A key tool for property owners and managers who want to make the best decisions for their properties? Understanding property data.
Unfortunately, too many owners and managers still rely on their own smarts solely instead of analyzing the numbers that their properties generate.
Proof of this? Research from Nemetschek Group found that 79% of real estate professionals still make “gut-driven” decisions rather than data-driven ones. This same research found, too, that 49% of real estate professionals collect and manage their data in spreadsheets, hardly the latest in high-tech analysis tools.
That used to be how Southfield Michigan-based property management firm Village Green worked, using expensive third-party platforms to collect and visualize data. Village Green took this approach until its leaders realized that they could create a customizable platform that stores and visualizes data, including resident satisfaction, retention, turnover and other property metrics, to help managers and owners make better decisions.
That platform became known as VG Dash and has continued to be a major tool offered by Village Green since the platform’s development in 2021.
We spoke with Dan Melton, vice president of technology at Village Green, about this technology and the benefits of using one platform for both data management and visualization.
What are the bottom-line benefits of using one platform to handle both data management and visualization?
Dan Melton: The primary benefit of having a single platform for data management and visualization is that it makes decision-making significantly easier. Instead of locating data from multiple sources, a single visualization tool helps owners, property managers and maintenance teams make decisions based on real-time data. In the case of VG Dash, property information is updated overnight from our software stack, so owners can rest assured they have the most current snapshot of their property performance.
Having a single in-house platform can also be significantly more affordable and flexible. Since priorities differ from owner to owner, we can change the types of information clients have on their dashboard and the way it is displayed incredibly quickly – something that our clients value.
How does VG Dash enable simplified collaboration between property managers and owners?
Melton: VG Dash creates a single, transparent source of truth for property stakeholders from managers to owners. Rather than relying on minimal updates, and long strings of emails between managers and owners, all users have direct access to a dashboard displaying relevant performance indicators.
Through the platform, property stakeholders can easily track metrics like unit availability, lease renewals, and active maintenance requests. They can evaluate and make decisions based on up-to-date information. Maintenance professionals can upload notes and findings from field team walk-throughs to VG Dash through a mobile app, providing real-time updates to the management team at any time.
Can you provide real-life examples of how the platform has saved owners time and money?
Melton: The all-in-one nature of VG Dash has enabled Village Green to compile many different software functions into one tool, saving owners time and cost for separate software platforms. Clients pay a flat fee with no annual increases, allowing them to maintain a consistent budget.
Time and money have also been saved by using custom-made mobile apps instead of paper clipboards and manual checklists for building walkthroughs and inspections. Instead of having to convert paper documents to digital data, information is automatically updated, and maintenance needs and bottlenecks can be identified faster.
What are the first steps property management companies can take to make the move to one platform for data management and visualization?
Melton: The first step in moving toward a single platform is to evaluate your existing software stack to see if there are reporting gaps or inefficiencies and how they may be solved through a centralized visualization engine. Then determine what type of analysis is important to your property and whether you have the internal expertise and capacity to develop a platform yourself or should search for an external partner.
A property management partner with the right expertise can help put meaning and insight behind property metrics and help translate data into results.
