Rental Property Management at Record Speeds with Software: a Case Study

From strategy to software, rental property management requires a different approach at each level of growth. With larger volumes and in a more fast-paced business small mistakes and manual processes become major hurdles.

We revealed how you can save time when beginning growing your rental portfolio in a previous success story. However, as you aim to continue the growth, it is easy to ignore the subtle but critical limit around 150-200 units, where administrative burdens and pressure on your team suddenly escalate. 

As a result:
– the growth of your portfolio slows.
– Processes become ever more complex.
– Previously trivial problems take longer to solve.

One customer of Bidrento described their predicament: “Until about the 175th unit we expanded quite aggressively. With each new property, I felt our entire team got a jolt of positive energy to move forward together. But then, suddenly, it felt like we hit a hidden iceberg beneath the waterline.”

„We found ourselves in a situation where the returns on our existing units were good but adding new rental property was increasingly cumbersome. I wondered for a long time, whether this had to do with me, our personnel or what to change. I saw the dissatisfaction in others as well. That led us to try Bidrento and eventually to us regaining our growth”

The CEO

The story of how that firm overcame its growth challenges leads to great answers to some of the main questions of rental property management:

• How to save time in a business, where time can be more expensive than money.
• How to simplify business processes, when another spreadsheet does not help.
• Most importantly, how to grow your portfolio as fast and as efficiently as possible.

1. Refocus on higher value outcomes

“Before starting to use Bidrento we did a lot of manual data entry. We monitored spreadsheets to account for cash flow, always fearing a small mistake that may end up costing a lot of money. During the early stages this was manageable but as we added new units, I noticed that the amount of detail started to hinder people.”

The ceo

The automation that rental property management software brought to the table gave employees more time to work on higher-value initiatives and freed the team from tensions involving missed files and incomplete documentation:

“Calculating an accurate utility bill and additional costs for each tenant is substantially easier with Bidrento. The software does that for us, taking into account quite an extensive level of different detail for each property. We can work without filling and then double checking cell after cell in a spreadsheet.”

The company’s most experienced property manager mentioned how Bidrento increased his productivity by combining his main activities into a single, effortless flow:

• Which units are available and which are under contract is clear at a glance.
• “Automagical” contract management with tailored notifications and emails
• After signing the agreement, the first invoice can be triggered instantaneously. 
• The software checks for received payments and sends an alert when delays occur.
• Timely tenant auto-reminders take care of the more difficult part of tenant communication.

Automate your daily routine

The property manager added: “The software keeps us organised and accountable to our goals. My display in my office is no longer buried under stick-it notes and I can clearly see that we no longer avoid or postpone crucial tasks as we often inadvertently used to do.”

As another significant benefit, the client outlined preparing and signing rental agreements digitally

• Bidrento will put together the correct type of agreement automatically. Avoiding inadvertent typos or applying wrong conditions to the wrong tenant and just plain saving you time. The property manager does not need to alter anything. Everything is good to go.
• The software enables both parties to digitally sign the agreement without long back-and-forth. Managers do not have to monitor the situation as Bidrento sends signature reminders for you and notifies you when the agreement has been signed.
• And details like inviting another member of the team to co-sign are effortless. 

As the organisation grew and the founding team took a more hands-off approach, Bidrento ensured everything was done. For example, a maintenance calendar enables subcontractors and property managers to coordinate health checks for all of your equipment on time.

It is good to see the real impact on our productivity and results. We can achieve more with the same team, moving faster towards the vision we presented to investors.

THE CEO

2. Ensure time-savings, trust and open communication

Finding a new tenant takes about 30-40% of a property manager’s time due to back-and-forth communication (e.g. agreeing on a time for a tour). That and checking the tenants’ background information can become a black hole into which time and productivity just sink.

The experienced senior property manager pointed out a clear time saving that came with dealing with new enquiries:

“We have a lot of out-of-town tenants, who have a lot of questions because they want to feel confident about making the best decision in an unfamiliar environment. With Bidrento, we can display all of our available units on our website. Showcasing our professionalism as a landlord and allowing everyone to acquaint themselves and apply for a tour at their own pace. I no longer spend 25 minutes on the phone explaining details that are better seen visually. And in some situations, the virtual tour suffices.”

The manager continues: “This thread of efficiency continues to the way we work, I no longer hear about colleagues asking for help for background checks or contemplating how to word long e-mails regarding paying invoices on time. We get things done faster and are more open to collaborating.”

“In my line of work, I associate Bidrento most with the word ‘trust’, because thanks to the software everything just works and things move as they should. Our tenants trust us and we trust each other.”

senior Property manager with ten years of experience

3. Increase profitability by bringing systems together

Open communication extends beyond internal processes. Fusing multiple online platforms further facilitates growth and makes implementing property management best practices a breeze.

For example, you can connect Bidrento’s rental property software to your bank and with your accounting software and set up an integrated system so reminders for unpaid invoices reach tenants automatically. Additionally, the software can give you a real-time report on which tenants tend to have payment problems and need extra attention.

For our client, integrating the software with their website turned into a growth engine:

“With Bidrento, we achieved a significant part of our long-term vision. Creating an user experience that mimics online shopping for prospective tenants with our own brand and under our own domain.”

the ceo

4. Offer smart extra services

The big promise in offering extra services lies in being able to increase the profitability of your portfolio per unit. Additionally, you can increase tenant satisfaction and differentiate yourself from the competition. However, nothing is as easy as it seems in rental property management and the good intentions of our client met with two huge obstacles:

• offering services led to unexpected expenses and additional work.
• Ensuring service quality and tenant satisfaction was surprisingly hard.

Bidrento removed these complications by making dealing with extra services a single, digital flow that connected both tenants and property managers and divided ordering and delivering service into more easily “digestible” bits. 

Starting to use the solution was simple:

1. the client came up with a list of extra services appropriate to their portfolio.
2. They tested it out on one property. And tweaked their original idea a bit.
3. When they felt ready, they expanded it across the portfolio.

As the residential property market continues to heat up, it pays to think on this early and ask yourself: “If we had Bidrento, what services would we offer to stand out?” and contact us to play through different scenarios with a free demo.

5. Channel frustrations related to maintenance issues

Technical failures are an unpleasant but unavoidable part of rental property management. As you accelerate your growth and add units to your portfolio, they will inevitably increase. While your tenants’ expectations of you will only rise as your brand gains exposure. So it is in the interest of everyone that the property management team has a well-structured approach and communication channels in place.

If the tenant senses that there are real means for fixing issues and requests are actively dealt with, they do not feel the need to express their frustrations and are more receptive to new offers that bring value to both sides.

Bidrento has a turn-key solution that encompasses all three parties of the process

• for a tenant to send and monitor maintenance requests.
• For the property manager to receive and plan tasks visually.
• The subcontractor can receive tasks and update their status.

The customer’s property managers can appreciate the difference with the previous solution: “This is much more efficient than the last tool we used, which pretty much boiled down to me remembering what is supposed to be done and adding a few notes to help me with that. Bidrento truly eases my mind.”

What are your plans for the future?

“We will continue working with Bidrento. Soon there will be a new addition to our portfolio – a modern property with 55 units in a high-income neighbourhood, where we want to offer a truly remarkable tenant experience with extra services and a digital-first approach.”

“Bidrento has become our long-term partner. Returning to old ways of working is out of the question and there is no solution on the market which gives us the breadth, automation and user-friendliness that we and our tenants get from Bidrento.”

the ceo

If you are exploring different ways to grow your rental property portfolio, then reach out for a conversation. We will set up a demo environment catered to your success, guide you through customising the software and offer a free trial period.