The Benefits of Lease Management Software Made for Tenants

Last Updated on February 23, 2023 by Morgan Beard

Joseph Kissick is a franchisee owner of Great Clips in North Carolina. It’s a family operation, with his parents getting into the game a few decades ago. They own 14 franchises and have been quite successful, even winning a prestigious Franchise of the Year award in 2022.

What’s the best way to manage multiple leases as a tenant? Joseph and his family have 14 locations to keep tabs on. If you ask Joseph what he did in the past, he’d say he printed his renewal dates and pinned them on a bulletin board. Today, he’d tell you that with lease expansion software, “Occupier allows us to know what areas to improve upon next time we negotiate a lease.”

Here, we will go over some of Joseph’s difficulties and solutions to offer a better idea of how tenants can manage their lease portfolios.

The Digitization of Real Estate Data

Using a bulletin board for lease renewal dates can be effective, but it gets less effective the more properties you have. Another thing to consider is how the pandemic sped up the digitization of everything. This was certainly true for Joseph’s business.

His first foray into digitization was using Dropbox — essentially, a digital bulletin board that he could freely share with his employees, co-owners, and management team. As far as tenant management goes, it worked, but it wasn’t nearly as effective as lease management software for tenants. Part of the reason is that Joseph was using basic Excel spreadsheets, but they were only as organized as he made them to be.

He could see the advantages of digitizing everything, but he wasn’t able to unlock the potential by himself. For that, he needed software that would help keep all of his ducks in a row. That’s when he utilized Occupier’s software.

Making the Change to Lease Management Software for Tenants

Joseph found that using an Excel spreadsheet was more work than it was worth. What were the problems? If he needed information, he would have to go digging for it. Plus, he’d have to set reminders for himself to go searching.

It seemed as if tenant management and tenant administrationwere becoming the main parts of his job. How could he focus on more important, high-level tasks if he was always wondering about lease expiration dates or CPI adjustments and digging through digital folders to find the data?

With some locations under 20-year lease terms, things were more complex. What if Joseph wanted to do renovations? Who had the clause outlining HVAC repair or security deposit burn down? That would require getting in touch with a whole host of people, which meant diving back into Dropbox and finding the right information. Think about it: With each lease comes operation managers, landlords, zoning rules, and more. And when you have 14 leases, it can be quite a lot. Enough that it could require a full-time job’s worth of work.

Finally frustrated with the busy work, Joseph decided to find some help. In the beginning, he mostly found software built from the perspective of the landlord. That certainly wouldn’t help. Then, he came across Occupier’s software, which is unique in that it operates from the perspective of the tenant.

Occupier software keeps track of everything the tenant needs. It will remind them when renewals are due and even help with the renovation process by giving the tenant a better idea of the timeline they will be working with.

A Simpler Way to Manage Multiple Locations

With important lease data points in one easy-to-use software, you can leverage that information to your benefit to get the best deals — especially important in a competitive market. This can lead to better relations with your landlords and can help you avoid the painful and expensive experience of missing renewal dates or rent payments.

Software that can keep track of your real estate leases is crucial for your business. Not only does it alleviate the stress of tracking deadlines and due dates, but it can also help you better navigate critical negotiations.

Request a demo today to learn more about how Occupier’s software can make lease management simpler.