Archives: November 28, 2022

Why you need ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out
Paromita Datta
November 28, 2022

Why you must Record Resident Movement with ApnaComplex Move-in / Move-out

Every residential complex has a transient population. Residents moving in and out can include both homeowners and tenants. A society Management Committee (MC) or Resident Welfare Association (RWA) has the critical task of recording this data. This is important for multiple reasons, including invoicing and security. 

Typically, this would depend on manual verification by the MC. Even then, some gaps would often remain in recording the data. This could later cause problems in updating the resident database. ApnaComplex digitises the entire process with a new feature – Move-in / Move-out. It empowers the MCs and the admin to completely automate the process of recording and invoicing resident relocations from the society, thus increasing efficiency. Read the article to know more about the benefits ApnaComplex Move-in / Move-out.

Challenges in recording resident movement

Despite every effort, society MCs and admin often faced certain challenges in recording the data on residents moving in and out of the society, including:

  • Failing to add people who have moved in or removing people who have moved out from the residents’ register. 
  • Residents who have moved out still have access to the ApnaComplex app, including communication.
  • Residents who have moved in are unaware of ApnaComplex. Thus, they fail to leverage the app for booking facilities or when making payments. This can lead to chaos and confusion in overall operations. Lapses in digital payment through ApnaComplex can result in accounting gaps. 
  • The MC can miss levying moving charges in time. This can mean losing out on revenue or failing to recover from losses due to any damages. 
  • Security can be compromised by failing to record resident data.

Benefits of ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out

The digitalisation and automation of the process have many benefits, including: 

Real-time dashboard: With ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out, the admin has a real-time dashboard for all residents who are moving in or moving out of the society. 

Approvers & workflow: Create Approver Hierarchy Levels and the process of request approvals. This is essential in fixing responsibility and accountability. It also ensures that unaddressed requests are resolved quickly. 

Customisation: Every society has different rules for authenticating residents. Some may need just a verbal assurance while others may want documents like lease agreements. ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out allows complete customisation to ensure that these different requirements can be accommodated. 

Payment automation: One of the most tedious and challenging tasks when managing resident movement from the society is the calculation of all pending dues. Any gaps in recording payments can result in missing payments and a drop in revenue. ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out automatically calculates these pending payments, ensuring that the resident completes all payments before moving out. 

Move-in / move-out invoices: Without prior notice, admins can often miss out on issuing move-in / move-out charges. This fee is necessary to offset any damages that may occur during the resident moving out. It can be impossible to recover once they have already left. With ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out, you can automate the process, ensuring the resident is billed the moment they send the move-out form. Similarly, moving-in requests are also billed at the right time. 

Automated data entry: Typically, the admin has to update all records with new data. This is often a manual process that has to be double-checked. With this feature, information is updated automatically, ensuring there are no errors or gaps in the data.

Digitised KYC: Knowing the details of each resident is a key security requirement. MCs and RWAs lay heavy emphasis on KYC for this reason. However, paper documents can get damaged or lost. ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out makes documentation digital. These can be retrieved at any time to know the resident’s credentials. 

Need more clarity? Read here for a brief tutorial about ApnaComplex Move-in/Move-out. 

If you want to learn more, get in touch with us at support@apnacomeplex or call at 80886 11229. Our team will help you customise and leverage the feature to improve efficiency, ensure proper datakeeping, and increase transparency. 

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New feature alert: Move-in / Move-out
Paromita Datta
November 22, 2022

Launching Move-in / Move-out: How to Set up & Raise Requests

Large residential complexes often have a large number of transient populations. These may be tenants who are likely to move out in a few years or homeowners who have to move to a new city or country. The process of tracking and supervising resident movement thus, is one of the biggest tasks for the Management Committees (MCs) and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs). Yet, it can also be highly challenging, requiring constant scrutiny and tedious manual verification.  

ApnaComplex resolves these challenges with the introduction of a Move-in / Move-out feature that completely automates the process. It addresses the gaps in security, accounting, collections, and documentation. With a real time dashboard of resident relocations, it also facilitates transparency, accountability and promotes digitised behaviour.

What is ApnaComplex Move-In / Move – Out?

ApnaComplex Move-in / Move – out is a nifty new feature that has been added to both the app and the ERP. It allows people to submit moving requests, upload documents, and receive approvals. Admins can track these through the ApnaComplex ERP dashboard. The system automates almost every aspect of the process, making it efficient with easy access.

The automation and digitisation of the process ensures that every resident movement is immediately recorded. It also facilitates the collection of relevant documents and makes sure that the admin can levy moving charges on time. The new feature offers multiple benefits. It makes data sacrosanct, facilitating its collection, storage, and tracking. It also promotes digital behaviour among residents and admin, which ensures that data is collected at source and immediately recorded. 

How Move-in / Move-out works

The move-in / move-out feature is available on both the app and the web ERP. It is available by default in all ApnaComplex communities. It can be disabled if not required. The admin or MCs can reactivate the feature by enabling it under the ‘Community Settings’. The MCs can also appoint role-based access for the approval process, including the Approval Hierarchy Levels (AHL). This ensures that only the designated person can approve or reject a request. 

Setting up the process

  • Start with the move-in / move-out form. Admin can start the process by clicking on the Move-in / Move-out tab in the Helpdesk. They can create the form as per requirements. The customisation of the form allows an admin to include mandatory fields such as pan number or uploading documents like lease agreement. The admin can also add a checklist of community guidelines that the applicant must accept to be approved. 
  • Set up workflow and ALH. The workflow lays down the process while the ALH specifies the people responsible for verifying and approving all requests. It also defines the escalation matrix in case of any concerns. 

Raising Move-in request

  • Sign into the app, search for your community.
  • Raise a Move-in request. Fill unit details and select the ‘Moving-in’ option under ‘Residing status’. 
  • Fill the Move-in form and upload the required documents
  • Move-in request is sent to the approvers and automatically routed to the Admin dashboard.

Approval process

  • The approvers and members receive email and in-app notifications 
  • Homeowner requests are sent via email and app to only the approvers. Tenant requests, on the other hand,  are sent to both the approvers and the homeowner.
  • Pending or rejected Move-in requests land on the ‘Remind Admin’ screen. Clicking will ensure that reminder emails are sent to admin for approvals.
  • Admin will receive reminders in case a Move-in approval is pending or rejected                                                      
  • Homeowners receive their own Move-in approvals via email and in-app notifications. In case of a tenant, approval is informed to both the homeowner and the tenant by email and in-app notification. 
  • Rejections are sent via email to only the Owner

Post-approval

Once the Move-in request is approved, the member can login to the app which will land on the community homepage.

Raising Move-out request

  • A Move-out request can be raised on the ApnaComplex app from the Account tab. Select your Unit details and click the floating ‘+’ button. You will see the ‘Move out’ option
  • Fill the Move-out form. It will consist of the Move-out date. Homeowners will also get the option of selling or renting out.
  • Move-out request is sent to the approvers who can also view the request on the ApnaComplex Admin Dashboard
  • Approvers and members receive emails and app notifications on the Move-out request.
  • Owner requests are sent via email and app notifications to the approvers. The owner can also receive and approve the request in case he/she is also an approver.
  • Tenant requests are sent to the approvers via email and app notification. The owner will be notified if he/she is also an approver. 

Approval process

  • In case of a pending request, the applicant can click on ‘Remind admin’. Subsequently, the admin will receive a reminder email. 
  • Tenant Move-out approvals are sent by app notification to the tenant, approvers and the homeowner. The approvers and the homeowner will also receive an email. 
  • In case a request is rejected, the tenant will receive an app notification while the owner will be notified by email. 

Deactivating the users post approval

Tenants are deactivated from the app once the Move-out request is approved. Homeowners are deactivated if they are selling their property. In case the homeowner is simply moving out, their residing status is changed to NO. However, they can still be active in the community. 

Joining another ApnaComplex community

  • To join another community, go to the Account tab and click on ‘Join Another Community’
  • Search for the community and start the move-in process. 

Ensure a smooth approval process by going through this article on Dos and Don’ts to follow before submitting your approval form.

To know more about the Move-in / Move-out feature, write to us at support@apnacomeplex or call us at 80886 11229.

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Building sustainability With eMobility support
Paromita Datta
November 15, 2022

Gated Communities Must Move Towards eMobility. Here’s How

As Electric Vehicles (EVs) gain wider prominence, the focus has shifted towards strengthening the supporting infrastructure. Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Management Committees (MCs) must share the onus of eMobility by encouraging installation of EV charging stations. The adoption of these measures is critical in ensuring that residents have the support they need to deploy EVs.

Despite its importance, the adoption of EVs is still lagging in many gated communities with a number of RWAs expressing reluctance. However, this is a shortsighted approach since EVs are likely to gain an increasing acceptance in the automobile sector. Failure to adapt to this changing environment can result in conflict and push back any sustainability initiative. 

ApnaComplex offers comprehensive support for RWAs and MCs to help them adopt EV charging stations at no extra cost. As a value-added service, it is a critical part of improving the living conditions in gated societies. 

eMobility Policy push

The government has been pushing for EVs as part of its net zero goals and to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. As part of their focus on sustainable and clean mobility solutions, state and central governments have taken various initiatives to meet this goal. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan lays the roadmap for faster adoption of EVs.

As part of these initiatives, various governments have been transitioning from fuel-guzzling public transportation into EVs. They have also asked for greater public-private partnerships to further push e-mobility. These measures combined with a wider international demand for sustainable solutions have also resulted in a manufacturing push in EVs. 

As the technology improves and the government continues to leverage e-mobility, gated communities will see more EVs. This will raise the demand for charging stations as more residents look for eMobility solutions within their residential complexes.

Embracing e-mobility in gated communities

Supporting infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges in the adoption of EVs. The government has tried to resolve this by promoting battery swapping stations across the country. However, the most critical requirement for EV owners is the availability of charging points at home. Apartment complexes can be at a disadvantage since people cannot charge their vehicles at home. 

RWAs and MCs should see this as an opportunity to meet their sustainability goals. The installation of charging points in parking areas is critical in meeting this objective. It will allow residents to charge their vehicles at home. As the government tightens e-mobility regulations and more people choose EVs, the availability of charging stations is emerging as one of the prime requirements in gated communities. 

Challenges in installation of EV charging points

Despite its importance, there are challenges in installing charger points. These include: 

  • High charger and installation costs. 
  • Coordinating with multiple parties
  • Allocation of power supply
  • Creating a charging schedule for residents 

These challenges have been the major stumbling block in the adoption of an EV-friendly infrastructure in gated communities. While the number of EV or hybrid vehicle owners are increasing, quite often there are not enough numbers for the additional investment. 

How ApnaComplex facilitates eMobility

As a complete society management solution, ApnaComplex offers value-added services for societies. This includes sustainability solutions like installation of EV charging points at no extra cost. The installation of EV charging points through ApnaComplex has multiple benefits, including: 

Free installation: Societies do not have to pay any capital amount for installing EV charging stations.

Earning revenue: Societies have access to additional revenue sources through electric vehicle brand activations. They can earn rent from EV companies for brand placements.

Building sustainability: The availability of charging stations in their parking lot can encourage more residents to buy EVs. Thus, societies can facilitate the objective of meeting net zero goals. 

Resident satisfaction: Meeting the emerging needs of residents is important in ensuring resident satisfaction. It reduces conflict between residents and the MCs.

Meeting Government’s green vision: An EV-friendly infrastructure will be critical in meeting the green goals. With the government expected to further tighten regulation on EV adoption, gated communities must be prepared to meet the transition.

You can read about ApnaComplex previous EV charging associations here. If you want to learn more about our EV charging offerings, get in touch with us at support@apnacomeplex. Our team will help you understand the best way to adopt an EV charging infrastructure.

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Buy or rent home
Paromita Datta
November 10, 2022

Renting Vs Buying: What Works Best for You

A piece of age-old financial advice in India revolves around investing in real estate. It is considered the ultimate financial goal and still holds for many people. Yet, with property prices soaring in metro cities, buying a house can be simply too unaffordable for most people. For young professionals, particularly, renting is often the only option. 

Both renting and buying have their own advantages and disadvantages. Often it comes down to finances or particular requirements at the time. Young professionals and first-time buyers should weigh these pros and cons before making a decision.

Why buying is still preferred

Real estate has held its value as the preferred asset class. There are multiple reasons why buying can be beneficial. At the same time, it may not be a viable option for others.

Emotional connect: As a roof over their head, a home represents a safe haven, especially during difficult times. The pandemic underscored this further as homeownership regained its worth during an uncertain time. The sense of security associated with homeownership saw housing sales spiking in the top seven property markets in India. The current economic uncertainty is further spurring this demand. 

Valuable investment: Real estate is one of the most valuable investments because of assured returns. Property can appreciate by more than 10X and rarely ever suffers from loss. In contrast, other investment options are often a toss-up between stability and high returns. In an uncertain global economy, real estate is one of the most stable investments. 

No disruptions: Owning your own home means that no one can evict you on short notice or be forced to move because of a rent hike. You can settle down and avoid the disruption of packing up and resettling after every few years. 

Asset ownership: Given property values today, EMIs can be considerable. However, it brings you closer to owning a physical asset. This is in contrast to rents that are pure expenditures with no long term returns. 

Cons

The biggest roadblock in real estate investment is soaring property costs. With high EMIs, homeownership is often unaffordable for many people. For people with high financial liabilities, low income or lack of any monetary support, the monthly EMIs can be impossible to meet. Homeownership also involves additional expenses such as taxes, maintenance, and utility costs. 

When renting makes sense

There is an increasing move towards renting, especially among younger professionals who want to avoid long-term financial commitment.

Affordable: It can seem more affordable since rents can be lower than EMIs. This can be the decisive factor for those with limited income and other financial liabilities. 

Choosing a location: Renting allows you to live in a prime location near your office or school where property prices may be too high.

Freedom to move: A rented home is ideal for people who want to stay on the move. It allows you to relocate without any hassle. You can simply pack up and leave when you wish. 

Convenience: In a rented property, your commitment is limited to paying the monthly rent. It frees you from the hassle of paying taxes or other additional expenses. 

Cons 

Although rents can be lower than EMIs, ultimately they are expenses without any long-term returns. With a rented home, you may also be forced to move after every few years which can be expensive and highly inconvenient. The temporary nature of a rented home also makes redundant any investment in improving or changing the interiors. 

Making rentals easier

There are advantages and disadvantages attached to both renting and buying. ApnaComplex Rentals resolves these challenges by bringing them both on the same platform to create a smooth and seamless process. As an end-to-end rental management service, it offers homeowners multiple benefits, including:

  • Tenant scouting 
  • Tenant KYC and background check
  • Key management 
  • Move-out assistance
  • Documentation support, including assistance with rental agreements 
  • High rental yield

At the same time, ApnaComplex Rentals makes the process equally seamless for the tenant. With a unique insight into gated communities, it eases their rental journey with multiple benefits, including:

  • Ensuring verified landlords
  • Assured supply
  • Move-in assistance 
  • Rental agreement support
  • In-app rent payment through credit card or UPI
  • Timely reminders for rent payment
  • Access to home services, such as home cleaning and interiors.

If you want to know more about ApnaComplex Rentals, call us at 0120 71173344 or write to us at rentals@apnacomplex.com.

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Facility Management Optimise & Reduce Costs with Centralisation
Paromita Datta
November 8, 2022

Facility Management: How Centralisation is Changing the Game

Modern residential complexes are prized for the facilities they offer. These include recreational and wellness amenities facilities like clubhouses and gyms. Their maintenance and operation are seen as a necessary part of the superior living experience offered by these gated communities. It is the reason residents are willing to pay the extra pennies for maintenance. 

This makes facility management a key function for every Management Committee (MC) or Resident Welfare Association (RWA). Traditionally, facility management has depended on different tools that have to be consolidated by the MC or the property manager for an overview. Apart from being inefficient, this would often result in gaps and errors.

ApnaComplex offers a centralised platform for coordinating various facility management tasks. This includes asset management, facility booking, and inventory tracking. The centralisation of all tasks on one platform has multiple benefits that can improve efficiency while ensuring cost optimisation. 

What is centralised facility management?

Facility management is concerned with the general upkeep, maintenance, safety, and sustainability of the society. This includes building grounds, infrastructure, and maintaining equipment. Centralised facility management refers to digital tools that facilitate these functions from a single digital platform. 

Benefits of centralised facility management

There are multiple benefits of centralised facility management, including:

Managing reservations: In a large residential complex, one of the key tasks for society admin is to handle facility reservations. This includes gym, salon, or restaurant bookings. The automated system ensures that there are no double bookings. More importantly, centralisation allows the admin to view, accept and reject bookings.

Data insight: One of the biggest advantages of a centralised facility management system is its data insight. It provides us with automated comprehensive reports on booking, revenue, and usage. This data is important in understanding the overall use of facilities, the cost of running them, and the revenue generated. 

Strategic planning: Data insight gathered from ApnaComplex centralised facility management system is essential when setting long-term / short-term goals, making budget allocations or planning new developments. For instance, overbooking of salon services could indicate the necessity to expand these services. 

Operational efficiency: Legacy facility management systems are plagued by multiple inefficiencies, including manual bookings and the necessity to juggle with different solutions. The centralisation of these functions on a single platform makes it easy for the admin to coordinate different functions. They can view maintenance history, track inventory, and asset performance. Similarly, empowering residents with in-app reservation booking removes the need for any manual intervention. 

Automation: ApnaComplex automates many of the manual tasks in facility management, further improving efficiency. It provides instant access to asset service histories, inventory usage, and invoice generation, thus, saving time and effort. 

Enforcing regulations: When used judiciously, ApnaComplex is an important tool in enforcing regulations. As a central repository, it ensures that all residents are aware of the facility usage rules. To ensure further compliance, admin can also leverage facility booking. For instance, they can reject bookings from residents who fail to pay their maintenance bills.  

Ensuring sustainability: One of the major objectives of facility management is to ensure the sustainability of premises. ApnaComplex facilitates long-term sustainability through asset management and inventory tracking. Admin can track service history and set reminders for timely servicing. This ensures that all facilities run smoothly for the long term. 

Cost effectiveness: The ultimate goal of facility management is cost optimisation. Centralisation improves overview, empowering the admin with quick and precise insight into the overall consumption patterns, revenue generated, and cost of repair and maintenance. This aids financial control and can be instrumental in cutting down costs. 

If you want to learn more about the ApnaComplex facility management module, get in touch with us at support@apnacomeplex. 

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Decoding the rental boom
Shajai Jacob
November 2, 2022

Rental Boom: What’s Driving it & Why it’s Here to Stay

The rental industry is on an impressive comeback trail. After the initial setback of COVID first phase, the industry has bounced back this year, reporting an impressive surge in residential rentals across the country. In cities like Bengaluru, rents have shot up by as much as 40%. Other metro cities have seen similar hikes

Apart from the resumption of the economy, this rebound also has far-reaching consequences for urban planning. It shows a healthy upward swing in real estate ROIs. It can be a decisive factor in determining future developments and further urbanisation. It will further encourage consolidation in the rental industry.

This is evident by the strengthening of emerging players like ApnaComplex Rentals in streamlining the system. By leveraging technology to resolve existing challenges in the system while creating an improved user experience, ApnaComplex Rentals is playing a critical role in bringing accountability and expediting lagging processes. 

What’s Driving It?

To understand this momentum, we have to look at the factors driving the revival. These include: 

A correction: The surge in rentals can be viewed as a long overdue correction. In the economic upheaval of the pandemic, many landlords were forced to cut back on rents. Many also agreed to postpone rent collection. Apart from requests from tenants, they also faced political pressure. As a result, rental hikes were kept in stasis in 2020-21. Hence, the current hike indicates a correction as homeowners aim to recoup their losses.  

Opening of offices: As economic activity resumed and the lockdown was removed, migrant workers and professionals started streaming back to their work. This led to looking for rented homes in metropolitan areas, pushing up the demand. According to an ANAROCK report, the hike in rental demand in the top seven Indian cities has been an impressive 10-20% in 2022 as compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019. 

Lagging supply: Even as demand goes up, supply has seen a reversal. Inventory swiftly dwindled as construction came to a virtual halt during the initial phases of the pandemic, leading to an imbalance between demand and supply. The result is that landlords in high-demand areas like gated communities are seeing an unprecedented surge in rental incomes. 

The Road Ahead

The question now is whether it’s a brief corrective surge or will we see a consistent upward swing in rentals? All indications point towards the latter possibility. As companies encourage more employees to come back to office, demand for housing will spike further. The current pace of real estate construction projects is not fast enough to keep up. This means that rentals may continue to rise for some time. 

Most importantly, the growth of the rental industry will come across different segments and not just gated communities. With the government expected to renew focus on affordable housing, tenants from different income classes will find more and better options. With more states expected to adopt the Model Tenancy Act in the coming months, the rental industry will also see much-needed transparency and regulation.  

It is expected to facilitate further consolidation of organised players like ApnaComplex Rentals. This will lead to focus on maximising rental yields for landlords while ensuring that tenants get quick delivery and value for their money. 

Creating a Paradigm Shift

The surge in rentals is now being led by organised players like ApnaComplex. Traditionally, the rental industry has been dominated by unorganised local brokers who were challenged by lack of resources in terms of technology or manpower. ApnaComplex is changing the status quo by providing benefits for all stakeholders including homeowners, the society, and tenants. 

In a first for the industry, ApnaComplex Rentals offers the society a fee share from rental transactions. It also ensures a higher rental yield for the landlord (by 4.5% to 5%). This is further enhanced by a lower three-week transaction fee, as against higher market operating charges, ensuring maximum gains for the landlord.  

If you want to know more about ApnaComplex Rentals, call us at 0120 71173344 or write to us at rentals@apnacomplex.com.

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