How open property schemes create value for housing companies

Transparency of systems in the real estate industry is a highly topical issue for many housing companies who want to take the next step in their digital development. We have spoken to three leading property schemes where the issue plays a central role in developing services towards their clients.

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At FAST2, you talk about digital opportunities for a changing real estate industry — what kind of change are you referring to? Niclas Smedberg: Today's digital reality has changed how housing companies need to be able to work with the different IT systems they have. There are many systems that are supposed to simplify the organization, and these must work together for a good result. In addition, we see an increased focus on our customers to want to meet the residents in a good channel. Collaborating with other players so that we can add the added value of a digital interface to accommodation, while we can continue to focus on improving all the internal business processes that our customers need feels very important.

“We see an increased focus among our customers to want to meet the residents in a good channel”

Pigello was founded on the idea of challenging the industry. Tell me more about how you think? Alexander Olsson: Yeah. Pigello was founded due to the strong demand of real estate companies for an open standard linked to systems in property management. In the past, real estate companies have sat in the lap of the real estate system provider when it comes to ownership of customer data and opportunities for integrations. However, with an open mind and a customized business model, we can offer standard integrations against niche industry-leading systems that our customers can use in various processes to the real estate system. In addition to standard integrations, the customer also has access to an open API to allow other system vendors to integrate with the building system. In this way, we challenge the industry with a new way to streamline everyday life for both real estate companies, tenants and system providers.

Fortnox is one of several standing partners for you on yourLandlord. Why then? Mats Lindberg: Yeah. With Fortnox, we can offer a seamless integration solution where rental accounts are managed in our system, while all accounting lands in Fortnox. This allows our notification management to create accounting according to the requirements of the real estate industry, and is a good example of how to create added value in the industry by working together. We work with many partners in a similar way, where we innovatively make it as easy as possible for our customers, housing companies, to take part in a whole, even if it is not us who do everything ourselves. In this way, we are involved in driving the industry forward.

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“In practice, this means that housing actors get clearer control over their own data”

Clarify what are the values that you open up to in housing companies by working with APIs and open systems? Niclas Smedberg: By working with an open system as standard, our clients can ensure that the data generated in our property system can be used for other suppliers as well, if desired. In practice, this means that housing operators have clearer control over their own data and can use it for all the different processes that are being worked on. This can benefit everything from digital visibility of their properties to the rental process, as well as something that we notice is becoming increasingly important for our customers right now — improving the customer journey and engaging the tenants living in the properties.

What might a collaboration look like? Alexander Olsson: Yeah. In a partnership, customer benefit must always exist and a customer need must be solved. A key part of solving a customer need is that the property system can be integrated with other niche systems. For this to be possible, systems that support transparency and offer open APIs are often required. Today Pigello integrates with over 25 different systems that solve different niche parts in a real estate company's different business processes. With integrations, the customer can save a lot of time and therefore save considerable resources by allowing the property system to handle several processes automatically between different systems. It also contributes to smoother management for residents who can easily carry out all their errands in one interface, despite the fact that functionality from several different systems can be behind.

“A key part of solving a customer need is that the real estate system can be integrated with other niche systems”

How do you see industry developments in this area over the next two years? Mats Lindberg: Yeah. Ownership of data and the digital ecosystem around the property is something that is becoming increasingly important for housing companies and today there is the possibility of having systems talk to each other quickly and smoothly. Within two years, I don't think any corporation faced with the choice of a new property system would be able to choose something that is closed. So the future is all about for the requisitioners to understand which property schemes can actually deliver on their promise of transparency so that it doesn't become a separate, time-consuming and costly project where the housing company gets a big bill in the end.

“The future is all about for the requisitioners to understand which real estate schemes can actually deliver on their promise of transparency”

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Avy cooperates with several leading real estate systems in the Nordic countries, including Pigello, DinLandlord and FAST2. This is so that the management of housing companies can focus on the customer, side by side with the internal business processes.