When you’re an owner–operator as large as Greystar, a top-notch property management technology is essential to your firm’s performance. And who better to design and create such a platform than the people who know your needs, and those of your clients, the best—your own team?
Last year, Greystar built its own, proprietary technology platform to transition new clients’ properties to its property management system. The platform streamlines and automates the process to ensure its accuracy and timeliness, whether a client has a single or multiple property portfolios.
With the new technology, Greystar staff can efficiently manage multiple tasks, people, and documents, including communicating about tasks, uploading and storing information, and monitoring progress.
Several bottom-line results have emerged since Greystar instituted the new technology, such as saving money and ensuring quality control by avoiding transition errors and paring risks.
The firm developed its business model based on five critical lessons it had learned over the years that it deems necessary for success:
- Do significant up-front planning.
- Dedicate adequate resources to all program phases.
- Track every task at the property or corporate level through completion, without inhibiting the takeover team’s effectiveness.
- Perform transparent reporting to chart progress and create accountability at all levels;
- “Overcommunicate,” so team members can report and share information to ensure that the process stays on point throughout, from start to finish.
Approximately 600 Greystar team members use the new system, with licensing costs leveraged across additional departmental platforms. The annual license cost ranges from $100 to $1,500, depending on level of access, with a majority of users’ access costing $100 to $400.
Based on feedback from clients, asset managers, and operations staff, Greystar says the new technology has helped prevent errors. Currently, the company’s 10,000-plus team members work with more than 400 clients and 1.5 million residents in over 400,000 units globally.
