Asset Management Software Recommendations for Multifamily
Hi All,

I recently joined a multifamily syndication team as an asset manager led by a long time friend. He's trying to scale up his business but hasn't quite ironed out all his processes with regards to operations. One issue for me on the asset management side is being able to easily gather data on unit expenses. We currently outsource our property management duties and recently asked for data on all expenses per unit per month for the past year for a given apartment. The problem is that the data is exported into an Excel sheet that isn't quite categorized properly between cells, so there's a lot of manual labor that has to be done in order to start creating charts and trends that we want.

In short, I'm looking for:

* Capability to easily sort expenses and income by unit (#1, #2, common area, etc.) and category (repairs/maintenance, CapEx, PM fees, rental income, etc.)
* Nice to have charts to show trends of income and expenses over time
* Nice to be able to export data to Excel or Google Sheets smoothly (if needed)
* End goal: Quickly identify areas of improvement to increase NOI

My questions are:

* As an asset manager, what are the ways you deal with this issue if you're outsourcing PM duties? Are there workarounds with software that you use?
* I imagine we'll be bringing PM in-house at some point. What are some good software that you use? Does it combine property management and asset management? Or do you use two separate pieces of software for that?

&amp;#x200B;

Thanks in advance!
[{"id": "hvgz7xy", "text": "I think it comes down to what type of accounting software your property manage is using, and also what accounting system your team is using. My short answer would be to have your PMs use Yardi, and then grant you access so you can communicate with the Yardi API and/or access and manipulate the data from there.", "replies": [{"id": "hvh6cxv", "text": "Do GP's typically have discretion as to which software PM's use when the PM work is outsourced?", "replies": [{"id": "hvhcz1o", "text": "Yes.\n\nThis question is frightening", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "hvhem8y", "text": "Absolutely. I\u2019d factor it into my choice of PMs when interviewing, too - as it speaks to the financial literacy of the PM and whether or not they\u2019ll be able to meet reporting needs/requirements.", "replies": [{"id": "hvhh69o", "text": "That makes sense. Thanks for the input! Will relay to my friend and see if we can get this implemented in our next deal.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "hvifpjj", "text": "Use Yardi Matrix. It is the industry standard. As a loan underwriter, it is a pain in the ass having to interpret and manually enter other poorly formatted reports.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "hvidpg4", "text": "You can pull these reports directly from Yardi without even needing to use the APIs", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "hydv77s", "text": "&gt;Yardi API\n\nDoesn't this carry a significant annual fee?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hvif94b", "text": "MRI? I see that being like the standard within AM reporting", "replies": [{"id": "hvmqkwx", "text": "Thanks for the input! Will dig into it along with Yardi and Argus", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iqmqqj0", "text": "I\u2019m wondering what you have found to be the most beneficial software for your asset manager role since posting this?", "replies": [{"id": "iqpokuu", "text": "Yardi was the gold standard for us, but it comes at a price. Would recommend when you're scaling up.", "replies": [{"id": "iqs5qb2", "text": "Good to know! Which product would you recommend for the AM side of things? Elevate, Matrix, etc.\n\nOur PMs use Yardi Voyager and we have access to that for everything property level, but I am looking to try to incorporate more of what your original post expressed\u2026 CapEx timelines/budgets per unit &amp; property, easily see expenses/income trends over time, etc.\n\nI like Asana for project management but it doesn\u2019t fit any reporting/financial needs. With the rate our company is growing, a million Excel sheets are getting too hard to keep organized and is just creating double work. \n\nSorry for the lengthy post, but appreciate any insight!", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]