Gone are the days when property managers walked with pencil, paper and clipboards.

Most of us know firsthand how dramatically computers have improved our capacity to solve problems, communicate ideas and store information.

Property inspections can now be completed quickly without paper and without the risk of costly data-entry or transcription errors. In addition, all of the inspection data can be uploaded into software applications which generate detail and summary reports. These reports can be transmitted to distant users via the Internet in less time than it takes White Out to dry.

My colleague Dominick and I began our "adventure" one sunny morning last May by meeting in front of two adjacent six story elevator buildings in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan. The two buildings were part of a luxury residential rental portfolio consisting of 1,400 + apartments in 13 buildings that AIMCO was looking at as a potential acquisition target. As part of the due diligence, we were charged with doing unit-by-unit apartment interior inspections. We each had Palm Pilots with custom AIMCO Inspector Software installed. The software incorporated a database of values including poor/replace and fair conditions for the purpose of inspecting the conditions of kitchen cabinets, appliances, wood floors, carpeting, bathroom vanities, sinks, and tubs. The software program assigned a fixed value for each reviewable item in less than good/satisfactory condition; e.g., carpet cleaning $75, replace carpet $350; fair refrigerator $150, replace refrigerator $350; fair kitchen cabinets/countertop $750, replace kitchen cabinets/ countertop $2,500; etc. The purpose of this assignment was to evaluate existing conditions and determine the cost of improvements necessary to maintain and further enhance rental rates.

We each paired off with the respective superintendents and once inside the units our work was simplified because each building address and unit number was preloaded. Using our Palm Pilots we noted the condition of each reviewable item per apartment by a touch of the stylus to the Palm Pilot; i.e., "poor/re place, fair, good." In three days Dominick and I evaluated approximately 450 units.

In addition to the speed and efficiency of this data organizing method, the true beauty of the program was that at the end of each day we placed the Palm Pilots in their cradle and "hot synced" the data into Excel spreadsheets on a laptop. The program tabulated in spreadsheet format both the total cost to improve each item per building and the total cost to remedy/complete all deficiencies. This provided AIMCO's acquisition officer with accurate representation, in spreadsheet form, which could be used to accurately analyze the deal.

Other state of the art custom property management solutions include: punch list, service order, inventory tracking, order tracking, and audit Palm Pilot software.