Whether you are building on newly acquired land or breathing new life into an older property, real estate development is a complex, often risky and challenging endeavor. There are many things that can go wrong―,from delays due to untimely delivered orders, and market changes driving up prices and offsetting the budget to dealing with miles and miles of red tape before, during and after the delivery of the project―and it’s the developer’s job to make sure they don’t end up jeopardizing the entire venture.
Luckily, there is a wide selection of tools currently on the market that aim to make real estate developers’ lives easier, by saving them time, doing away with unnecessary paperwork and helping them connect and coordinate with their teams and collaborators. There are many options to choose from, and we’ve assembled a list of the best software tools that caught our attention. Read on to discover how they can help you in your work.
RealConnex
Before the first stone is laid, there are plenty of things for a developer to worry about. One of these is funding, so Real Connex is in the business of making this process as quick and seamless as possible, so your team can focus on the next step of the development process. Granting access to 700,000 real estate professionals―this tool is the largest prospecting resource within the industry, and it will help you find the right lender, investor and limited or general partners you need to get your project off the ground.
Argus
Make sure you focus on the projects that really matter to your company by assessing construction feasibility and property development opportunities. Argus lets you both keep tabs on costs and revenue streams and update your budgets to counter market changes that might impact your project. You can run summary reports on cash flow, KPI and other useful metrics.
Fieldwire
While it’s true that no one can predict every possible scenario on a construction site, devising a comprehensive plan means you’ll have possible solutions lined up to choose from, rather than leaving you to simply react to issues as they happen. Fieldwire’s construction scheduling software allows you to plan three-weeks ahead, highlighting any potential conflicts between contractors and subcontractors’ tasks so they can be smoothed out before anyone shows up on site. All the recorded information is viewable by and sharable with everyone working on the project to ensure all involved are clear regarding their specific responsibilities and assignments.
Buildertrend
Now that your project plan has been laid out, it is vital for all those involved to stick to schedules and deadlines. Buildertrend is a great solution for your scheduling and monitoring needs, as it allows you to share voice or text logs with your staff, contractors and owners, or annotate blueprints and store multiple version histories to highlight any changes. You can also quickly draw up a project cost summary and sign off important paper work without delay using the tool’s inbuilt mobile touch signatures.
Projectmates
Need to keep an eye on your funding? Projectmates provides an interface for tracking budgets, encumbrances, expenditures, invoices, change orders and audit trails across projects of various types and sizes. The software modules include RFI, Punch Lists, photo documentation and various custom forms. The app accommodates a series of other real estate developer needs, from ideation to pre-design activities, selection of architects and designers and move-in scheduling and post-construction maintenance.
Procore
Sometimes, you don’t want to wait until the end of the month to measure the performance of your project. Procore brings all the vital metrics to your fingertips, and since they don’t charge for seat licenses, you can invite all your team members and collaborators to join your project. Connect field and office with this powerful construction management software.
Joist
Stop wasting your time with paper invoices and send your clients professional invoices with one tap of your phone. You can customize these invoices with your company information and logo, and clients can pay you by E-Check or credit card.
Raken
Raken describes itself as “a digital toolbox with everything you need to manage your jobsite.” Whether it’s daily reports for your project managers or superintendents’ reports, you can fill in your papers as you walk on the job site, improve compliance and protect yourself from litigation.
DocuSign
DocuSign is one of the most widely used tools for handling real estate documents and electronic signatures, with over 2.5 million transactions closed each year. The platform let’s you retrieve everything from purchase orders, work orders, quotes and sales contracts, to subcontractor agreements from the cloud, and gives you real-time visibility regarding the status of each document, so you can cut down on the time you spend chasing signatures and filing paperwork.
Aquicore
Building a property that meets regulatory requirements and benchmarking standards like LEED or GRESB is a must in today’s construction industry. Aquicore offers a solution for wireless tracking of meter data, and the automatic notification system in case of any irregularities or malfunctions helps you avoid costly future replacements.
magicplan
A picture speaks a thousand words, and in the construction world, so does a great floor plan. Magicplan allows you to help clients and collaborators visualize your project and offer them regular updates on your work in progress. Furthermore, you can order additional materials with just one click and import your own price lists to calculate costs and quotes to customers on site. With 80% of all customers wanting to receive price quotes as soon as possible, this is a great app to deliver great service in a quick, straightforward manner.
PlanGrid
Another great alternative for the team that wants to get things done as efficiently as possible is PlanGrid. This construction productivity software let’s you manage teams and projects on a platform you can easily integrate into other systems you might already be using. PlanGrid is already used by some of the world’s largest infrastructure projects, so it sports top-level security and controls to keep your data safe, so you can spend less time in the office and more on the site.
Truplace
Some might say that looks aren’t important. That might be true, but Truplace thinks there is no reason to risk it, and to this end it provides a range of photography, image processing and interactive tour services. Whether you are looking to get a better feel of your future investment or want to find the best way to showcase your property, the company handles TruHDR photography and aerial drone photography orders, interactive 2D and 3D floor tours as well as digital staging, a more cost-effective alternative to physical staging, through which customers get a better sense of the look and feel of a property.
