AMTdirect provides anytime access to an organization's full inventory of property, location and lease information, contracts, associated expenses and revenues, and all related documents. The solution includes integrated real estate accounting and financial compliance, along with project management, facility management and location mapping capabilities.
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AppFolio Property Manager
Score 7.2 out of 10
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AppFolio Property Manager is a cloud-based property management software that allows multifamily and single-family, commercial, student housing, homeowners and condo association, and mixed portfolio property managers to market, manage and grow their business. AppFolio includes accounting and property management functionality, including the ability to: provide instant access to reports & statements, post & market vacancies, apply & lease online, screen residents, streamline rent collection, and…
I think for medium to large companies AMTDirect would be invaluable to have the "whole" picture of all properties at your finger tips. For smaller companies with 10 or fewer properties maybe not as "necessary".
We have 6 apartment buildings that we manage. Every month we were having to drive to each location to collect rent checks. Since using appfolio, we only have a couple of renters that still send in a paper check, the rest pay online, so we are ensuring that our renters are paying on time. Once we have an applicant apply, the old way was to take their scanned application, review, and then pay to have a background check conducted. Now, with appfolio, we are able to have them apply, sign off on the background check, and pay their deposit all in one shot. It has allowed our property managers to focus on other property items rather than conducting background checks.
AMTDirect allows for customization to your specific needs in a snapshot. One area I appreciate is that I am able to change most labels/field names to coincide with our specific naming conventions.
AMTDirect has wonderful support. They respond very quickly and I always feel that I am important and matter to them.
AMTDirect is always interested in what I would like to see added to be even more useful to my needs. They listen to me and strive to make those changes.
Prior to purchasing AppFolio Property Manager we used a texting app so we could mass text tenants. AppFolio allows us to text them by their unit along with their guarantors (if needed.) We use this feature daily. It is so convenient when we need to reach out residents quickly.
The online payment system makes it easy for our commercial and residential tenants to make rental payments. The system has also lessened the work of out Account's manager since it's all in once place now and we do not have to enter payments into a separate system.
Navigating AppFolio Property Manager is extremely easy. When we have new hire, it does take any time for them to become comfortable with the system. The main page dashboard makes it simple to get from point A to point B and beyond. The Search engine on AppFolio Property Manager is so efficient. You can search almost anything- phone number, first names, last names, addressed, license plate numbers to successfully find what you are needing.
Initially when I started using AMTDirect it was a little overwhelming because it is a lot of detail. At times I would like to see it a little more simplified. However, I will say they have over the past 6 years done that exactly. It is becoming more simplified to use, but with the same important outcomes.
The software is much faster than it was when I initially started using it. Some of that might be resolved if there were some drag and drop type situations more I think.
Customer support is horrendous. It can take weeks to get a live person on the phone and once you get someone, they typically will need to escalate your issue.
If you have multiple bank accounts at different banks, the bill-paying feature has trouble properly defaulting to the right bank account.
Multiple bank accounts also have issues tying incorrectly to the Cash section of the balance sheet.
From my experience, AMTDirect does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you pass that curve the system has details and information that are vital to the decision process of lease negotiations, lease & facilities management as well as project management. I've said it a thousand times, AMTDirect is the only reason I am able to manage 50+ retail spaces by myself with regards to all of the above decisions.
The system is so intuitive and easy to use. There’s almost nothing in the system that can’t be undone if you make a mistake. Important things also have their own tabs. It’s also easy to use from the resident side which is helpful for in a world where everyone is not tech-savvy.
The few times that we have had training with AppFolio, they were SO helpful and quick to answer any questions we may have. Because of their promptness, it shows what a great product they have. If they were not able to figure something out, they would follow up with us within a few days or so, which is so important in a software program!
I have not listened to any of the on-line video or webinars, but I have used the "help" guides and they are very easy to understand and for the most part that is how I have taught myself to use features I have never utilized before.
This was our old program and it was not user friendly and very inefficient to use. We was never able to answer a question for an owner or a tenant very easily and many times we had to ask for them to let us call them back while we research their question because it was so difficult to maneuver in the program.
AMTDirect has positively impacted our company for the simple fact that 1 person is able to handle 54 properties with regards to lease management, maintenance/repair and projects for those locations. We were at the point of needing to hire additional help, but AMTDirect has made it possible to delay hiring additional employees until we grow a little more.
AMTDirect has made it possible to be able for me to work from any where and not in an office with a bunch of files, because the information is at my fingertips. I am able to travel to our stores and still be able to take care of issues and answer important and at times timely questions.
As far as positive impact, we are much more organized as a company as far as accounting, maintenance, and managing tenant issues. We are all on the same page and know where to find notes, emails, letters, information, etc... and can be more self-sufficient and self-directed. I think this is a major plus as far as business goes, as time is money. The more efficient you can be, the more time that is saved, the more money that's saved, period.
I don't work in Accounting and I haven't had any discussions regarding negative impacts in regards to this program. However, we've been using this since 2013 and we're on our 6th year as a business and I've heard others in our organization saying how much AppFolio has improved over that short time and how it keeps getting more intuitive and better with time. At no point have our leaders considered getting rid of the program or implementing a different program.
