Are Your Real Estate Systems Actually Talking to Each Other?

Question

I’m curious how other real estate operators handle the gaps between the software they already use.

A growing business might already have a CRM, property management software, accounting tools, email, calendars, maintenance platforms, and lead sources.

But when something happens in one system, does the right information automatically reach the next person or system?

For example:

• A new lead comes in  does it automatically reach the right person?
• 
• A property owner signs on  does that trigger onboarding across leasing, maintenance, and accounting?
• 
• A maintenance issue affects availability  does the rest of the team know?
• 
• Does information have to be manually copied between different tools?
• 
• Are staff members acting as the connection between systems?
•

A new lead comes in  does it automatically reach the right person?

A property owner signs on  does that trigger onboarding across leasing, maintenance, and accounting?

A maintenance issue affects availability  does the rest of the team know?

Does information have to be manually copied between different tools?

Are staff members acting as the connection between systems?

I’m especially interested in hearing from property managers, brokerages, and investors with growing operations:

What software do you use today?

Which systems work well together?

Where does information still get stuck or require someone to manually move it from one place to another?

I’m not really asking about replacing software. I’m more interested in how people are connecting the systems they already pay for.

Would love to hear how others have set this up.

Chris Seveney · Answer

The biggest challenge we have is that we have:

- software to manage our construction projects,

- software to manage our rentals,

- software to manage our non-performing loans, and

- our accounting system.

In our accounting system, the biggest issue is that many of them don't talk with our accounting system, which is an ERP system because of our size. We are not at a size where something like Yardi or another system could come into play or where we want to spend $250,000 to implement the ERP

Paul Olusola · Answer

That’s exactly the gap I was trying to understand, Chris. You already have software handling each part of the operation, so replacing everything wouldn’t make much sense.

The interesting part is the accounting layer having construction, rentals and notes operating separately while your ERP still needs the right information from all three.

Out of curiosity, is the main issue getting data into the ERP, or does the bigger headache come from keeping information consistent after it gets there?