How to Build a Property Management System from Scratch

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The real estate tech world is full of new point solutions. Some of these tools are valuable, filling in the gaps of legacy property management systems—in marketing, leasing, fraud detection, maintenance, and many other places—with the kind of focus and attention that only a dedicated team can bring. But point solutions face real challenges: real estate owners are increasingly experiencing tech fatigue, and integrating meaningfully with entrenched property management systems is far more challenging than it should be.

In some cases, the companies building these point solutions aspire to—one day—build their own full-fledged property management system, bringing them into competition with the likes of Yardi, Entrata, and AppFolio.

But to date none have. Building an institutional-quality property management system from the ground up is a tremendously difficult task, scaring off all but the bravest or most foolhardy builders.

Today’s letter will tackle what it would really take to build a property management system from scratch. And we’ll do so through the lens of one company attempting to do exactly that: Ender.

Specifically, we’ll tackle:

• How the current PMS ecosystem came to be;
• Gaps in the current market;
• Ender’s vision, approach, and early partnerships;
• Product roadmap and the PMS market in context of broader technology shifts.