Rancho Winnipeg Implements New Tenant Portal System to Increase Efficiency and Accessibility

Winnipeg, MB – On March 11, Rancho Winnipeg implemented a new tenant portal system called RentCafe that will help the team handle online applications and manage potential and long-term tenants more efficiently.

The portal system is an extension of the Yardi Property Management System that the Rancho Winnipeg team currently uses and has many benefits for the team, applicants and tenants.

According to Crystal Harris, Operations Administrator, Rancho Winnipeg, RentCafe is a three-point portal system that includes a Prospect Portal, a Resident Portal, and a Master/Main Portal that hosts a marketing platform called RentCaffeine.

“RentCafe was implemented to provide another option of accessibility to our applicants and tenants,” she said. “The main focus was to have an online application option to reach a wider audience of potential prospects, as well as the new generations coming into rental age.”

RentCafe’s Prospect Portal helps Rancho Winnipeg attract prospective tenants and convert them into applicants faster, which means there is less time for applicants to consider other rental options. The online process saves time for Rancho Winnipeg site and head office staff, as well as applicants, since everything from seeing inventory and confirming pricing to providing a security deposit and signing the lease is done online. As well, automatic emails update applicants, the site office, and the head office on the stages of an application.

This has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the time required to bring on new tenants.

“We have reduced the timeline of an application from an average of two weeks to 24 hours,” said Crystal. “We just recently processed an application that was four hours from start to finish. As of April 10, 2022, we’ve had 54 potential prospects and 16 completed applications.”

While site managers continue to be involved in the leasing process when it comes to holding unit viewing appointments, providing a final rent quote, and addressing questions, the use of RentCafe has helped to cut back on some of the more time-consuming portions of the process.

Much like the Prospect Portal, the Resident Portal provides benefits related to efficiency and time-saving, and it can even be accessed through a mobile app for added convenience.

Current tenants can use the self-service portal to change, add, or delete their banking or contact information (which removes the need for Rancho’s accounting department to address such requests); request maintenance and have a work order created automatically; access their tenant ledger; and pay any outstanding balance on their account or make a pre-payment (for things like service invoices, parking stall fees, or late fees).

The portal is also an efficient way for Rancho Winnipeg to communicate with many tenants at once.

“We can post property announcements or use a calendar to advise tenants of special dates,” said Crystal. “We can also send mass emails to all tenants with an email address on file, or even text messages if needed. The mass communications could be for things like maintenance work, office hour change notifications, reminders, or important safety notices.”

Rancho Winnipeg will also be leveraging RentCafe’s third-party marketing platform RentCaffeine to manage a project involving the launch of brand-new websites for each property and the automatic advertisement of Rancho properties on multiple rental marketing websites. RentCafe’s Prospect Portal and Resident Portal are linked directly to the rental marketing websites to provide a seamless transition into each portal.

The use of RentCafe has already proven to have benefits when it comes to time management and efficiency, and Crystal noted that the platform’s features will continue to assist Rancho Winnipeg in providing the best customer service possible.

“RentCafe has given Rancho a strong e-footprint to keep us competitive when it comes to the future of residential leasing,” she said. “It’s allowing us to have greater accessibility, which is not only important in a pandemic because of limited face-to-face interactions, but also outside of that with the ease of use and efficiency of it all.”