CoStar offers a platform for real estate management needs.
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Entrata
Score 6.9 out of 10
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The Entrata Platform, from the company of the same name headquartered in Lehi, is a property management platform designed for leasing management of multifamily properties and tenants. The Entrata platform features a general ledger and accounting management, invoice management, as well as lead management with in-built marketing suite.
Gen-Y and younger will have no problem learning how to use CoStar but its not very intuitive for the older generations (they have to hunt and peck for what they are looking for and have no idea how to manipulate the reporting features)
Entrata isn't perfect, but it is heads and shoulders above its competitors. They consistently respond to customer needs and continually add to their suite of services. The platform is attractive and was built for Google Chrome from the get-go, unlike some competitors that were stuck on Internet Explorer for years and years. That might not mean much to some, but I think it exemplifies that Entrata puts user experience first. It has a robust array of functions and I'm happy to use it. For email marketing, Entrata is great. If you market by text message, Entrata is probably not your best bet. Customers are opted out of texts by default, so we've had to explore other avenues for mass text communications.
In our market (Portland, OR), not enough users implement the tools that could make CoStar so much better. For example, I specialize in medical but brokers and owners don't take the time to mark medical as an approved use in their buildings so I have to search much longer and cross-reference the data by contacting the brokers directly.
I find it really annoying that when I download documents CoStar doesn't use smart technology to automatically name my files. It is especially irritating since every piece of marketing we post to CoStar has a relevant file name yet when we download the same file we have to rename it.
Sometimes, some of our customers won't require a follow-up but there isn't an option to opt them out of follow-ups but the leads will still appear.
Access. Some of the things that should be accessible to all team members aren't (creating templates, saving signatures, or seeing credit screening details) and putting in a ticket or asking for permission can be time-consuming.
I've used Entrata with three companies, all of whom have had an in-house liaison to the company. Consequently, I haven't had to work directly with Entrata support on very many occasions. However, I have personally seen feature requests added to the platform in a timely manner. That kind of service is rare in this industry.
There is literally not one good thing that I can say about CoStar. They charge my card $450/month because I signed a one-year contract. They provide very little data and properties and most of the time it is inaccurate. Their customer service is atrocious. They overpromise, underdeliver. STAY away from using Costar!
Entrata is completely cloud-based and provides much more integrated functionality, but fewer custom features. Also, Entrata's UI could be greatly improved. Overall, Entrata's API is more open and allows for more third-party integrations and ILS connectivity over time than its competitors. Combining the marketing portal (website, email marketing, SMS) with leasing management (renter invoices, rent collection, late fees, move in/move out checklists) provides for a unique, bundled service platform.
Since CoStar has linked with LoopNet we have had fewer bad data calls. By which I mean old data from LoopNet that was available to the general public is now more regularly updated through CoStar so we have less confusion with our clients.
