Running a commercial real estate company is no cakewalk. There are many moving parts, surprises, and challenges that come with the business.
But with the right project management software in place, you’ll be able to have your cake and eat it, too.
In this quick guide, we’ll look at the basics of project management software for commercial real estate companies, in order to help you bake in the software for your business.
The Basics of Commercial Real Estate Project Management Software
In a general sense, project management software is meant to help businesses plan and organize projects easily and efficiently. The right software can help you streamline tasks, stay on budget, meet deadlines, manage documents, and more. Overall, platforms can range from simple to complex software.
These solutions can come in a couple of different forms. First, is an on-premise software, which is installed directly on your computer or server. The second is cloud-based software, which gives users access to applications that run on shared computing resources via the Internet – meaning you can access it pretty much anywhere, any time.
Some project management software solutions are intended for small companies, while others are geared towards enterprise markets. And some are even industry-specific.
Which brings us to commercial real estate project management software, which…is meant for real estate companies.
We say that in jest, but the reality is: there is project management software and there is real estate-specific project management software. While both are meant to help you streamline your business, industry-specific platforms are tailored more towards the way you work.
As we mentioned, real estate acquisitions and management tend to be complicated and involve a high level of financial risk. Project management software for commercial real estate should have a close focus on those risk areas as well as cost management.
With a more commercial real estate-specific project management software, you should be able to better manage tenant-specific schedules and budgets, review key site tracking metrics, track project bids and contracts, approve and process payments, and much more.
That’s really just a start when it comes to commercial real estate software features. Let’s take a closer look at some of the additional features you’re likely to find in a commercial real estate project management software.
The Popular Features of Project Management Software for Commercial Real Estate Pros
What commercial real estate companies are looking for when searching for software to implement might vary from company to company. But the nature of needing to acquire and manage properties successfully does not.
Not every project management feature is going to be useful for every company, but let’s detail some of the most common and useful.
Document management
This feature allows users to store, download, share, set permissions and approvals, and even electronically sign files all within a centralized place. This is one of the most common features of project management platforms and helps increase collaboration.
Contact management
Contact management features allow users to store and share contact, company, entity, and tenant information in one, easily accessible place.
Property tracking
When it comes to commercial real estate acquisitions and management, robust site/property tracking is a vital project management feature. This feature gives users the ability to manage and review project status, details, and updates in a centralized, easily accessible location, helping to improve communication and collaboration.
Scheduling/Gantt charts
A project management software’s scheduling feature is one of the most common and useful elements. It’s used to help manage project timelines, create complex dependencies, set key dates, and send automatic reminders for projects and tasks.
Task management
Essentially, the best project management software is also a task management software. This feature allows users to assign specific project tasks or create general to-do lists to track assignments.
Custom Reporting
Reporting is a common feature in project management software for commercial real estate companies because it helps make the project transparent for executives and clients. It lets users build robust reports on key dates, financial metrics, tenants, and a variety of other custom fields.
And these are just a handful of the most recognizable features found in commercial real estate-specific project management software. A deeper dive into everything that this type of project management platform has to offer can show you more robust features that best suit your purposes.
The reasons a commercial real estate project management software might be right for you
When acquiring or managing commercial properties, have you ever found yourself confused? Disorganized? Constantly battling poor communication?
Have you ever had to, or are you constantly asking your inner-self how to make your job easier and more efficient?
If you’re a commercial real estate company and you’ve answered yes to any, or all of these questions then chances are you need commercial real estate-focused project management software. (If you answered yes to all of those, then you DEFINITELY need a project management software.)
To really help you determine the need, start by documenting your current project management processes. Do your best to map out the path and current workflow for managing your projects. Document the steps, tools, and protocols you use every day, on every project.
Seeing and understanding your processes on a broad scale should help you find gaps or inefficiencies.
You won’t find a solution if you can’t define the problem.
Make a list of those gaps and inefficiencies and compare them with features and benefits of a project management software specifically for commercial real estate.
Do your due diligence to find a platform that addresses your exact pain points.
The selection process can be easier by fully understanding your options and considering how industry-specific software may better accommodate your workflows and processes.
Ultimately, the right real estate project management software is key to efficient, cost-effective, and successful commercial real estate acquisition and management from end to end.
