Transforming commercial real estate administration: How MRI Software’s
Property Management X powers Curare’s owner-focused approach
Curare was established a decade ago as an independently owned real estate consulting firm specialising in owner and asset-manager-focused administrative and reporting services.
Curare leverages MRI Software’s Property Management X (PMX) to effectively oversee a wide portfolio of assets. This includes standard office buildings, industrial properties and a range of shopping centres – from regional to small neighbourhood centres. Its expertise extends to medical and specialised assets such as day hospitals, pet hotels and more.
Business Challenge
Gerry Totten, Curare’s CEO, draws on his extensive background as a CFO of real estate funds to discuss
the challenges of managing a diverse portfolio of real estate assets. A persistent issue he encountered over the years was the inconsistency of financial information provided by multiple property managers.
This lack of standardisation made it difficult to obtain and interpret information within the required time frame, complicating the reporting process.
These challenges persisted as Totten worked with various funds. After establishing Curare and landing
on MRI’s PMX, he recognised an opportunity to create an independent platform focused on owners, providing institutional-quality real estate reporting and administration.
“When I was looking at building a platform,” Totten continues, “MRI was the only software system that could facilitate what we needed to do.” Curare was able to meet the needs of owners by using MRI’s unique capability of providing customised charts of accounts, enabling owners to access and extract information as needed.
One of the challenges was having property managers from various parts of the country and regions providing us with financial information in many different formats and with varying qualities
– Gerry Totten Chief Executive Officer, Curare
Solution
Totten emphasises the strategic impact of PMX on Curare’s business growth. “In the early days, we used a basic implementation of MRI software, but over time, we’ve developed a more sophisticated product,” he says. “The expanded use of PMX’s budgeting and forecasting, recoveries and job costing modules has been instrumental in meeting client needs more effectively.”
Curare has customised and configured the system as it has grown with clients, tailoring menus and reports for property managers to ensure ease of access and usability.
“The flexibility of PMX has allowed us to create tailored experiences for property managers,” Totten explains. “We’ve developed customised menus and reports, such as an aged receivables report that can be easily accessed by one click of button.”
Enhanced speed and automation
One of the main advantages of PMX for Curare is the high level of automation and increased speed. In particular, Totten highlights the transformative impact of using MRI’s budgeting and forecasting module alongside the recoveries module.
Previously, the budgeting process involved extensive manual work, with property managers and owners
exchanging budget sheets in Excel, manually recreating profiles, and calculating tenant charges by hand. This process typically took about a week to complete.
“In contrast, using MRI, we can bring together owners, property managers and accountants remotely into one system where everyone contributes their part. We managed to automate tenant charge calculations with a 99 per cent success rate,” Totten explains.
What used to take a week now takes us about half a day, which greatly improves efficiency and accuracy
– Gerry Totten Chief Executive Officer, Curare
Business Results
The benefits PMX has enabled for Curare and its clients include:
- Enhanced efficiency and accuracy: Automation of budgeting, forecasting and tenant recoveries calculations dramatically reduces manual errors and speeds up processes, cutting down tasks that took a week to just half a day.
- Customisable solutions: Tailored menus and reports specifically designed for owners and property managers ensure ease of use and accessibility, allowing for quicker access to vital information.
- Improved client trust and satisfaction: Faster, more reliable information and real-time access enhance stakeholder trust and keep tenants satisfied by eliminating delays and inconsistencies.
- Increased strategic capability: The flexibility and rich functionality to adapt and grow with client needs, providing institutional-quality real estate reporting and administration.