building’s functions on a day-to-day basis, the data collated can later be analyzed to determine whether anything could be improved.

5.Get buy in from senior members/directors/stakeholders and even tenants

If everyone is working towards the same goal of reducing energy consumption and appreciates the importance of improving energy efficiency, it will be much easier to implement new strategies, replace existing appliances, and enforce policies to switch off devices when not in use at the end of the day.

However, convincing senior members of your organization, as well as directors, stakeholders and even tenants, of the benefits of reducing energy consumption is dependent on whether you can provide them with the statistics or a cost benefit analysis. If reporting is in place to demonstrate, visually, how energy saving initiatives are benefitting the commercial building (and its tenants), senior members will be more likely to buy into the process and support it.

It’s essential that your commercial building meets the relevant energy efficiency standards. A good approach is to use the IPMVP standards and the ASHRAE standards. Both standards outline best practice guidelines for maximizing energy efficiency and using these standards in conjunction will allow you to revise the energy performance of the commercial building and help to ensure it’s compliant with relevant energy standards.

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It’s easy to keep costs low when you have sensible renters that care about their residence, adhere to your agreement, and are happy to do minor maintenance jobs for you.

But how do you find good tenants? Where do the best ones spend their time? Let’s take a look and find out.

The importance of finding good tenants for multifamily properties

When it comes to managing a profitable multifamily property, occupancy rates are key. Tenant turnover can cost you an arm and a leg, so managing

It’s easy to keep costs low when you have sensible renters that care about their residence, adhere to your agreement, and are happy to do minor maintenance jobs for you.

But how do you find good tenants? Where do the best ones spend their time? Let’s take a look and find out.

The importance of finding good tenants for multifamily properties

When it comes to managing a profitable multifamily property, occupancy rates are key. Tenant turnover can cost you an arm and a leg, so managing their experiences is in your best interest – and this starts right from the moment they start hunting for properties.

If you can make the best first impression with your professionalism, you put yourself in a great place to encourage good tenants to make a long-term commitment that will result in a consistent cash flow for your business.

However, raising the number of quality people applying for your property doesn’t just happen overnight. There’s some homework to do.

How to find good tenants for rental properties

Step 1. Optimize your website

It is surprising how many sites out there are not mobile and tablet device ready, and, if this is the case for you, you are:

A. Alienating a significant portion of your audience. B. Ignoring one of the best places to find tenants.

According to recent research, over 92.4% of internet users are on a mobile device, which means, in order to generate their interest in your multifamily property, you have to accommodate their needs.

Step 2. Build your traffic

When people have questions these days, we go to Google. With that in mind, how impressive is your search ranking? If you have to actively go through seven to ten pages before coming close to finding your property using basic company-linked terms (if not your property’s name in general) then you need to work on your SEO.

Step 3. Increase your online presence

When it comes to finding good tenants, it seems pretty apparent that social media is a major time consumer for many people. So, it makes sense to go where your audience is. Having a social media page gives potential customers a chance to get a better “feel” for what you have to offer.

Step 4: Manage social proof

Another tip for finding tenants is to actively monitor and respond to what people are saying about your property on product/company review websites. These sites not only let you into what potential residents are learning about your property, but they can also give you an insight as to what your current residents actually think about you.

Step 5: Empower your residents

Once you are up-to-date with today’s digital environments, it’s time to make your services as accessible as possible with multifamily property software (a tool that allows you to control tenant experiences to stimulate referrals). Finding tenants online is a lot easier when your current renters are leaving you positive reviews.

Creating the best tenancy ad for your multifamily property

Wait, there’s more.

Alongside the internal strategies you can execute to find good tenants, you can expand your marketing through either PPC ads (like ones on Google) or partnerships with various listing services in your area.

Despite the cost involved, both of these have been proven as two of the best ways to find tenants for rental properties. Before you can begin, though, you need to make sure the ad you want to use is:

Tip 1 for finding tenants: Take clear pictures

To capture the attention of prospective quality tenants, your ad should include comprehensive and accurate images of the property you are listing. Too often, landlords provide inadequate photos that stop any tenants with good intentions from asking for more information. How can they expect you to deliver on your promises and look after their personal safety with building maintenance if you can’t even take the time to take a few photos?

Tip 2 for finding tenants: Write detailed descriptions

The best ads are clear, extensive, and authentic. You should write a detailed summary of the property (such as the size and number of bedrooms/bathrooms) and could even include some information on the surrounding area (such as how the property is a five-minute walk away from the shops). These details are going to intrigue potential tenants and increase your number of queries.

Tip 3 for finding tenants: Set your rental price

No matter what property you are listing, and where, there’s something you need to do before you list your ad: always decide on your rental price. The last thing you want to do is waste time responding to people who don’t have the budget for the property you’ve listed and risk upsetting them as a result. This can damage relationships, decrease your efficiency, and stop you from finding good tenants.

Tip 4 for finding tenants: Widen your tenant pool

Targeted ads don’t necessarily have to be restricted to the exact area your property is in. You could consider widening the zone of your listing and therefore increase your chances of finding a good tenant online. You never know, perhaps someone will ask about one multifamily property of yours only to end up viewing multiple.

Tip 5 for finding tenants: Always screen your potential tenants

If you want to make the most of your multifamily property, then you need renters who are going to pay you on time and take care of their space. When it comes to finding good tenants, you should always:

1. Look at their property history: Previous landlords they have rented from are likely to be able to provide a review on the quality of the tenant. This can also help you avoid property management fraud.
2. Request a guarantor: Where applicable, it is entirely appropriate to request a guarantor for young or financially unstable tenants.
3. Analyze their employment/income stream: Great tenants will have long-term employment history and have stayed in the same job for more than six months. They would have a decent credit score, and not have too much debt.
4. Take a deposit: A deposit is not only a multifamily property best practice, it’s a necessity for finding good tenants. Being able to pay money upfront shows their financial management skills and ability to save.

How to find good tenants for multifamily properties – FAQs

As you can see, there are numerous ways to find good tenants. If you still aren’t sure, browse these FAQs.

How long does it take to find a tenant?

Properties tend to start getting responses within the first few days of a job listing; however, it may take you longer to screen the reviews and decide which tenant to accept. Therefore, you could be looking at a timeline of anywhere from a week to several months.

What qualifies as a multifamily property?

Multifamily properties can include apartment complexes, a duplex, and even condos. Essentially, it’s any building that has a full set of facilities to sustain more than one family.

What qualities make a good tenant?

A good tenant would be respectful of the property they live in and their neighbors, pay their rent on time, be willing to do minor maintenance jobs, and have great employment and address histories.

What are the positives and negatives of a multifamily property?

For managers, multifamily properties can induce more complaints than most. If neighbors aren’t being respectful of each other, you’ll be the one to have to deal with issues. However, due to the nature of multifamily properties, they are often highly profitable.

How multifamily software can help you find tenants online

There’s one more tool you can use to find tenants for your rental property – multifamily property management software.

Capable multifamily property management software can help you build your website and its usability, but can also encourage engagement with your community.

Functions like:

All work together to ensure you are creating an accessible and enjoyable tenant experience.

When used correctly, you can create a positive brand reputation that leads to a successful word of mouth marketing strategy. As one of the best ways to find tenants, multifamily property management software should not be ignored.

Reach out to MRI for a demonstration today.