Top 4 Problems for Property Managers and How AI Is Solving Them

Find out how Maura Murphy of Tourmaline Capital Partners, and VP of Property Management, Lauren Crenshaw of Radom Capital tackle the multifaceted challenges of their roles with a single AI solution.

Property Managers play a vital role in the CRE chain of command. They are the arbiters of tenant relationships and obligations, they know every detail of every lease, and they are budget masters.

Their jobs are multifaceted. In addition to their day-to-day responsibilities, these individuals are also expected to be the “eyes and ears” of a property while covering fiduciary duties on behalf of the property owner.

While many of these talented individuals are master multi-taskers even the most tenured Property Managers get bogged down when administrative tasks pile up. We mean, manually abstracting leases, updating a stacking plan, scanning multiple pages of lease data for a single term—those administrative tasks.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. AI solutions, like Prophia, are making it much easier for Property Managers to do their multifaceted jobs and approach important investor-facing and tenant-facing conversations with confidence in their property data.

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Daily & Quarterly Responsibilities of Property Managers
Property Managers Discuss CRE Challenges
Putting an End to Property Management Challenges With AI

Daily and Quarterly Responsibilities of Property Managers

There is a lot on a Property manager’s to-do list at any given time. The role encompasses financials, strategic coordination, and tenant relationship management. These individuals must be people-oriented, well-versed in commercial real estate tenant agreements, and incredible communicators to keep everything straight throughout the tenant lifecycle.

• Fulfilling tenant obligations is paramount. This includes managing common area maintenance (CAM) charges, assessing tenant improvement (TI) fees, and addressing property-specific needs such as security and parking.
• Reducing spending is one of the most important goals for Property Managers. To achieve this they have to work closely with vendors, review historical financials, and effectively manage controllable expenses.
• Fiduciary duties require meticulous financial oversight. Property Managers are responsible for timely bill payments, budget management, efficient expense control, and reducing property owners’ exposure to risk.
• Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful property management. Building strong relationships with vendors, internal teams, and stakeholders is crucial for making informed decisions that benefit both property owners and tenants.

While the core responsibilities of property management—tenant relations, financial oversight, and property maintenance—are relatively consistent, location, tenant profile, and property type significantly influence day-to-day operations.

Property Managers Discuss Industry Challenges

Two property management experts share their top challenges navigating today's complex real estate landscape. With a combined wealth of experience across diverse markets, their insights offer a comprehensive view of the industry's hurdles.

Challenge: Understanding Lease Complexities

Different properties, tenants, and asset types necessitate tailored lease terms, making contract management a formidable task. Consider a multi-tenant retail space where exclusive use agreements govern the tenant mix. Property Managers must adeptly balance tenant needs with property operations to meet the requirements of all of their tenants’ leases.

Managing a single property with such complexities is challenging. Scaling this to a portfolio of multiple properties with diverse lease structures exponentially increases the workload. Without a centralized system to manage this data, Property Managers face an uphill battle. 

Challenge: Managing Dynamic Tenant Data

As financial stewards of their properties, Property Managers oversee budgeting, vendor payments, and stakeholder communication. However, the dynamic nature of lease agreements creates a constantly shifting landscape of figures and critical dates. “Traditionally, lease review was a manual, multi-step process involving multiple teams and time-consuming checks,” remarks Laurent Crenshaw, VP of Property Management at Radom Capital.

The road to property data accuracy has always taken many steps, but accurate, real-time tenant information is essential for precise financial forecasting and expense recovery. What's more, it is the key to avoiding financial errors, operational inefficiencies, and potential legal liabilities.

Challenge: Identifying Specific Lease Terms

A single paragraph or clause within a lease or amendment can hold the key to effective tenant or space management. To fully understand tenant agreements, Property Managers must efficiently access specific contract details. However, locating precise information becomes a daunting challenge when tenant data is scattered across static spreadsheets and unstructured documents. "It's always a scramble to pull up the right lease language in a meeting," explains Maura Murphy from Tourmaline Capital Partners.

Challenge: Unifying Teams & Property Vendors

End Property Management Pain Points with Prophia's AI

Property management demands agility. Prophia's AI equips CRE professionals with the ability to tackle multiple challenges simultaneously, providing the confidence and accuracy needed for daily and quarterly tasks.

Lease Abstraction

Prophia's AI has analyzed over 114,000 real estate contracts, amassing thousands of hours of CRE data expertise. As a result, property management teams like Lauren Crenshaw's can quickly onboard new assets by feeding rent rolls and lease documents into Prophia. The platform generates comprehensive lease summaries, making critical lease information instantly accessible to the entire team. This streamlined approach accelerates property operations and ensures seamless knowledge transfer.

Stacking Plan

Beyond automated lease abstraction, Prophia generates a dynamic stacking plan that offers a comprehensive property overview. This valuable tool highlights key lease data, including encumbrances and critical dates, empowering teams to make informed decisions on the fly (if necessary).

By providing a detailed snapshot of the property with direct links to original lease language, Prophia’s stacking plan is always up-to-date—and it stays up-to-date whenever new tenant/property data is uploaded onto the platform.

In our weekly asset management meetings, we always have the stacking plan pulled up on someone's screen. It lets us know exactly which tenant and space we're talking about and pull up their lease language instantly.

Maura Murphy, Tourmaline Capital Partners, Property Manager

This dynamic, AI-powered feature is a valuable resource for the entire property team. Property Managers benefit from real-time property data, while leasing and asset management teams gain insights for strategic planning and decision-making. Plus, it’s just fun to look at.

Smart Search

Property management hinges on precise details and Prophia allows Property Managers to uncover critical data instantly.

Imagine searching an entire portfolio or a specific building with the ease of a Google search. Input a term like "parking," and Prophia's smart search returns every relevant clause, paragraph, and contract sentence as a clickable link in the search results dashboard.

Access verified property data without the hassle of “ctrl + f”. "If I just wanted to find janitorial service," explains Lauren Crenshaw, "I just type in 'janitorial' and all of those instances of janitorial will come up from the document."

This is just one of the many ways Prophia's smart search saves Property Managers time and energy when performing important tasks such as managing clients, running a negotiation, building a budget, or verifying important tenant information.

Encumbrance Tracking

Prophia's AI meticulously examines uploaded documents to extract crucial dates, figures, and terms. These insights are then compiled into clear tenant summaries and integrated into a dynamic stacking plan, providing a comprehensive overview of property encumbrances.

As leases evolve, Prophia’s stacking plan dynamically updates, providing real-time insights into future property exposure. This data-driven approach enables Property Managers to communicate lease details effectively, prepare for renewal negotiations, and proactively address potential lease disputes.

CAM, Rent Roll, and Deals Report

Just as manual lease abstraction is time-consuming and error-prone, so is manual reporting. Prophia's AI transforms raw data into actionable insights through instant lease and building reports including a CAM report, rent roll, and the Deals Report. This empowers Property Managers to tackle complex tasks like CAM reconciliations with greater efficiency and accuracy.

Human errors are really hard to detect in Property Management. The lease report helps us verify that all lease terms are correct because it goes directly back to the lease document. The confidence in our data is there.

Lauren Crenshaw, Radom Capital, VP of Property Management

For the CRE "Doers"

Property Managers are the “doers” of the commercial real estate world. Their role demands a unique blend of financial acumen, relationship-building skills, and operational expertise. While the core responsibilities remain consistent, the complexities introduced by diverse properties, tenants, and markets can be overwhelming.

Prophia offers a transformative solution. By automating tedious tasks and providing instant access to critical data, Prophia helps Property Managers focus on strategic initiatives, enhance tenant relationships, and drive better financial outcomes. With Prophia as a partner, Property Managers can confidently navigate the complexities of the industry, optimize property performance, and unlock new levels of efficiency.

The future of property management is here, and it’s powered by AI.