Emerging SaaS products for the real property industry now provide organizations with another option for real estate assessment and valuation alongside traditional enterprise systems.
It is no wonder then, that a 2015 IDC study suggests that SaaS product delivery is set to grow five times faster than the traditional software market by 2019.
So what are the innovations in SaaS solutions that can help improve real estate assessment?
Data Standardization
Traditional real estate capital investment software focuses on the task at hand. It moves significant resources towards end-user point-in-time reporting and analysis. As such, inputs such as cashflow and operating costs are somewhat static and dependent on user management. Spreadsheets, data collection methods and non-standardized information usually drive traditional software systems. New software solutions flip this conventional process around; they focus on building data integration and standardization first.
This data-centric approach provides assessment firms with a robust and customizable real estate assessment process. It shifts the focus away from data entry towards strategy and value-add analysis. Data standardization also allows for greater scenario planning analysis capabilities and information storage.
Performance Optimization at the Building and Portfolio Level
SaaS products for real property are also moving away from performance reporting. Instead, they now focus on performance optimization. The various inputs that drive real estate performance, including NOI (Net Operating Income) and operating expenses, are now optimized relative to larger portfolio-level objectives and financial considerations. As such, large property holders can assess and gauge current performance. They can also focus on progressive decision making based on advanced analytics and many scenario testing. Benchmarking has also become common alongside performance optimization. It allows organizations to assess their properties based on a variety of metrics and underlying factors.
Advanced Reporting
Key to any real estate assessment process is a well structured reporting system. Following greater reporting requirements, emerging advanced reporting solutions help organizations handle client communications. They also reduce the time it takes to produce repetitive reports such as quarterly performance reviews. New reporting analysis functions include customizable reporting options, interactive reports and list and “batch” capabilities.
A Level Playing Field in Real Estate Assessment
The setup and infrastructure costs associated with enterprise platforms meant that they were better suited to mid to large-sized organizations with significant capital. Yet, emerging SaaS technologies are cost-effective and cloud-based. They reduce operating costs and level the playing field for small to mid-sized organizations looking to remain competitive, improve margins, and streamline workflows.
Photos: Brian Goodman/Shutterstock, suphakit73/Shutterstock
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