The Next Generation of Multifamily Document Management

From paper clips to file folders, and filing cabinets to computer systems, the process of storing, managing and organizing documents is as old as paper itself. And in real estate, managing documents like contracts and vendor agreements is crucial to running a healthy business—especially when you’re dealing with multiple units as multifamily does.

It’s precisely why RealPage has put in the time and resources to create an enterprise solution like RealPage Document Director. But is a dedicated document management system for multifamily really necessary? Here are some statistics from AIIM and Ernest & Young that answer with an emphatic “yes!”

• Percentage of “corporate memory” that exists on paper: 90%
• The average number of times a document is copied: 19 times
• The average per-page storage cost: $0.25
• The amount companies spend in labor to file one document: $20
• How much companies spend in labor to find one document: $120
• How much companies spend in labor to reproduce one lost document: $250

As you can see, the time it takes to create, manage and store documents adds up quickly, and it clearly lays out a justification for RealPage’s newest solution for corporate document management. Regardless of the solution you have, here are some questions you should be asking yourself:

• Do you feel prepared for disaster recovery as it relates to your documents?
• Do you feel the way you currently store documents is secure?
• Do you spend a lot of time looking for documents?
• Do you have a current solution to allow you to quickly give access to someone to specific documents for things like an audit or due diligence?
• Are you currently paying for a cloud solution to store your corporate documents?
• Does that solution seem easy to use, fast to search and flexible to meet your needs?
• Do you have any needs for a workflow to be set up to automatically route certain documents for review and approval?

As you browse through these questions, it becomes more and more evident that your document management can no longer be handled by a file cabinet or even a simple set of computer files somewhere on a server. It requires a fully-thought-out system that not only stores documents in an organized fashion, but also allows for intensive search capability, automated workflow, user access control and secure file transmission.

And RealPage Document Director proudly delivers on all fronts by allowing you to:

• Organize documents from multiple sources in a single area
• Reduce paper in the office
• Find documents quickly without endless searching through paper files
• Accesse files from other locations instantly without the need for shipping
• Ensure documents are safe from natural disaster and unauthorized users
• Grant limited user access to files based on roles and rights
• Securely store files in an encrypted location

This new solution will address all of your enterprise document management needs. Tailor-made for multifamily, it can be used at the corporate level and leveraged across an entire portfolio, including on-site offices, as well as for owners and investors. Examples of applicable files include management agreements, insurance documents and financial statements, as well as policies and procedures, acquisition documents and compliance and regulatory agreements. You can even include HR documents and marketing campaigns. The sky’s the limit.

With RealPage Document Management, you’ll never lose documents in your system again. Its quick but intelligent search and filtering capability allows for not only file name, categorization and tagging, but also optical character recognition to find content within your files. You’ll save time locating files and sharing them with others. And the real-time monitoring allows you to see the status of each file at all times.

As important as where files are, the system allows access from wherever your users are. It’s available via a simple URL, with responsive pages for tablet and mobile users, who can store, categorize and access documents from anywhere and at any time with a login and password. And all of your data is stored securely in the cloud, which protects your company against unexpected file loss and falls in line with industry standard disaster recovery procedures.

Administrators have complete control in RealPage Document Management. They can supervise access right down to the user level. Audit logs and versioning are also available to monitor user access and document changes in the event a paper trail is needed. Users are also taken into consideration, with customizable page views for each user and bulk upload capabilities to make it easy to send files to the cloud. Best of all, it’s property-management-software-agnostic, with no dependencies on the property management system itself.

RealPage Document Director allows you to customize your usage based on your company’s individual needs. Common usage situations include:

• Owner reports
• Compliance documents
• Due diligence
• Management agreements
• Insurance policies
• Financial statements
• Agency audits and file reviews

Find out how healthy your property management system is with this eBook.

RealPage Document Director users who are lucky enough to already have OneSite Document Management will get product integrations that others can’t get. They can easily render final OneSite documents into your library for easy searching and fast retrieval across your portfolio. In fact, any document stored in OneSite will export into the new system, including report groups, lease documents, invoices, property damage photos and final account statements.

Learn more about this complete new system. Explore RealPage Document Director today.