Patty Morelos is the president of CORE Property Management, and her business partner, Tania Aragon, is the company’s chief financial officer. CORE Property Management specializes in commercial and industrial real estate. Its mission is to foster robust relationships with clients by protecting their assets and offering comprehensive services including interfacing with tenants, monitoring expenses and making property recommendations.
Prior to switching to Yardi Breeze Premier, CORE Property Management was struggling to fulfill its mission efficiently on outdated software. After the switch, Patty and Tania were able to reduce client risk, ensure tenant compliance and streamline the leasing experience for their clients. They are now able to proactively manage properties, address emergencies and meet their clients’ needs.
We asked them to share their experience in property management, discuss why an all-in-one solution makes sense for them and describe their transition to new property management software. Feel free to watch their full Yardi Breeze Premier review below.
Describe your old system & its limitations
Before Breeze Premier, we were operating on an inefficient program that was tied to a physical desktop. We did have some remote access, but for the most part, tasks like check payments needed to be processed manually through check runs.
We sent paper mail statements and had many tasks that required manual intervention, which made our operations inefficient and time-consuming. This affected our ability to be responsive to our clients. If they requested financial reports, we often had to ask them to wait a couple of days.
This inefficiency also frustrated tenants. They had limited options for making payments and often had to call us to verify account balances or check receipts. It was a laborious process to provide clients and tenants with the answers they needed.
As a team, we felt limited by our old system. It restricted our ability to provide information to our clients and tenants.
What made you decide to switch to Breeze Premier?
After extensive research into various options on the market, we ultimately decided on Breeze Premier. The program offered tools specifically tailored to our commercial portfolio, which were unavailable in many of the other programs we reviewed.
The deciding factor was the high level of support provided throughout the entire process, which we also saw in feedback from other Breeze users. Because we also run the accounting team, the efficiency and reporting capabilities of Breeze Premier were impressive to us. It offers numerous options for accounts payable, extensive note-taking features and tracking abilities.
The system enables us to easily track who entered or corrected any information, making auditing less challenging. In an industry where audits are standard, having detailed records of every transaction is a major advantage.
What tools do you use most often?
The tool we use most is the CommercialCafe tenant portal. The features in CommercialCafe are so transformative that they were met with gasps of excitement from our team. Breeze Premier is not just impressive, but necessary.
For instance, our tenants can now input maintenance requests or create a CAM reconciliation almost instantaneously. Compared to our previous, antiquated methods, this has been a game changer for us.
Another key component was the efficient use of our time in learning different aspects of the program. It was surprisingly user-friendly. Our director of accounting, who is not the most tech-savvy, was initially nervous but quickly adapted.
We did a mock reconciliation, comparing her old process with the new one, and it was like night and day. The difference was undeniable. Our current tools have significantly improved our efficiency, responsiveness and confidence. We’re better able to provide timely, accurate and up-to-date information.
Why did you decide to use an independent consultant?
For us to focus on our business, clients and tenants, one key aspect that Patty and I considered was when we would find the time to input all the data accurately.
To help with our transition to new software, we needed a consultancy who understood our financial operations, our team, our process and all the impending process changes. We found Balanced Asset Solutions, and they were instrumental in inputting our data efficiently. They were patient, guiding us step by step through complex tasks like journal entries for our extensive portfolios. They even helped with simpler tasks such as writing checks.
We integrated most of our data with their assistance and used their training techniques to train the rest of our staff. Overall, Balanced Asset Solutions did a remarkable job organizing our data.
Balanced Asset Solutions is an independent consultant qualified to help property management companies with setup, bookkeeping and more.
How has Breeze Premier impacted operations?
One of our most important tasks is to stay on top of our collections. It used to be a challenge to deal with collections from our tenant base of about 500 individual businesses. Locating missing checks or dealing with certified funds was a significant hassle.
With Breeze Premier, collections have improved drastically, from 30 to 40% still outstanding mid-month to around 15%. Breeze Premier offers various payment options, eliminating excuses for late payments. It also streamlines the process of sending out statements, cutting the time from a full working day down to two hours. We also transitioned from 22 different logins for various clients to one single login.
The software is tailored to our needs, saving us a significant amount of time and allowing us to focus on other important tasks. Even saving a few minutes here and there is valuable because we can redirect our energy more productively.
How has client feedback been?
Since we began leading CORE Property Management, our primary goal has been to enhance our team, tools and operational efficiency. Before we switched to Breeze Premier, we could see the demoralized faces of our staff whenever they had to perform tedious tasks. It didn’t make sense that we were still doing things that way. Transitioning to a seamless, all-in-one property management software has been remarkably gratifying. Our tenants also appreciate the reduced effort it now takes for them to pay bills, request information, etc.
One tenant told us, “I don’t forget to make payments because I don’t want to pay. I simply forget.” That’s why we implemented automatic payments. Calls from tenants asking about their balance or check receipts have now dropped to 2% of the number of calls before Breeze Premier. My phone no longer rings constantly with trivial queries, and our clients get their information more efficiently, increasing satisfaction for our team and our clients.
Tell us about your experience in the real estate industry.
The real estate industry is still male-dominated, so being knowledgeable and confident is important. We’ve had to prove ourselves and work extra hard to overcome preconceived notions of leadership. Once at a meeting, someone asked to speak with the head of the company, not realizing they were already speaking to her!
We always prioritize supporting women in our own business and elsewhere. We mentor and encourage them to trust their instincts. Helping them gain confidence and apply their strengths brings satisfaction to them and benefits us as company owners. It’s crucial to value and appreciate those making efforts to succeed. This applies to everyone, not just women. We’ve been treated well by our clients, which we attribute to our confidence, knowledge and support of our team.
Is there anything you would like to add?
There can be challenges when launching a new client. Breeze Premier is an efficient software, but we sometimes need to tailor certain elements of it for our clients. Every portfolio is unique. The support we received from Yardi as well as Balanced Asset Solutions helped us meet those specific requests.
If you’re thinking about switching to new software, our advice is to just do it. Yes, it can be a significant undertaking to change, and there will be frustrating times that require team training. But you are not alone in this. In the end, your team will be more efficient, successful and knowledgeable. Your clients will also appreciate that their information is readily available.
Editor’s note: Responses have been condensed for clarity.
