PROPERTY management software company WeconnectU recently is celebrated half-a-million property units being managed on its cloud-based platforms this month.
Since it was founded in 2017, the company has added more than 7,000 body corporates and homeowners’ associations to the list of property managers who manage their portfolios with WeconnectU.
Announcing the milestone during a webinar, Johann van der Merwe, CEO and one of three brothers who started the company, said WeconnectU had onboarded more than 30 customers every month over the last 18 months and some of the biggest names in the property management sector in South Africa are now utilising the software.
“We will continue to launch some major new modules in the coming months that will further shape the way property managers work and operate,” he added.
His brother Danie said WeconnectU was born out of their frustrations managing a large portfolio of properties. “We were stuck using multiple systems to handle all the elements of our business, none which integrated or was designed with the workflows and challenges of property management in mind,” he said, adding that he collaborated with Johann to start the company with the express focus of solving the challenges they and other property managers faced.
They started with community management, said Danie, as this is the fastest-growing sector in the property management industry, and one of the more complicated and heavily regulated sectors.
The result was one of the first end-to-end community management solutions bringing all tasks, and all stakeholders together on one, transparent, cloud-based platform. It includes a custom-built financial module, intelligent dashboards to monitor and manage client and business KPI’s, support for compliance and comprehensive reporting.
“After this we needed to respond to the numerous requests for rental management and inspection and maintenance management solutions as well. The goal was an integrated ecosystem that could handle the full range of property management services, replacing outdated systems with a complete suite of reliable, user friendly, effective, and efficient cloud-based tools,” said Danie.
Johann said that in the development of their rental asset management solution, they realised that the value of the rental agent was not being communicated, and that the client, the investor, had never received reporting that addressed their core needs. This led to the creation of their Rental Asset Management Software which addresses the entire value chain of rental portfolio management, including tenant vetting processes, bank integrated account management, lease management, and integrated inspection and maintenance management.
“Traditionally, property managers only ever report on financials, and that’s all they can do with the tools they have. As a result, the rest of the work they do flies under the radar, so their clients never fully appreciate their true value,” said Johann.
“By facilitating comprehensive reporting, covering all aspects of a property and its management, rather than just financials, WeconnectU help property managers to finally demonstrate to trustees and landlords just how much goes into the services they provide.”
Schalk, the third brother, who recently joined the team, said property managers often get so bogged down in their day-to-day admin that they either forget or don’t have enough time to focus on their most important role, which is protecting and growing the value of their clients’ property assets.
“If you compare this to the experience received from financial asset managers, it’s chalk and cheese. Regular investment updates and reviews, market trend analyses and portfolio recommendations clearly demonstrate the role financial professionals play in optimising a client’s investment.
“Our third solution, RedRabbit, addresses the biggest challenges in rental portfolio management, that of inspection and maintenance management, and completes the ultimate property management ecosite,” said Schalk.
