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Meet AppFolio, Breezeway's newest integration partner! The AppFolio and Breezeway integration provides real-time updates on property and room status, reservation information, and other operational updates. We connected with the AppFolio team to dive deep into what makes the company unique, their vision for the hospitality industry, and how to get the most out of the AppFolio and Breezeway integration.
Tell us about AppFolio and your vision for the hospitality industry.
Founded in 2006, AppFolio, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud business management solutions built for the real estate industry. Our solutions enable our customers to digitally transform their businesses, address critical business operations, and deliver a better customer experience.
Traditional methods of managing properties often involve a significant amount of paperwork, manual tasks, and inefficient communication. We identified a need for intuitive, user-friendly property management software to address these challenges and more. AppFolio Property Management software allows our customers to streamline and automate processes to scale their business efficiently, all with a centralized system of record that supports their entire portfolio.
Our vision is to create software that simplifies and improves the way businesses in the property and investment management industries operate. We emphasize heavily on innovation and efficiency, striving to provide solutions that empower our customers to be more effective and productive.
How many different tools and technologies does AppFolio Property Manager integrate with?
Through AppFolio Stack™, our users can level up their businesses by integrating with leading proptech solutions to better support their business operations or supplement in-house teams. With access to our growing marketplace of partners — from accounting to maintenance, and marketing and leasing — our marketplace provides users with the tools they need to manage any portfolio without compromising on usability.
Launched at NAA Apartmentalize in June 2022, the AppFolio Stack Marketplace continues to grow and expand. We’re continuously bringing in new integration partners to help our customers take their business to the next level with 50 partners and growing. Our partners represent the best-in-class solutions across the rapidly growing proptech landscape and offer various tools to accelerate growth and improve efficiency.
How does the Breezeway integration with AppFolio Property Manager help property managers optimize their day-to-day work?
Turnovers are a major expense for property managers and require team coordination to optimize the process. Breezeway’s platform helps to streamline the communication, coordination, and verification of work the integration further automates the process by pulling resident information and work orders from AppFolio and then updating the rent-ready status in AppFolio once the work is completed.
Are you finding more managers in the residential space interested in implementing tools to grow and differentiate their business? Why do you think this is?
Operational efficiency continues to be a top concern within the industry, and property management professionals are looking to technology to help solve these challenges. Coupled with rising costs, tight labor markets, and an increased need to exceed renter satisfaction, we believe that property management professionals seek tools to help them grow and differentiate themselves from the competition.
In the AppFolio 2023 Hiring and Retention Report, we surveyed over 2,000 property management professionals and found that technology could optimize or streamline an average of 15 hours per week. Team members want to have more meaning in their work rather than spending so many hours on trivial, mundane tasks. By harnessing the power of technology, they can find increased efficiency and better productivity in their day-to-day tasks.
Powered by automation and artificial intelligence (AI), our built-to-scale solutions help our customers save time, maximize profitability, and drive better business results — all while being able to focus on what matters most.
What do you think the future looks like for the residential industry? What opportunities and challenges lie ahead?
There are a few ways to think about the future of the rental housing/property management industry. In the short term, it’s likely to be a more competitive rental market, with declining occupancy rates and slowing rent growth. This is mostly attributed to a record-breaking number of new units being completed, giving renters many options. In the long term, we recognize that the U.S. has a massive housing shortage, and the recent bump in new construction won’t fill the gap. So, we foresee that the demand for rental housing (and the services of property management companies) will remain high for years to come.
To overcome these challenges and take advantage of available opportunities, property managers need to leverage advanced technology. It's no secret that property management companies are slow to adopt technology, but AI has the power to change how work gets done, streamline operations, and make teams more efficient.
What is the impact that AppFolio Property Manager has on the resident and/or manager and staff experience, and why is this important?
The property management industry is a service industry, and its success depends on offering its residents a stand-out experience. While the current market requires property managers to provide a stellar customer experience, it also requires teams to have the proper tools.
Jessica Hoff Berzac, Co-owner & Principal of UPholdings, has been an AppFolio customer since 2020 and is one of many customers who can positively impact her team and residents. With AppFolio, Jessica can focus more on the “soft side” of her work, like resident outcomes. The UPholdings team doesn't have to spend as many hours of their day on basic property tasks because AppFolio Property Manager allows them to be more efficient.
AppFolio provides huge efficiencies for property management businesses, reducing the time it takes to complete daily tasks so teams spend less time on the mundane and routine and have more time to focus on what matters most. With the daily efficiencies gained, property managers and their teams can dedicate more time to delivering a better resident experience with their technology. An example of a huge driver of resident satisfaction is the Online Portal. Accessible with a mobile app that works from anywhere, the Online Portal is a one-stop-shop for residents to pay their rent, communicate via text or phone, purchase renters insurance, and submit and track maintenance requests.
How can a client get up and running with AppFolio Property Manager?
The process of getting up and running with AppFolio Property Manager couldn’t be easier. Once a property management business connects with a member of our team to answer any questions and to get a better understanding of their needs and business goals, we then offer a customized demo that shows how AppFolio can solve their challenges and achieve their goals. When they’ve decided to partner with us, there’s a full onboarding team that's dedicated to assisting every member of the team throughout the migration and training process so they can be set up for success from the beginning.
Whether it’s month one or one hundred, our team is here when you need a helping hand. Our customers can rely on and find ongoing assistance when product support is needed through various channels, such as the Help Center for self-help training and articles, free webinars, live chat support, or call scheduling for more complex issues.
What’s one key takeaway people should know about AppFolio, and where can they go to learn more?
For any business to thrive, you need a technology partner who's truly by your side for the entire journey. Our one powerful platform and supportive team can transform your day-to-day operations to boost efficiency and quickly remove roadblocks, giving you more time to focus on what matters.
Designing and building great products that our customers love is at the heart of our business. In fact, it’s in our DNA. We’re constantly iterating on our software and solutions to ensure all AppFolio customers have everything they need to succeed — now and as they grow.
To see how AppFolio Property Manager can smartly automate your workflows and scale your vision, visit www.appfolio.com/our-software to sign up for a customized demo.
Visit our integration page to learn more about how Breezeway and Appfolio work together.