Technology developed to help property managers, landlords organize rental turn-over process
July 5, 2012
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Make Ready Manager helps property managers and landlords organize the turn-over process, including assigning move-out tasks to employees or vendors. The software is commercialized by Key Rental Properties and developed by DelMar Information Technologies. (DelMar Information Technologies image) |
LAFAYETTE, Ind. and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Property managers and landlords may be able to oversee the rental turn-over process more efficiently, thanks to a new version of technology developed in Greater Lafayette.
Lafayette, Ind.-based Key Rental Solutions LLC is commercializing a cloud-based version of Make Ready Manager®, which was developed by Purdue Research Park-based DelMar Information Technologies LLC.
Users gain access to the program from any location with an Internet connection, not just computers in their office. It also now has a Task List, a mobile-optimized website that allows workers and vendors to use their smartphones to view jobs on a list, like rekeying locks or cleaning carpets, and mark them as complete.
Andy Smith, director of sales and marketing at Key Rental Solutions, said moving the program to the cloud allows more flexibility for the end user.
"Property managers now can perform tasks, review reports, assign tasks to vendors and workers at the site, and see what has to be done and what has to be completed from a remote location," he said. "They don't need to wait until the end of the day or the next day with a paper that lists what was accomplished."
Smith said Make Ready Manager has been used for apartment communities, student housing, condominiums and commercial sites.
"It provides a simpler method to track the process of turning over empty units and making them available. It can be updated much faster than a whiteboard," he said. "The user also can look at the history of what's been done to a unit, which they can't get off a whiteboard or a spreadsheet."
Mikel Berger, software developer at DelMar Information Technologies, said several standard turn-over practices like move-out inspection, painting and carpet cleaning are built into the Make Ready Manager system. Users can add or delete practices to customize the program and its reports.
"Users can search for what jobs have been assigned to employees or vendors, and notify them about the jobs with one or two clicks," he said. "Creating reports is an easy process because it is a function of the system."
Smith said Make Ready Manager can stand alone or be integrated with existing full-service property management software.
"There are several complete property management systems but they lack a simple, easy-to-use way to manage turn-overs. Most don't have anything, or they're limited or difficult to use," he said. "Our software works with and integrates with the most popular property management software. The user doesn't need to maintain separate lists of units for both."
Dean Bellas, assistant operations manager with Capstone On-Campus Management at Bowling Green State University, turned to Make Ready Manager because he and his colleagues were not able to look at one place to see what units needed to be turned over and what tasks had to be done. They also had to use paper and pencil to pass information to the staff during the turn-over process.
"I like that Make Ready Manager has the ability to track each step in the turn process, which can be tracked either very broadly or by each individual task," Bellas said. "It allows my colleagues and me to effectively manage what tasks were assigned to whom and when they are expected to be done."
Michael Rapp, director of administration at Campus Property Management, said he and his colleagues faced a challenge in organizing information so key people knew what was happening during the turn-over process.
"We exported the unit information from our database and imported it into Make Ready Manager for use in just a few minutes," he said. "We no longer have to track down individuals to see if something has been done, we can just check the program. Make Ready has greatly improved our organization of turn-over which has made us more efficient."
A demonstration of Make Ready Manager can be found at http://www.makereadymanager.com. Visitors also can download a sample or purchase the program at the same site.
About DelMar Information Technologies LLC
DelMar Information Technologies LLC is an information technology consulting firm specializing in custom software development. The firm has been developing software professionally since 1982. Clients include small businesses, medium-size businesses and large corporations in diverse industries such as health care, education, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications and retail.
About Purdue Research Park
Purdue Research Park, with four locations across Indiana, has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park network is home to about 200 companies that employ 4,000 people and are located in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany.
Purdue Research Park contact:
Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org
Sources:
Andy Smith, 765-742-0742, andy@keyrentalsolutions.com
Mikel Berger, 765-577-5757, mjberger@delmarit.com
Dean Bellas, 419-372-8055
Michael Rapp, 217-328-3030
