DUBAI — A new tech-driven property management system conceived in Dubai will transform the way real estate agents and landlords communicate and help tenants resolve issues quickly and more efficiently, its designers say.
Devised by fäm Properties, one of the UAE’s largest real estate brokerages, it gives landlords peace of mind by delivering real time condition reports, budget forecasting and showing actual return on investment (ROI) for individual properties through a unique online platform.
The good news too for tenants, often frustrated by delayed response to urgent maintenance problems, comes with an instant communications channel to resolve domestic issues like AC breakdowns, plumbing leaks and electrical failures.
“The objective is to take property management services to a new level, using technology to make it much faster, easier and more effective for real estate agents, landlords and tenants to talk to each other,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties.
“This is another first for the Dubai property market, and we feel it’s particularly important in the current economic climate to adopt an innovative approach to real estate overall.”
Having last month launched a sophisticated market analysis tool providing real-time insights into Dubai property trends, fäm Properties believes its new property management offering will help dispel negative attitudes towards real estate agents in the UAE market.
It comprises an Oracle-based customer relationship management (CRM) system linked to an Android and iOS app, both developed by the company’s in-house tech design team.
The bespoke online platform, which can be individually tailored, considers maintenance fees, service charges, incoming rent and all other financial aspects to calculate actual ROI for landlords.
They also have paperless access to all documents for each property, receive detailed monthly, bi-annual or annual reports, and avoid time-consuming hassle of calls, emails and meetings with agents in the process.
“For investors, there’s a major advantage in being able to access real time data, speed of property manager response, photos, quotations, tenant’s satisfaction and actual ROI, as opposed to promises of 6, 7 or even 8 per cent returns and a subsequent delivery of different numbers due to lack of efficiency,” said Ahmed Abou El Naga, director of asset management for fäm Properties.
By using the new Fixit app, which is linked to the online CRM platform, to upload information and images, tenants can instantly can bring urgent maintenance issues to the immediate attention of landlords and agents.
“This instantly puts the problem into perspective and results in faster solutions,” said El Naga “That’s vital for tenants who may be left without AC during the hot summer months or need prompt action to fix leaks.”
The obvious benefits of the app for the tenants are expected to boost occupancy rates for managed units, increasing profitability for landlords in the process.
The new property management system provides a particularly valuable lifeline for landlords based outside the UAE who are able to check in on their properties in real time and quickly manage any issues.
