A Guide to Selecting the Right Real Estate Management Software for Optimizing your CRE Operations

Step 1 – Defining Your Software Needs

In Step 1 of this guide, we will define your software needs precisely. Understanding your specific needs and requirements is crucial when selecting the right software solution for your real estate business. This process lays the groundwork upon which you will base your purchasing decision.

Below are 3 main criteria to consider when articulating your business requirements. Each criterion is accompanied by a set of self-reflective questions to help you better understand your needs and pain points.

1A – Assess Your Current Processes and Challenges:

To begin, we strongly advise conducting a comprehensive evaluation of your pain points, challenges, and growth aspirations. Doing so will give you a deep understanding of your organization’s unique requirements. Let’s start by asking yourself the following questions.

1. Real Estate Portfolio Management Challenges: What are my real estate operations’ critical pain points, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks? (i.e., data consolidation and accuracy, manual workloads, complex multi-asset calculations, ad-hoc dashboard reporting, vendor payments, critical clause and date management) and what functionalities do I need to address these issues?
2. Accounting Compliance and Reporting: What financial reports do I need to run my commercial real estate operations effectively? (i.e., CPI indexation, Cash flow, Occupancy and AP/AR payment financial report.) And what accounting standards do I need to comply with? (i.e., ASC 842, IFRS 16, GASB 87 and AASB 16 )
3. Integration Capabilities: How important is interoperability to me? Do I require seamless bidirectional integration with other systems such as ERP (SAP and Oracle etc.) or POS systems to streamline data flow and eliminate manual data entry?

1B – Consider Scalability and Security

After addressing your pain points and organizational requirements, it is essential to consider your organization’s security and growth aspirations. It is vital to guarantee that your chosen solution can accommodate your current and future security and scalability requirements. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Scalability: Are we planning to grow our real estate portfolio to enter new markets, countries, industries, or sectors? If so, will my software need to accommodate new compliance standards, increased transaction volumes and complex lease structures?
2. Security: Will my solution need to support essential security protocols such as end-to-end data encryption, GDPR, and SOC 1 Type 2 & SOC 2 Type 2 compliance certifications? And does the solution vendor carry out a complete risk assessment audit on its solution?
3. Complexity: Do I require advanced features such as multi-currency and multi-language support to operate in a global context? And do I need to automate and facilitate my percentage sales rent calculation, or common area maintenance (CAM) management?

1C – Define Implementation and Logistics Requirements:

Once you have assessed your pain points and growth projections, it’s time to think about critical topics such as key stakeholders involved, project timeline and budget. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Implementation Timeline: What is my company’s expected timeline for implementing the new solution? Do we have any critical deadlines or project milestones to meet? Who is the primary point of contact during the implementation?
2. Data Migration: Do I have existing data that needs to be migrated to the new software? How will the vendor support this process, ensuring data integrity and accuracy? And how much will my vendor charge for the migration of my data?
3. Training and Support: What training and support will my team require during implementation and beyond? Does my team need on-site training, user manuals, or access to a support helpline? Do we need access to publicly available training videos and product demos?