what technology you use - php, ruby ?
and why
Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
231–240 of 255 posts
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#232I own with my father a 30 unit building. With that, let me just address the tagline: "Connect with tenants effortlessly, automate rent with online rent collection, organize work orders, and much more!" - Connect with tenants effortlessly - Not a good thing, Usually leads to excess work orders, more "asks" and petty squabbles about this and that. - Automate rent with online rent collection - Not sure how this is going…
My current apartment complex has a portal where one can pay via eCheck and it's pretty awesome. Do you have a "convenience fee" for paying by credit card? How well do you advertise it? > I think the last thing we would want is to make it easier for the tenant to complain about things. Kinda sounds like a place where I don't want to live. How are your ratings on ApartmentRatings.com?
My current complex is fine and has bad reviews on ApartmentRatings, just like every other big complex. Happy renters don't rate.
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
You make a good point on the work orders. You have full control over deleting, closing out, changing the priority, etc of them. Think of work orders as a support request for an online company. You get a lot of junk support requests as well, but you have to have something, and the tools to organize as needed. And this is WAY more efficient than speaking with someone over the phone or in person, or taking emails!
It would be a fine line to balance. As we know, it's a lot easier to write a super-critical anonymous comment on Yelp than to say it face-to-face. Closer together in that continuum is placing a work order online v having to make a call (or even send an email). If it's easier, the PM will get more of them AND those extras are unlikely to be the important ones. (If your hot water system blows, you pick up the phone; if…
It's undoubtedly a legitimate fear. But compare this to a company like ATT for example who has way more clients than most any property mgt company. Do you think they would prefer to deal with online support requests from clients or talk to them in person at their store?
Having an in person or live conversation is almost always more costly. Yes, it likely cuts down on the number of miniscule requests that you will receive, but you are likely to get a large number of those via telephone, unless you don't offer that as well, which would be impossible for offsite property managers.
So, in short, yes, I agree with you that the number of silly requests may go up, especially initially. However, to counter this, sorting them takes all of 5 seconds a piece instead of 5 min to listen to them ramble on the phone, the benefits of online rental payments saves you time and money, and the instant organization that comes from having this all flow into one system is in our eyes, priceless.
Thanks for your valuable input!
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#234Haven't read all 220+ comments so sorry if someone has already suggested this, but what if you tried to convince landlords by sheer weight of numbers. Allow tenants to enter their landlord and 'vote' for them to adopt this system, as well as encourage other tenants to do the same.
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#235Who did your design? In house? It's AMAZING.
yours truly ;)
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good feedback. Setting up tenants for an online account is optional. Heh, I wouldn't want to create more work either. However, if tenants are setup w/ an online account w/ rental collection online, the amount of paperwork would be slashed to a fraction. Every thing would automatically be digitized and collected, and your staff that normally collects the 800+ checks a month (400 units * 2 tenants) will have more time…
I own some units and I LOVE the fact that many of my tenants pay me automatically through their Chase billpay or whatever that automatically deposits money in my account. This is so much better than me collecting checks
Now, what if they were automatically reflected on the tenants account balance and all notifications were handled, etc. Also, if they didn't pay on time, they'd get an automated reminder email letting them know they are late, auto assessment of late fees making the system the scapegoat and in turn increasing your on-time collection ratio, etc. We think that's worth a few bucks a month...
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not trying to attack you personally, but your response is typical of the real estate industry, and exactly why there's a hole in the market worth billions. For whatever reason, customer service is almost uniformly bad in the real estate industry. It's so bad, people don't even realize how bad it is, because they've never had anything else to choose from. For example, this kind of attitude makes me really sad: I t…
I think any business with strong customer lock-in, infrequent purchase decision, and an immutable monthly cost/revenue evolves into a business where the company tries to minimize support. Think of the level of support you get at a bank, cell phone company, etc. Awful. I'm not sure about the opportunity there. If you spent 2x on support costs, what would you get out of it? Tons of referrals when people are moving out?…
What happens if your support is bad? Turnover increases and finding new tenant is not cheap. There is always a flip-side.
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
It may not be bad, but it sounds like there's zero accountability. If I ask my building manager to fix a leaky faucet, there's no paperwork, and if he ignores me for two months, what's my recourse - assuming that my property owners aren't as on the ball as you and your dad?
That's why you have a lease. It should outline the manager's responsibilities re: maintenance. Your options for recourse are numerous, from filing a lawsuit to not renewing your rent and moving on.
Sure, but you don't have any paper trail proving that you made any of these requests, unless you actually make your own paperwork, make copies, and submit that.
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
Congrats on the launch! A few people here aren't sold on the concept but that's fine. There are obviously others that are.
Don't mistake constructive criticism for not being sold on the concept.
Couldn't agree more, I appreciate the input on things! I am a very harsh critic myself ;)
Re: Ask HN: Review RentPost.com
#240Why do I need a website to connect with my tenants? They have my phone number and email. Assuming I signed up because they would prefer to contact me through this service, then if I were the type to ignore them by phone and email, I'd probably ignore them through this as well.
Well, if that's the case, this probably isn't for you.