What fun! I attended the CAI Conference held in Orlando at the end of April with my colleagues Bill Harding (Net5 Software, owner of CAM*Pro) and Nancy Nordyke-Shelley, his Sales Consultant. We debuted the CAM*Pro Association Management software at the conference. It was a great opportunity to meet other vendors, property managers and management company executives. Florida provided perfect weather, the property at Disney was certainly convenient and comfortable and it was a wonderful opportunity for all involved. Marc Ingram, the CAI National Event Manager, did a great job of managing the event!
What I learned was how much more stringent laws are in Florida regarding licensing of property managers, and how gi-normous some of the management companies are. It boggles my mind to think of +/-300 property managers working for one company! It was also fascinating to talk with property managers there about management issues, portfolio size, fees and more.
We also talked to folks about technology of course, since CAM*Pro is an association management software. It seems that almost every large management company (and there were some there from other states as well), have written their own proprietary software or use JenArk, ATG, Tops, or one of the other comprehensive (read expensive!) software. There was a big gap between those companies and the smaller ones (under 50 properties), many of whom had cobbled together their own systems for managing the plethora of data and tasks related to community management. One of those was an owner/manager who described an amazing system that was based in Excel! Time prevented us from understanding how this system was able to generate the wide variety of customized letters and reports required of managers today.
The trend to PDAs and online software was also evidenced by the number and type of service providers with booths at the convention. Yet, I am left wondering if these trends really service the BULK of manager’s today. How many association management companies are out there that serve 5 – 50 properties with a staff of no more than 5 to 15 people? My sense is that is more the norm than are these huge companies which may also have their own landscape and maintenance divisions.
In almost every case, software has been developed on an accounting platform. So what happens to those managers who outsource their accounting, or use Peachtree, Quickbooks, Timberline, or other accounting software? Is the opportunity for and access to a fully functional management software restricted to having to change accounting systems? Of course I am biased since I developed CAM*Pro http://www.campro.us meet my (and my clients) needs and we have always outsourced our accounting and collection services. I believe it is the first, best and most affordable option for managers who are happy with their existing accounting functionality and who need to be able to manage multiple properties effectively.
The other bias I have that as fast as this industry grows, it lags greatly in the areas of technology, training and software. Despite the growth of these huge property management companies in Florida and Southern California, the bulk of association community management is still done by small businesses with limited availability to state-of-the-art technology or by volunteers (in the case of self-managed properties), with little capability or time to even know what is available to them to support their endeavors. Many of these companies are real estate professionals who are now entering the marketplace as a result of the collapse of the subprime market. Yet the number of communities is growing by leaps and bounds every year, providing a fertile ground for vendors and service providers willing to put the time and effort into developing service packages or technology and the fortitude to figuring out how to reach their marketplace.
Amazing!
Gayle J. Hasley,
Community Assoication Manager
Community Assoication Homeowner
Gayle@campro.us
http://www.campro.us
