The roles and responsibilities of the Chief Financial Officer have shifted dramatically in the last decade. CFOs are no longer just charged with maintaining a company’s finances; they now have new roles and responsibilities around business growth, innovation and technology. As part of the new normal, today’s CFOs have an opportunity to excel in these areas by leveraging integrated financial software solutions to drive the success of the business.

When it comes to facing the challenges of today’s market, financial operators don’t have to go it alone – technology tools can make a big difference in how companies overcome reoccurring obstacles. Let’s take a look at some of the financial software solutions from MRI Software that real estate CFOs can use to thrive in the new Office of Finance.

Bolstering finance and freeing up operations

When dealing with a large portfolio, managing debt can be a cumbersome and unwieldy process when trying to assess which loans cover which properties. MRI Software’s Debt Management provides CFOs with top-of-the-line functionality that calculates debts through the life of a loan. This tool is a great solution that integrates with a company’s preferred accounting platform and can reduce clicks and manual processes to improve internal operations. By automating the debt management process, CFOs can extend their accounting platform, gain control over all their debt information, and reduce reliance on spreadsheets.

Managing your own data in-house takes hours to complete, especially if your data is being aggregated from numerous paper-based sources or spreadsheets. MRI’s Data Management Services eliminates these problems by bolstering the data aggregation and organization process by collecting data from disparate sources, controlling the flow of that data with automated workflow systems, and mapping the data in a way that applies your specific business rules. This creates a timely, consistent, and more accurate data set. By cutting out the process of manual data entry, Data Management Services dramatically reduces the margin of error for data analysis. You manage the investments, and let MRI manage the data.

Harnessing the power of analytics

When it comes to organizing high-level data, it’s important that the CFO have a clear view of how data relates to the big picture of the organization. Analytix Portal & Data Store offers business intelligence capabilities to help transform data into actionable insights. This solution allows the user to identify trends by property, property type, region, and other attributes. It drives fast and accurate business decisions through data visualization, portfolio analysis, and executive-level dashboards. With the ability to easily identify trends and outliers across the portfolio and drill down into the data behind them, the Office of Finance can drive strategic leadership decisions for the business.

Optimizing real estate investments

For real estate firms, mitigating risk and optimizing investor returns are some of the most important aspects of investment management. MRI offers an entire suite of flexible financial software solutions that are aimed at maximizing both internal efficiency and external reporting. One of the pieces of this suite, Investment Central, allows firms to efficiently store and manage data in a central repository. In addition to optimizing asset management and investor reporting, Investment Central offers full lifecycle asset management, comprehensive risk management, and automated investment workflows and processes. Investment Central provides the ability to manage data with the help of visibility into key metrics and increased data accuracy, creating a more informed portfolio strategy.

Investor Connect is another investment management solution that makes the critical task of reporting to stakeholders easier. A comprehensive, web-based portal for investment analysis and report distribution features anytime access, investor-specific dashboards, flexible reporting, and transparency. From portfolio insights to property-level details, Investor Connect can help firms attract new investors and build current investor confidence with streamlined, comprehensive investment analysis and report distribution. With support for all asset classes and investment structures, Investor Connect eliminates manual data entry and frees your staff to focus on business-critical initiatives.

Many real estate organizations today spend large amounts of time setting up funds, consolidating financial statements, and reporting to investors, but MRI Software’s Investment Accounting helps save time and improve accuracy by automating these manual processes. With Investment Accounting, drilldown features and an investor portal make the everyday responsibilities of the Office of Finance easier to achieve.

Fund Modeling, Asset Modeling, and Valuations are all MRI Investment products that give your business a competitive advantage by automating processes, introducing efficiency into internal operations, and assessing the value of properties. With this software, CFOs and other strategic executives have the ability to use quick and accurate modeling to make better business decisions, build stakeholder confidence with agile performance modeling, and enable analysts to easily value commercial assets.

In today’s fast-paced market, the CFO plays a larger role in their company than ever before. Adapting to change and leveraging financial software solutions to drive the business forward can put your business on the path to success in the new normal.

Today, real estate organizations have access to more data than at any other time in history. Data can be leveraged to analyze ROI, report to investors, and develop strategic plans, but a reliance on data could become a weakness if it’s not managed properly. Without reliable real estate data management services, companies could theoretically find themselves basing strategic decisions off of incorrect reports and information that was not accurately recorded.

The way that data is curated makes a difference. Gathering the right information is only one piece of the puzzle — arranging it in a way that makes sense requires a repeatable process that aggregates data from disparate sources to drive meaningful decision-making.

Why use real estate data management services?

Efficient data management is the key to developing strategies that can elevate your business. Think of your investment strategy as a house. Data management is the brick foundation that holds everything up, and inefficient management of that foundation can put the rest of the structure at risk. Manually processing and collecting data, using out-of-date spreadsheet technology, dividing information into silos, and integrating data are all considered inefficient forms of data management that are either too cumbersome or too prone to human error to be relied upon consistently.

When processing and aggregating your data, you need to be trusting in real estate data management techniques that preserve the integrity of the raw data. The solution to inefficient data management isn’t comprised of simple changes on the process level; investing in real estate data management services is an effective way to bring efficiency back into the data collection and management processes. You need an enterprise-level special repository, a specialized real estate data model with curated data, and on-demand reporting and analytics to properly manage data so that your organization can analyze it and use it for modeling and planning.

What goes into aggregation of accurate data?

While these steps serve as a sort of data lifecycle, it’s crucial that the data be aggregated, organized, or managed efficiently in the first two steps. Failure to do so could result in less valuable data.

• Step 1: Aggregating and transforming the data
• Step 2: Analyzing the data and managing it
• Step 3: Modeling and planning based off what was collected
• Step 4: Reporting to investors and communicating to the company

Company information from the past, present, and the forecasted future should all be gathered together when preparing to analyze data. Historical asset characteristics, historical asset performance, and historical risk should all be aggregated and overlaid against information from the present, such as on-demand performance monitoring and attribution analysis. Predictions and future calculations that should also be aggregated and considered include transaction simulation, scenario analysis, and risk mitigation.

Tools and techniques used in real estate data management

The data management services offered through MRI Software are designed to process high-level information and deliver the results back to you in the most efficient and effective way possible. First, we collected the data that you submit to us through emails, documents, and other formats, then that data is uploaded into MRI Software’s workflow systems. After this has been done, the data is prepped and reviewed by specialized DMS analysts, and finally, it’s delivered back to you through one of our data management services.

Learn more about MRI Software’s various real estate data management systems and the most efficient ways to collect, aggregate, and process data.

“How do I get rent reminders to my residents in an effective way?”

This is one of the many questions multifamily property managers struggle with as the prevalence of convenience-centered technology grows stronger. Online rent payment portals make it easier for residents to pay their rent, but sometimes they still need a reminder.

Reaching residents through email isn’t always a timely method, so the natural next step is to send rent reminders by text message, guaranteeing that your residents see the notification right away, wherever they are.

How to remind a tenant to pay rent

In today’s world, where small computers follow us around everywhere, text messages are more optimized for sending and receiving messages quickly and in an informal setting. Emails are traditionally more formal than text messages, but that formality also makes emails easier to ignore, especially for tenants who are already behind on their rent. It’s for this reason that rent reminders have become more prevalent and effective when sent via text or SMS messaging.

Think of weather alerts that can be sent through smartphones. It’s uncommon to receive emails on this topic, because it’s important for those messages to be seen right away. The same rule applies for rent reminders; they typically can’t wait. If residents receive texts from their landlords, then there’s a sense of urgency – a sense that this message needs to be addressed.

Choosing the right way to text rent reminders

Even though sending a rent reminder via text message can imply that the situation is serious, it’s important to know both when and how residents should be reminded of upcoming payments or notified about late rent payments. Choosing the proper language in your text message and knowing when to text a resident about their rent can help convey the importance of the situation while also giving them time to respond accordingly.

Let’s look at an example. Texting a resident in the middle of the day might be advisable given that most residents are more likely to be on their phone at that time; however, if the language of the message adds up to “your last two months is due in 3-5 hours and you will be evicted if you do not pay on time,” it is unlikely that either party will end up satisfied.

Reminding residents about their rent payments shouldn’t be something you do once on the day rent is due and hope that it comes in on time. Landlords or property management offices should send a text message to a resident one week before the final due date, and remind them once more two days before the due date.

When it comes to phrasing your rent reminders, you should be crafting your texts in the same way people craft all text messages – with courteous urgency. For example, the ideal rent reminder could look something like this:

“Hi, Resident Name. This is Landlord Name. Just wanted to remind you that your rent is due one week from today. Please contact us immediately if you are unable to pay by this date.”

Using software to send rent reminders

While sending rent reminders through an instant notification system like text messages may be the most effective way to reach residents, there are different methods that allow one to do that. Instead of sending these reminders through a personal cellular device, specialized property management software can be used to send these notifications. This software can enable property managers to send instant communications for a variety of messages, including rent reminders, weather alerts, maintenance notices, or announcements.

Keeping an open line of communication with your residents is a critical part of multifamily property management. Sending your residents text message reminders about rent payments is one of the most effective ways you can keep them in a loop and receive your payments on time, but there are also other ways to communicate effectively with your residents. Learn more about how you can streamline your resident communications and, by doing so, improve resident satisfaction and retention.

With the advent of shared workspaces, the recent focus on sustainability in real estate, and the vastly changing landscape of urban settings, the current commercial property management trends are filled with challenges and opportunities.

In a special episode of “Building Success: A Real Estate Podcast” recorded live at IUC 2018 in Atlanta, MRI Software’s Andy Welkley sits down with Melissa Bartow of Measurabl, Scott Morey of GPG Advisers, Brian Wong of Waypoint, and Geoff Lewis of Honest Buildings to discuss the current climate of the commercial property management industry and trends that are likely to continue into the years to come.

The continued rise of shared workspaces

Companies like WeWork and Industrious Office have revolutionized workspaces around the country, and while their success as businesses may be a question of financial viability, there is no doubt that the value propositions at their core are here to stay. The demographics of today’s workforce look far different now than they did several years ago, and businesses are learning how the younger side of the workforce now perceives their ideal workspace as a place that fosters creativity and collaboration. Traditional cubicles don’t appeal to this generation, and as such, WeWork and Industrious Office are meeting the demand by providing spaces with more amenities for workers, such as kitchens, game rooms, and open desk pods. Companies are cutting down their number of conference rooms because the most productive meetings are now the ones that begin at someone’s desk or in another communal, comfortable space.

In addition to the shifting desires of the workforce, shared workspaces are also rising to meet the needs of companies who cannot lock themselves into 7-10 year leases because this might restrict growth. As smaller companies continue to appear out of nowhere and expand rapidly, the traditional model of signing 7-10 year leases is no longer viable for many companies. The month-to-month space rental model used by WeWork is one of the company’s biggest appeals to small businesses. Let’s say Company X was established in 2017 with 10 people. Let’s also say that now, in 2019, Company X has taken on more business than they could have predicted and now they need to expand their business and add 30 employees. A 7-10 year lease would restrict their ability to do this. With the month-to-month lease of a shared workspace, however, Company X could easily move into a workspace with more room to fit their company or build out the space they currently have.

Companies that offer shared workspaces are also rising in popularity not just because of their design, but also because of their accommodations for businesses that decided to renovate their workspaces. Businesses that want to transform their current space into one with a more communal feel often don’t have the extra staff necessary to facilitate this kind of transition. Companies like WeWork, however, are making names for themselves by overseeing the renovations and transition process, and they’re even going so far as to manage the new workspaces. This appeals to companies who might not have the resources to support an interactive and communal workspace on their own.

The move towards sustainability

In the midst of these developments, the idea of energy efficiency and sustainability is becoming something that many different parties are pushing for in commercial property management. Along with the desire for a more collaborative workspace, millennials are beginning to place significant value on workplaces that line up with their personal views. Companies with green initiatives or a special focus on energy efficiency are therefore more likely to recruit millennials. For businesses whose workspace does not have energy efficient initiatives, a move into a more appropriate workspace might be more of a necessity than previously thought.

It’s not just pressure from millennials that’s driving the need for sustainability. Due to the quantifiable value of sustainability, a focus on efficiency is also being driven by the expectations of investors. These investors are seeing a significant amount of money being left on the table, whether it’s the result of operational inefficiencies such as lights being left on, or systematic inefficiencies in the way businesses store data. Investors are also pushing for increased sustainability and efficiencies in how tenants interact with the workspace.

These expectations are playing an even bigger role in public housing, where properties are now being devalued based on their climate impact and operational inefficiencies. Public housing properties are also being required to submit energy reports on the property’s sustainability in order to receive approval from Housing and Urban Development. To meet the needs of these properties, companies like Measurabl have easy-to-use software offerings that can be plugged into a property’s system and easily gather data regarding that property’s energy usage. This type of technology is also making its way into capital markets, where investors are using benchmarking to take the metrics from other properties and compare them to the metrics of their own property. All of these developments point to sustainability becoming more and more of a focus point among commercial property managers who seek to use it as a tool for recruiting millennials and a positive metric in appealing to investors.

New challenges in cities and urban environments

In order to meet the rising expectations in sustainability, companies have begun moving headquarters and office spaces further into cities where commercial properties like shared workspaces are fairly common. This move, however, presents its own challenges. As businesses draw people into the city for both work and recreation, the increase in traffic is creating a unique problem: parking clogs up the city streets.

The problem of parking in cities presents a challenge and an opportunity to commercial property managers looking for niche markets to serve. For supermarkets and other retail stores, solutions to this problem could look like an increased usage of delivery or in-store pickup technologies. For other commercial property managers, it indicates that investing in parking decks and other innovative solutions to crowded streets might not be a bad place to focus one’s energy.

Although the commercial real estate industry faces a greater number of challenges today than ever before, the field is also rife with opportunities for property managers looking to innovate in bold ways to solve distinct problem and meet new needs. To learn more about commercial property management trends and other insight into real estate software, check out “Building Success: A Real Estate Podcast.”