The Start-up List

PropTech Partner List of 2021

My team has had a busy year implementing technology across our portfolio in the DMV. Since we are often asked which companies we would recommend, I thought it would be helpful to share a list of start-ups that we began to utilize in 2021. The focus of this past year was to improve the front-end digital leasing experience for prospects and the operations team, create loyalty during the stay for residents, and mobilize maintenance. For integration purposes, we did need to take into consideration that a majority of our properties use Entrata for front-end lead management, lease administration, and payment processing, and use Yardi as the backend property management platform for accounting and resident management.

The list below is categorized by function and provides a short description of each company. I also included a non-exhaustive menu of options if you are looking for alternate solutions or to augment your current offering.

Website Tools

Hy.Ly

Integrates with PMS, ILSs, social media pages and most platforms. Hy.Ly allows prospects to directly schedule guided, self-guided and virtual tours with a couple of clicks and places the tour on the agent’s calendar. All confirmations and reschedules are done automatically, so the team no longer needs to manually schedule and manage appointments.

Engrain Sightmap

Integrates with PMS and virtual touring software. SightMap creates an interactive floor plate map of the building to allow prospects to view and select apartments based on floor, location and views. The ops team can use it to get a quick view of availability filtered by location and unit type.

Betterbot

Integrates with PMS, Hy.Ly, and Rentgrata. Betterbot is a guided chatbot that helps prospects schedule tours and also answers programmed questions. The integration with the scheduling software creates a powerful tool to help convert website leads into tours.

Rentgrata

Integrates with Betterbot. Rentgrata connects prospects to current residents to help prospects get answers about the community and lifestyle. It turns your current residents into building ambassadors, not to mention an extended leasing team.

Alternative Website Tool Solutions: MeetElise, Knock, Perq, Rentron, Ace, Diffe.rent, Hyro.

Touring

Peek

Integrates with SightMap, ILSs, CRM. Peek allows the on-site team to take a video of every unit in the building, making it easier for prospects to see their exact unit virtually. Prospects can also navigate from individual videos to different areas in the building and access other call-to-actions directly from the videos.

Alternative Virtual Touring Solutions: Realync, Matterport, LCP360, FaceTime, Zoom.

Self-guided Tours

Self-guided tours differ from virtual tours because they involve the physical experience of visiting the property. Many properties have created an ad hoc version that involves a key and ID exchange. For more professional options you can use Tour24, Smartrent, Rently, or Pynwheel.

Screening

Checkpoint ID

Integrates with Hy.Ly. CheckpointID provides easy-to-use ID verification software, both a physical scanner and a digital selfie verification link, that handles domestic and international ID verification to help detect ID fraud.

Snaapt

Integrates with Entrata. Snappt has built fraud detection software that can detect falsified documents, particularly paystubs. It helps minimize the risk of tenant fraud and subsequent bad debt.

PetScreening

Integrates with PMS. Petscreening can help with assistance animal accommodation request validation through their legal review process. They also manage pet profiles for the building and generate more opportunities for pet-related revenue.

Resident Engagement and Services

Engagement

Livly

Integrates with PMS, access control and package management systems, and most platforms. Livly helps onboard prospects from the moment of lease signing and helps consolidate the number of apps residents need to download to engage with the community.

Cobu

Integrates with PMS. Cobu is a resident-to-resident engagement app fueled by a virtual community manager that helps connect residents with each other through common interests and building-sponsored events.

Services

Printwithme

PrintWithMe is a self-serve, wireless printer station that makes it easy for residents to print and takes the printer management duties off the operations team.

Spruce

Integrates with Livly and PMS. Spruce partners with local providers to offer vetted services to residents, such as “chores,” housekeeping, pet care, laundry and dry cleaning.

Flex

Integrates with payment processor. Flex adds flexibility to paying rent by splitting up rent into smaller payments throughout the month. They pay the building owner on the first of the month, creating a win-win situation for the resident and owner.

Inhabitr

Inhabitr is a furniture-on-demand platform with an API-first model that is connected to millions of SKUs from the top furniture brands. They make it easy to rent or buy furniture for apartment living.

Alternative Solutions

1. Resident Engagement and Services: MobileDoorman, Alfred, Rise, Elevated Living, Flamingo, Sugar, Modern Message, Amenify, and Pleaseassistme.

2. FinTech/Insurtech: Till, Esusu, Jetty, Obligo, Rhino.

3. Furniture on Demand: Cort, Fernish, Nickson Living, Feather.

Mobile Maintenance

Leonardo247

Integrates with PMS. Leonardo247 provides a unified platform that streamlines maintenance and operations workflows and mobilizes maintenance so that tasks can be managed on the go.

Alternative Mobile Maintenance Solutions: Sightplan, HappyCo.