All Forum Posts by: Nels Pederson

Hi Everyone, 

I was hoping I could share, and ask for a bit of feedback on a niche property management software Idea that I have. I am a recent business grad from college, and do not have a brand to sell, I am just interested in feedback! 

Quick Idea:
I am interested in creating a tool to help greatly improve the quality of information that landlords/property managers collect from tenants. My two areas of focus right now are Move-in reports and Work requests. My idea right now is to create a mobile application that renters could use to easily submit information and receive communication in real-time.

Digital Move-in:
I think it is a bit silly that the majority of the time this process is still done on pen and paper. I would allow tenants the ability to use a mobile device to submit a damage report with detailed notes and images. There are great inspection apps on the market, but they are marketed for landlords, and are not for renters. I want to create an inspection tool that is specifically designed for renters to use. The thought here is that if you give the renter the ability to submit a detailed, image filled report they will be less likely to contest damages when they move out. 

Work Requests:
The goal here is to improve the amount of information gathered from the renters so that you have all of the info you need to quickly respond to work requests. If a renter has a work request they would fill out a detailed form on the app asking for specific information about the request including pictures, and any other vital information that contractors would need ( appliance ID's, location . . . ect). After a ticket has been submitted you would be able to follow-up with a renter through the application. The thought is that the reports would be detailed enough so that you have all of the information you need to respond, and that you would not need to spend time on the phone, or through email digging out vital bits of information.

That's the idea. It is meant to be simple to start. I'd love to hear any feedback that you have. If you do have any specific questions let me know. I will do my best to answer them!

Nels 

Hi Bob, 

Thanks for the thoughts. I appreciate the insight. If you do not mind, I have a few follow-up questions to your comments. 

Damage reports
My initial goal with this functionality is not to change the way the process happens if that makes sense. I fully support you being along side your tenants as they are filling out this report to verify that they are accurately representing damages. I am more interested in the reporting itself and how the information is gathered and stored. 

I am interested in your thoughts on how much value it would add to include images in this reporting process. My thought is, at the end of the year, when your tenants move out and you are accessing any new damages, you will have documentation and images to know whether or not any previous damages have gotten worse ( ex: The scratch on the floor is now a huge gash). 

Work Order Requests
I 100% agree with your sentiment that a personal conversation is better, but I do believe there are limitations, I have two clarification questions for you:

- Do you ever have trouble getting tenants to communicate with you?  I have heard from a few landlords that tenants will reach out with any big issues, but often do not with smaller issues, which to a landlord can be important to know about to. Do you run into this trouble at all? 

- What role does reporting play in your business ? I know all states are different, but share a common rule that landlords must acknowledge and respond to problems within a certain time frame. Would it be helpful to have a tool like this to document these reports and show your responses? Along with that another benefit would be that the tool would also help you accurate assign costs to projects so that you know where your maintenance dollars are going. 

Thanks for the help Bob, 
Nels 

@Bob H.

Hello everyone, 

Alan, Michael fair feedback. In hindsight, If I was in your shoes I would be skeptical too. 

I am happy to elaborate on the forum:

Quick details on my impetus for this post: 
I believe there is a gap in communication between many landlords and tenants. There are great technology tools to help bridge this gap, but (from my research) I have been underwhelmed by the tenant friendliness of most of these applications. I believe that if given the right tools tenants can be a power tool to helping identify and stop problems before they become big issues.

To help make this a bit more forum friendly, I will adapt my questions a bit, but here is what I am curious about 2 different areas: 

Digital Move-in
When tenants move in and submit damage reports for their rooms, do they do it digitally? Are they able to upload photos with these reports, and in general what do you think of this idea? If you are not already using one, Would you be interested in an application that does this. 

Work orders

Do you use technology to help gather work-order requests from tenants. Are they able to upload photos with these reports, and do you believe the process can be improved so that it is easier for the tenant to submit reports. 


I truly appreciate the help. Michael, I graduated from the University of Minnesota, proud Golden Gopher. Thanks for the welcome Michael, It is great to be here! 

Kevin thanks for the note I will follow-up with you shortly!

Nels 

Hi Everyone,

My name is Nels. I am a recent college grad from Minnesota and am interested in exploring mobile tech startups for landlords and tenants. I wanted to post, because I was hoping I could ask for a bit of feedback.

I haven't created anything yet, and to be respectful to this forum I am not trying to sell anything. I truly mean it when I say I am just looking for feedback.

If you have a free moment I was hoping you could help fill out this 2 minute survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1X6NYDvg5iGA06O1kfXPG2W2tFMS6_zb2PZsz7XicDtA/viewform?usp=send_form

If you are open to it I would love to hear from you individually. Shoot me a personal message.

I truly appreciate the help and feedback. I'll do my best to answer any questions on here. Thanks!

Nels