When you’ve got more than just a couple of listings in your portfolio, short-term property management is no easy undertaking. Each listing comes with a set of ongoing and critical tasks that demand constant attention, from attracting travelers browsing multiple booking channels, to communicating with potential and existing guests, updating homeowners, providing top-notch guest experience and all the many facets that go into each of those operations.
The growing ranks of successful short-term property managers aren’t equipped with more hours per day or more than two hands; they’re simply getting some much-needed assistance from technological tools designed just for their specific needs.
Ready to join them at the top? It’s time to embrace the many solutions built to make your job easier and your business better.
What is property management platform?
Property management platform refers to technological solutions that centralize and simplify the operations of short-term property management, including:
- Channel managers, which facilitate efficient listing of properties across multiple booking platforms
- Multi-calendars, which offer property managers a complete view of all previous, current and upcoming bookings no matter where those bookings were made
- Automation tools, which automate the repetitive aspects of property management, like sending check-in instructions to incoming guests or reviewing your guests following checkout
There’s a lot more where that came from. Features designed to analyze your business performance, generate insightful reports, help you manage and monitor your staff’s tasks and more easily communicate with guests are all available on the property management platform market.
What is the best platform for property management?
With so many software solutions catering to short-term property managers, it can be difficult to navigate the market and narrow down your options. Here’s what to look for when you’re software shopping so you can find the best solution for your needs:
1. Features
You’ve got pain points, and your software should have solutions for all of them. If guest communication is a hurdle, be sure the platform you select has an efficient way to centralize and streamline communication. If managing all of your tasks is a headache, look for software that offers automation technology and task management features. No one knows what you need more than you do so only you can decide which platform has all the right ingredients to reduce your workload and propel you closer to your business goals.
2. An open API
If you have your own in-house solutions, it’s important to choose a software with an open API so that it can exchange information with your other tools, eliminating the need for you to manually input data that could be easily synced. When software solutions working toward the same purpose can get together and “talk,” your job becomes infinitely simpler and your operations a whole lot smoother.
3. Partnerships with other providers
On a similar note, once you venture into the world of property tech, you’re going to find an endless number of systems and solutions all aimed at improving your business, be it through facilitating simpler work processes or enhancing your guests’ experiences. Look for a property management software that’s already partnered up with these sorts of solutions so that integrating the various tools will be quick and straightforward.
4. A proven track record
It’s difficult to gauge the reliability of software until you’ve tried it for yourself. The same way potential guests rely on reviews when choosing their accommodations, you can look to the feedback of other property managers for guidance. Check if the software you’re considering has any case studies or testimonials from clients who have used their services, and make sure to browse review sites like Trustpilot for honest commentary on the quality of the solution.
How much does a property management platform cost?
This is a difficult question to answer as most end-to-end software solutions for property managers do not charge a general fee, but one that fluctuates according to the number of listings in the user’s portfolio.
Additionally, some softwares offer commission-based price plans, in which the provider collects around 2-5% of the profit for each reservation made, while others offer flat rates.
It is best to narrow down your choices based on what you’re looking for and then inquire with the companies themselves to get an accurate price quote based on your portfolio.