Getting an owner decision without three follow ups
The estimate is four hundred dollars and the management agreement says over three hundred needs the owner in writing, a fact that today lives in a PDF nobody opens. Capturing the threshold per agreement as data is most of the project, and after that the pursuit runs itself: the request goes out with the estimate, photos and the reason it cannot wait for the quarterly call, the reminder follows politely on its own schedule, and the answer lands where the work order can see it so the job releases without somebody retyping an approval.
The management system is authoritative for money and knows nothing about the phone call where the owner approved the repair.
A management company runs two ledgers that must never mix: the money it holds for owners and tenants, and its own. Everything downstream of that separation is regulated, which shapes what automation is allowed to touch.
- AppFolio
- Buildium
- Gmail
When this is the wrong thing to build
Pick something else if your agreements are inconsistent enough that nobody can say what the thresholds are. Reading them into a field is the prerequisite.
The constraint that shapes it
In most states property management is licensed brokerage activity, which means the company operates under a broker and its handling of client funds is supervised, with segregation from operating money and periodic reconciliation expected. More on how this sector works.
A list of things that are missing, worked until it is empty. Read what this shape is, or start from one of these.
- Chasing a compliance file to complete
- Chasing a referral fee through to a closing you cannot see
- Asking for the replenishment before the retainer runs to zero
- Chasing medical records until the set is complete
- Getting a deposition on the calendar of every party
- Chasing the warranty credit the distributor has not issued
- Where is the repair approval limit for this owner written down?
- How do I get an owner to approve a repair estimate?
- What happens if a repair goes ahead without owner approval?
- Can approval limits be stored per management agreement?
Back to property management, or see how this is priced and scoped.