Property Management Software Development Cost and Key Features

You must have heard about a property management software or PMS property management system. These are specialized software programs that are dedicated to helping property owners or landlords manage their rental properties. Property management software development streamlines operations and improves overall efficiency. A PMS property management system will also help businesses to make informed decisions. It could handle multiple business tasks like rent collection, maintenance requests, lease agreements, and tenant communication.  

With so many benefits, use cases, and applications, property management software development is in huge trend, and many entrepreneurs are becoming aware of this untapped opportunity. In this article, we will go through all the major aspects of property management software development or PMS property management systems. Let’s start with the basics. 

What is a Property Management Software? 

Property management software is specially built software with features and functionalities focused on improvising and streamlining the working of property owners, landlords, or real estate professionals. A PMS brings automation to several tasks: tracking tenant information, managing lease agreements, and streamlining communication. 

It has features for online rent payments, automatic rent notifications, and tracking payment histories. Also organizes maintenance requests, work orders, and vendor management. It is also capable of managing financials, managing income and expenses, budgeting, and reporting. Thus, property management software development could be a game changer by bringing efficiency to your tasks. 

Why invest in Property Management Software Development? Markets Statistics 

In 2022, the global real estate management industry was valued at $10.54 billion and is expected to grow to $22.88 billion by 2030. According to IBISWorld, more than 290,000 businesses exist in the property management sector in the USA alone. 

According to recent reports, the global property management software industry is growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2022 to 2030. If we consider the UAE, a prominent example of real-estate industry growth, its 5.5% GDP is generated mostly by real-estate activities. That’s why investors want to tap into these opportunities, and a PMS property management system will act as a catalyst. 

Types of Property Management Software: 

It is essential for a property owner to invest in a property management system that can efficiently manage multiple real estate properties, automate repetitive business tasks, and store all data in a single location. Here are the major types of property management software: 

Residential Property Management Systems: 

The residential property management systems mainly cover single-family homes, apartment buildings, and condos. The major element of these systems is tenant management. Residential property management systems can simplify the maintenance of tenant data, including contact information, rental agreements, and rental history. It will also help in the screening of tenants. 

Commercial Property Management Systems: 

These property management software deals in offices, retail locations, and warehouses. These systems have essential features like lease administration, tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance tracking, and financial reporting. 

Hotel Management Systems: 

As the name indicates, these systems are specially curated for the hotel or hospitality industry and are focused on improving customer satisfaction, increasing productivity, and streamlining operations. They also provide services like inventory management, reservation administration, housekeeping management, billing, and financial reporting. 

Industrial Property Management Systems: 

The industrial property management systems are focused on factories, warehouses, and distribution centers and are created relatively for real estate managers. They have functions like equipment management, supply chain management, leasing management, and maintenance tracking. 

Who should look for Property Management Software? 

Property Management Software offers benefits and utility to many different entities. It includes: 

Real Estate Investment Companies: 

The utility of the PMS Property management system is not just limited to landowners but also to real estate investment companies with substantial values. They can use this enterprise solution to easily manage investments and handle portfolios regardless of their size. 

Commercial

Today’s managers want digital capabilities to improve their approach and analysis and optimize the performance of their real estate portfolios. Managers in the real estate industry require solutions that can help them minimize maintenance waiting time, collect data from different contacts, or simply perform core functions that generally take hours to complete. 

Retail

Building owners and managers of real estate enterprises want strong solutions to strengthen their strategic thinking and performance evaluation. Retail property acquisition, growth, and management require a powerful IT solution to make data-driven decisions about tenant mix.

Tenants

The tenants can raise maintenance requests, get alerts of any building changes or incoming deliveries, and connect with managers through property management software. 

Benefits of Property Management System: 

Property Management System offers a plethora of benefits. Here are a few major ones of them: 

1. Easy Property Management: 

The foremost benefit would always be the easy property management through a property management system. It will help you manage multiple properties and keep an eye on the financial health, maintenance requirements, and occupancy rates of all the tenants from one convenient interface. It eliminates the need to transition between different systems and saves time. Property managers get access to real-time data, which allows them to make informed decisions. 

2. Efficient Storage of Data: 

A PMS is the most reliable platform to store all your property data. It includes financial data, lease details, tenant information, maintenance schedules, etc. There will be an effective data storage by which managers can quickly access and evaluate data. They can also do data analysis and visualization through PMS and find patterns and trends that are challenging to spot manually. 

3. Brings Automation: 

There are many tasks in the property industry that are traditionally carried out manually, such as collection of rents, renewal of lease, and maintenance requests. However, a property management system automates all these tasks. It can even notify tenants of upcoming maintenance appointments, rent due dates, etc. By automating these manual tasks, you can save a lot of time, make fewer mistakes, and ensure nothing gets missed. 

4. Scalability: 

A PMS is made for a property management company, i.e., it is always capable of considering new properties, tenants, and features. It is also capable of working with other software programs that property managers utilize for their business. 

5. Protection of Data: 

Whatever the industry, every business is concerned about data security and protection. Property management software is built with robust security measures to ensure that the data is stored in a safe place. This means that information on properties, tenants, and financial records would be accessible only to authorized people. An experienced property management software development company like ours employs the best data protection practices. It includes encryption, two-factor authentication, and role-based access control. 

6. Cost-Reduction: 

Another major advantage of a property management system is cost reduction. By automating multiple repetitive and time-consuming tasks, it gives you more time to focus on other crucial facets of your business. 

Must-Have Features in your Property Management Software

 In every software development process, the features play an imperative role. A trusted property management software should have features that could provide high utility. In property management software development, there are two major entities: Users/Brokers and Admin. Thus, the feature set will also be different for both of these. 

 Here are the must-have features to consider in your property management software development process: 

For Users/ Brokers: 

a. Register and Login: 

The property agents/brokers should be able to register and log in through their email addresses or phone numbers for a seamless and efficient registration process. You can also allow social media login. 

b. Browse Properties: 

The users should be able to browse the listed properties on the platform. They will get all the property details with well-curated images and genuine contact numbers. A 360-degree view of the property will help the interested parties to make informed decisions. 

c. Search and Filter Properties: 

Search is probably the first functionality by which a user interacts with online software. The search functionality should provide relevant and faster results along with the filter options. 

d. Detailed Property View: 

With this feature, users will get a detailed view of the property and all the particularities, such as area location and contact details. 

e. Chat Support: 

With chat support, users get access to Help 24/7 regarding any query. The chat feature provides instant support without sharing the contact details. 

For Admin Panel: 

a. User Management: 

The admin would be able to manage users like buyers, brokers, and other entities. The admin would also be able to manage access, data, and details to effectively smoothen property transactions. 

b. Property Management: 

Admin would have access to manage every property listed in the software. Property management is a necessary feature by which the admin can add, delete, or modify any property seamlessly with just a few clicks. 

c. Revenue Management: 

With this feature, the admin would be able to manage records of all transactions or revenue earned accurately. It includes transactions of selling property, advertisements, property listings, commissions, and deals. 

d. Managing Offers and Discounts: 

The admin has the flexibility to decide when and on which property to offer discounts and offers on multiple properties listed on the software. 

Other Important Features of Property Management Software:

 Some features are not particularly related to any entity but are required to improve the user experience and capability of the software. Here are those major features: 

a. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): 

The implementation of the right CRM in your business is crucial to maintaining various processes and serving your customers in a better way. With a good CRM integration, you can maintain financial reports, automate rent collection, and focus on lease tracking, tenant screening, creating e-lease agreements, etc. 

b. Payment Gateways Integration: 

The integration of multiple payment gateways is necessary to provide high flexibility for users when making payments. Also, the payment gateway should be secure with easy payment flow so that the users don’t feel any friction at the last stage of their customer journey. 

c. Accounting APIs: 

The accounting API feature is crucial in the sense that it will allow real estate agents, landlords, brokerage firms, and property investors to manage their finances. 

d. Maintenance Request Tracking: 

There can be maintenance issues in the property, such as leakages or malfunctions. That’s where an online property management software would come into action. The users or tenants should be able to create a maintenance request, and the property owners will get notifications of these requests. The renters would be able to upload photos and indicate the emergency of the task. 

e. Applicant Screening: 

In property management software, it is important to prevent fraudsters or property brokers with bad reputations from registering. Thus, an automated applicant screening process is required, which checks the uploaded documents of the applicant and helps make informed decisions. 

How much does it cost to develop Property Management Software? 

Before understanding the factors that influence the cost of property management software development, you must first decide the type of software you wish to develop. After deciding this, you can hire a property management software development company like us. We will provide you with the proper consultation regarding features, type, and accurate cost of the development. Here are the major factors that will influence the cost of property management system development: 

i.           UI/UX Design: 

A well-defined UI/UX strategy is necessary for an attractive visual appeal and engaging user flow. Since a captivating UI and UX requires more attention, customization, and working hours, the cost is influenced accordingly. Some of the common UI/UX elements that affect the cost are visual elements, typography, color psychology, content writing, etc. 

ii.          Underlying Platform: 

The choice of platform significantly impacts the development cost. If you want to develop a website, then it will cost, but if you also want to develop an Android or iOS app along with the website, the cost will increase significantly. 

iii.         Location of the Software Development Company: 

The location of development highly impacts the development cost. If you hire a development company located in the USA or Eastern Europe, the hourly rates will be around $80-$120 per hour, while in Southeast Asian countries like India, the hourly rates are around $25-40 per hour, and you get the same development quality. 

iv.         Tech Stack: 

A robust tech stack is always necessary to ensure that the developed software has high security, performance, out-of-the-box features, and scalability. However, the latest technologies come at a cost because there are fewer developers with expertise in these technologies. 

v.          Features and Functionalities: 

The features and functionalities needed to implement in the property management software also significantly impact its cost. A basic app will always cost less vis-à-vis an enterprise-level solution that has all the necessary and advanced features. 

Wrapping Up: 

In this article, we have gone through all the various aspects of property management software development, including its types, benefits, features, and costs. At Ebizneeds, the best property management software development company, we can develop a property management system with advanced features and functionalities. Let us know your requirements.