Why does your maintenance team need to be mobile ready? Mobile maintenance software gives techs the tools that they need to work more efficiently, act promptly and easily document their progress. But the benefits don’t stop there. Read on to learn how your staff can take maintenance to the next level with a mobile-accessible solution. The paper trail is holding back your maintenance team Paper maintenance requests, paper work orders, paper task logs, paper order forms and paper approvals: paper is a problem. Paper can only be in one place at one time, meaning that you need copies (read: redundancy and waste) to keep multiple team members on track. If information is updated on one sheet, you’ve got to update all other sheets, redistribute and store as needed. If you have not already, it’s beyond time to transition into a paperless maintenance system. Online property maintenance software such as Yardi Maintenance IQ makes it easy for leasing staff and maintenance team members to stay on track and up-to-date with tasks. First, renters submit their requests online. It is then easily dispatched to maintenance leadership and their technicians. Technicians can progress through work orders from the field without multiple trips to the office. They can issue status updates, include photos and notes, and request supplies from a single mobile device. All information is automatically updated in Yardi Voyager. In addition to improving efficiency, mobile tools help improve retention by providing great service to residents. Today’s residents are accustomed to doing so much online, from ordering food to paying bills. Residents seek an easy way to submit requests, get quick responses and frequent updates—all of which you can deliver with an advanced maintenance system. The benefits of Maintenance IQ do not end there. Here are the top ten benefits for everyone from on-site staff to stakeholders: Save time. Staff spend more time doing their jobs and less time filling out paperwork, making calls, placing orders and traipsing between units and the office.Reduce paper. No more paper forms or printing, thanks to online work orders and digital signatures. This cuts costs and also meets green initiatives.Prioritize better. Know instantly what the high priorities are every minute of every day, with access to photos from the site and work order entry notes.Get real-time updates. Supervisors, staff and techs can view current updates on a centralized online calendar.Drive less. No need to drive to the office to pick up or drop off maintenance paperwork, and no unnecessary site trips when requests are rescheduled or cancelled. Online directions with mapping, along with resident contact info, help ensure no time is wasted.Track everything... Receive up-to-the-minute status reports and audit trails on assigned and unassigned work orders and employee whereabouts, including emergency responses, and follow them to completion.…that includes tracking costs. Track turn costs and days on the unit turn dashboard and see upcoming units.Get accurate reports. Time-sensitive reporting provides business intelligence and better oversight.Improve productivity. When you’re mobile, you’re not tethered to a desk. Get out it in the field and get more done with your mobile device while interacting with your staff, residents and tenants.Save money. Failing to respond to maintenance requests in a timely manner can result in much more expensive repairs later as well as an increase in costly move-outs. Now you know ten of the most compelling reasons to take your maintenance mobile — and why using a solution that works seamlessly with your property management and accounting system will yield the multiple benefits. Read more about how Maintenance IQ can help expedite rental turns and elevate rental...
Streamline Unit Turns
Improve Your Maintenance IQ
Want to improve your net operating income (NOI)? Consider your turn process. Whenever a unit is unoccupied, you’re missing out on income. Vacancies during the turn process are no exception. By decreasing the time that it takes to turn a unit, you can maximize your income and support better NOI. Below are a few practical tips to help you expedite turns, save time and money. Expedite services with cloud-based, integrated property management software. Y Problem: You’re currently managing turns on paper, spreadsheets or client-server applications. This means a lot of manual data entry, printing, slower communication and wasted time. All of those delays result in a longer timespan to complete work orders and get new residents into units. Solution: Reduced turn time starts in the leasing office. Gain full visibility into your site with cloud-based property management software that integrates with your maintenance and procurement solutions. This powerful combination automates processes from the second that your resident gives notice. Automation and integration can help you reduce vacancy days and increase net rental income. Help techs save time and money with mobile-ready software. Problem: Your techs waste a lot of time trekking back and forth between the leasing office, stockroom and units. Their progress on work orders is a mystery throughout the day, and it’s difficult to determine where you can find greater efficiencies during turns. Solution: Fewer trips to the leasing office, stockroom and store mean more time saved. A mobile maintenance app empowers techs to connect to the cloud, log work order progress, completion and images while on the go. Transparency into the turn process allows you to identify where additional training or greater efficiencies may be helpful. A customized online catalog takes the errors and guesswork out of procurement. Problem: Maintenance techs rely on outdated techniques to log the products needed to complete work orders. As a result, they sometimes request the wrong parts or incorrect quantities. Trips to local stores deduct time from working on units. To further complicate the process, prices and availability vary by location. Solution: Curate an online catalog of common products needed at your property. This makes it fast and easy for maintenance techs to submit requests for the correct product. You can also streamline orders to ensure they get the best deal with the approved supplier each time. Using a mobile app, techs can then submit requests for required materials using the curated list. They can immediately log what they need while in the unit rather than waiting until they get back to the office. A live list displays the correct product type and quality, resulting in fewer errors, more consistent pricing and more time saved. Backordered item? Techs can automatically log the information to keep the front office and residents up-to-date. When the techs get the right products in a timely manner, you can turn your units faster. Simplify approvals while maintaining control of the budget. Problem: It’s a struggle to control spend while maintaining a quick approvals process. Solution: Enhance policy compliance with pre-approved products. Managers can then quickly approve orders with greater confidence using a mobile procurement app. There is no need to make frequent trips to the office, sign paper checks, or delay orders with paper processing. Join a free webinar to learn how you can speed up turns and reduce...
Service in a Flash
Maintenance Mania Winner
Once you submit your maintenance request via RentCafe client portal, you may have to wait a few hours before a technician completes service—unless Jorge Blanco is your maintenance tech. He’ll probably be finished before you can answer the front door. Jorge Blanco, service manager with Yardi client Kettler, is the reigning National Champion of the National Apartment Association’s (NAA) 2016 Maintenance Mania. He won with a record-breaking 1:11.618 completion time of eight tasks. Yes. Eight. Blanco competed in an elimination-style qualifying series against 4,000 maintenance professionals from across the nation. In the end, 20 finalists remained. The group competed at Maintenance Mania during the NAA Education Conference and Exposition in San Francisco. Contestants raced to complete the following tasks: A.O. Smith water heater installation CFG faucet repair Fluidmaster toilet repair Frigidaire icemaker installation Kidde fire and carbon monoxide safety installation Kwikset key control deadbolt teas Seasons ceiling fan installation Racecar derby The last task is not something that most maintenance specialists face on the job. It requires the DIY construction of a model car that must integrate three maintenance products. The car must make its way around a track and to the finish line before its creator can reign as champion. Blanco is no stranger to Maintenance Mania. He has won the championship four times since the competition started 10 years ago. He believes that he has held the title for so long because Kettler provides a supportive environment for employee training. “Kettler has provided us with a facility that we rent, me and the other technicians, giving us a place where we can actually practice for the event,” says Blanco. “That’s where we practice the ice maker, the Fluidmaster, the smoke detector, and things like that. I think that by them providing that...
Spring Cleaning
Property Maintenance Tips
This isn’t your typical spring cleaning list. Learn how to transform basic seasonal care into value-added improvements. Interior If utilities are included in your billing, early spring is the perfect time to assess your fuel costs. Buildings often consume the most fuel during the first two quarters of the year. At this point, you can get an estimate of whether you will operate in deficit or surplus for the rest of the year. Fewer surprise costs for renters can lead to greater tenant satisfaction and retention. Consider installing smart home or connected home technology this spring. These devices can ultimately help to protect your property, improve efficiency, and maximize tenant comfort. If you’re using disposable filters, replace them at least every three months to ensure optimal efficiency and air quality for your tenants. If you’re interested in reusable filters, they are now more affordable than ever. They require greater upfront investment but they can last for five years. Reusable filters are also better for the environment. The downside is that they must be cleaned and dried monthly or they will begin to decrease in efficiency. Requesting that tenants test their air condition systems at the end of winter. This way, you can get a jump start on any needed repairs before your vendor gets slammed with requests in the spring and summer. Early spring can be the perfect time to cut back unruly branches and shrubs, especially for fast-growing varieties like crepe myrtles and forsythia. Keep foliage at least five feet away from the building, window screens, and roof. Tidy landscaping can improve resident retention and minimize costly property damage. It’s time to stock up on supplies at spring cleaning sales. An ample supply of bulbs, machine batteries, water filters, air filters, and such...
Ice Storm 2016
Inclement Weather Preparedness
For the past several years, the southeastern United States has been slammed with ice storms in the first quarter. You can’t stop the ice from forming, but there are several steps that you can take to keep your leasing office staff as safe as possible. While weather forecasts are known to issue false alarms, ignoring a warning can lead to dangerous repercussions: impassable roads leave employees stranded at work and their kids stranded at school; fallen trees can cut power supplies. The weather warnings are not always accurate, but the cost of ignoring them may outweigh the benefits. Use these tips to guide your staff safely through ice storm season in the southeast. Ensure that snow and ice removal equipment is ready for action. Check that property management, vendors or maintenance staff have properly prepared for the season. This is especially important if the equipment needed is kept onsite and rarely used. Jack Drobny, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Troy-Bilt, offers maintenance tips for dormant machines. “If you try to start a snow thrower after it has sat for a while, it might not start,” he says frankly. “The first thing that you’ll want to do is remove the smart plug boot, ground it to the engine block, and clear away any external engine debris,” he says. Drobny then suggests adjusting the skid shoes and shave plate, which are particularly important for breaking up ice. Once those items are secured, Drobny recommends inspecting the belts for signs of damage, checking the oil and adding fresh fuel as needed. “By taking care of those things early, you won’t be left out in the cold.” Keep additional fuel, spare batteries, and chemical ice-melting products onsite when possible. Such supplies can make parking lots and sidewalks safer...
Mobile Maintenance
Top Ten Benefits
Mobile tools are all about immediacy and action — and when it comes to maintenance, that means responding more quickly, entering and completing work orders from the field, and getting real time updates to ensure the right work is done at the right time. Yardi Maintenance Mobile offers the convenience of creating, updating and closing work orders from a mobile device, with the ability to include photos and notes as well as add technician labor and inventory to work orders — and the information is automatically updated in Yardi Voyager®. For Wesley Fonseca, maintenance technician at Post Glen near Atlanta, Ga., Maintenance Mobile has been a game changer. “I’ve seen my time management get so much better with Yardi because of how I’m able to access the work orders on my smartphone. Maintenance Mobile has helped me save time in that I don’t have to print the work orders. I can map out my whole day and give certain spaces for emergencies and that sort of stuff. I have the ability to add and drop work orders, and sign them off in the field. Also, being able to have what I need at my fingertips, right on the spot, has helped me be more time efficient.” In addition to improving efficiency, mobile tools help improve retention by providing great service to residents and tenants. “Maintenance Mobile is a good selling point as far as the residents are concerned because everything is so technologically advanced now. They expect to see technology in use,” Fonseca says. “The residents have their place where they can put the different time of whatever day that they prefer for us to visit. They like being able to submit requests online, have us receive them, and then fix things and document...
7 Winter Defenses
Maintenance Tips
Winter is in full swing, bringing with it unpredictable cold fronts and unpleasant, icy storms. Keep your property and residents safe with these simple tips for winterizing your apartments. For Owners HVAC Tune-up Seasonal inspections of your heating and cooling systems will ensure that they are operating at optimal efficiency. It’s also a great idea to make sure that ducts are properly sealed and insulated, which can cut costs by 20 percent or more according to EnergyStar.gov. Stock Up on Salt Make sure that you have enough salt to help defrost walkways, exterior stairways, and inclines throughout the parking lot, entrances, and exits. If the weather drops below 16 degrees for several hours, you may consider a beet juice, molasses, and cheese brine defrosting cocktail. If your community rarely experiences freezes and doesn’t have a plan in place, speak with your maintenance team to set a schedule or assign a technician in charge of defrosting the premises. No one wants to be surprised with such a task at 4am. Arborist Inspection Have an arborist inspect trees for rot, damage, disease, and pests. Branches that are weighed down by snow and ice are prone to fall when they’re already weak. The National Storm Damage Center reports that trees damaged by severe weather cause more than $1 billion in property damage each year. The arborist’s inspection could save you millions by preventing property damage and injury to your residents. Text Alerts If your property does not have a text-alert system for residents, consider establishing one. Use this system to notify residents of extreme weather conditions and fallen trees across nearby thoroughfares. It’s a small touch that can save time and keep residents safe. Extinguisher Check Be sure that fire extinguishers are inspected per fire department code. Scheduling inspections in the...
Purchasing Power
Home Depot + Procure to Pay
Yardi® clients can now easily access thousands of The Home Depot® products either in store or online with a click of a button via the online procurement system offered with Yardi Procure to Pay™, a fully automated end-to-end procurement and invoice processing platform. The Home Depot has set the standard for innovative merchandise for both the do-it-yourselfer and the professional contractor and its global customer base also encompasses commercial and multifamily property owners and managers. The Yardi Procure to Pay system enables The Home Depot purchase orders and invoices to flow through an automated, customized online approval workflow, giving property owners and managers insight into all purchases and ensuring complete purchasing compliance. For clients currently using Yardi PAYscan™, access to The Home Depot catalog is available at no additional cost and no implementation is required. In addition to online purchasing, registered clients can also walk into any of The Home Depot’s nearly 2,000 locations in the U.S. to make in-store purchases. Those purchases automatically update online purchase orders and are invoiced through Yardi Procure to Pay. “We are thrilled about our new business relationship with Yardi. Property managers now have a compliant ordering solution with the option of selecting same-day, in-store pickup or even delivery from The Home Depot,” said J.T. Rieves, vice president of The Home Depot Pro Business. “The Home Depot will leverage its thousands of U.S. locations, vast distribution network and outside sales team to become a strategic supplier of maintenance, repair and operating supplies and building materials for our very important property management customers.” “The Home Depot’s impressive catalog of products and resources is a major addition to our national network of partners, and further expands Yardi Procure to Pay to be a true one-stop solution for MRO supplies with...
