Automating the move-out process for tenants
Enhanced property move-out tracking ensures smooth and timely handovers, reduces frustration, and enables faster re-rentals.
Client Profile
A leading full-service property management company with a vision to transform the landscape of property management services in the Pacific Northwest. Managing properties of all sizes, single-family and multifamily, with the objective of streamlining processes and cultivating relationships between neighbors.
Project Needs
Our client used manual checklists and email to track the move-out process for tenants who were leaving the properties they were renting. This process starts with the tenant’s notification that they are leaving, proceeds through making sure keys are collected and all inspections are completed, then notifies the former tenant of the results from the inspections to return any deposits, all within specific timelines required by the appropriate agencies.
Initiating and monitoring the move-out process was a time-consuming manual process. Managing the hard copy document file used by the different people and departments during the move-out process required multiple handoffs and tracking down the file as it moved through the required steps. Ensuring that each step was completed in the timely manner mandated to meet government timelines required constant monitoring of the checklist that was maintained in the file. It was also difficult to remarket the property effectively until late in the process since their progress through the process was not readily available.
The client partnered with ESN to improve the timeliness of the workflow, reduce the effort required for monitoring tasks, and enhance the team’s ability to complete their functions, such as marketing to re-rent vacant properties.
Technology and Tools
- Power Automate
- SharePoint 365 Document Sets and Lists
- Outlook 365
Results
- ESN added a SharePoint 365-based document set library and associated tracking list, allowing our client to maintain an up-to-date, centralized set of documents that are readily available to all of the people and departments needing access at all times. Documents are available immediately when added to the document library, and their up-to-date status can be seen by all involved.
- ESN created a multi-step Power Automate notification workflow that ensures the proper person for the specific property is notified by email as soon as everything they require is ready to perform their step in the move-out process. The specific people working on each property receive the appropriate notification about the next step that needs to be performed to expedite moving forward.
- ESN also used Power Automate to implement timer-based notifications that generate reminders when specific steps are taking longer than expected to be completed. These elapsed time reminders, combined with a more timely notification when the next steps are ready to be worked on, help ensure that the required timelines for notifying tenants are properly met.
- The ESN solution enabled people to focus on executing their current tasks, confident that they would be notified as soon as new tasks were ready to be worked on. Earlier notifications to marketing about upcoming vacancies and increased confidence in the Move Out workflow status also help minimize the time a property may be vacant between tenants. Timely notifications to accounting support meeting statutory requirements for tenant notifications and returning deposits to avoid penalties.
