I am surprised at the number of landlords who have asked me if they could get a free download of our software to test out. While we will readily tell you that you can sign up for Smart Housing for free and test it out to your heart’s content, what surprises me is the ‘download’ part. Our home page says ‘Cloud-Based Property Management Platform’ so why are we still getting asked about downloads?
Perhaps it’s a lingo that still isn’t widely understood, or maybe these landlords are from an older generation that is still used to downloading everything. Either way, using online property management software is much better than any software you could download and I’m going to let you know why.
You are not limited on the number of computers you can use. When using downloaded software, each added computer comes at a price, meaning you could pay to download the software on one computer or three, but you’re going to have to pay more for each computer. On the other hand, online software can be accessed from any number of computers as long as you have an applicable login, so you’re not paying an extra fee for both you and your property manager to have access to the same information.
Access isn’t limited either. You can sign up on this computer and then use the software on that computer. If you go on vacation and need to order a background check and screening for an applicant, that’s not a problem. Find a computer, login, and order the screening before snorkeling in the Maldives.
Nor are you limited to computers only. On a cell phone, on a tablet, anywhere with internet access, you can login and make sure your business is running smoothly.
Never worry about losing your data. I would say the biggest issue with using downloaded software is that if the hard drive on your computer crashes, everything is gone. Everything. All the applications and screenings, the history of rent payments, listed inventory, all the work you put into setting up the information - there’s no way to recover it. When using cloud-based software, the information is backed up again and again and again so even if your hard drive fails, the online software you chose won’t.
