VaultWare Frequently Asked Questions
What is VaultWare™?
VaultWare is an online leasing tool that makes it easy for your online prospects to check availability of apartment units, pre-qualify and reserve a specific unit online. It’s the number one online leasing solution for the multifamily industry; over 625,000 apartments are VaultWare powered.
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Who uses VaultWare?
Some of the largest management companies and property owners in the industry rely on VaultWare. Our clients also include small and medium sized companies…anyone who’s interested in providing information to online consumers so they can start the leasing process online. We are the online leasing partner for over 100 property management companies.
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What is a reservation?
A reservation is a way for consumers who find your community online, any time day or night, to begin the leasing process. They can request to hold the apartment they desire and are given the option to pre-qualify instantly, meaning they are even more prepared to lease when they walk through the door. Nearly 70% of all pre-qualified reservations turn into leases, so getting a reservation is the most valuable transaction you can have with a potential resident (outside of getting a lease!).
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How long is the apartment reserved?
Because the amount of time for completing the leasing process varies by community and by resident, VaultWare takes the apartment out of the VaultWare online inventory indefinitely when it processes an approved pre-qualified reservation. This provides the leasing staff with complete control over if and when to place the apartment back into the available inventory. This also ensures that a reservation for a pre-qualified prospect does not inadvertently expire.
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How does VaultWare update rates automatically?
VaultWare updates rates by taking a feed from your property management system. That means you do nothing. As long as the rates are up to date in your property management system, they will be up to date everywhere your property is advertised…on your own corporate site and the Internet Listing Services you do business with. You chose!
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Why is the ability to show current availability important?
Knowing current availability is the first step to transacting with you. Most inquiries to your community are for information only--like availability and pricing -- information that you could easily and more cost effectively provide online. Plus we know that having information online affects consumers’ decisions to visit and ultimately lease with you. Plus, showing current pricing and availability lets you service potential customers at all hours of the day and night, ensuring you don’t miss any opportunities to lease. Why not make it easy to do business with you?
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Do I really need an online leasing solution?
. If you use the Internet for any component of your marketing efforts, then the answer is yes! Since we add the check availability button to your listings on all the major Internet Listing Services and your own website you allow your online consumers to conveniently see up to date pricing and availability 24/7/365. Plus, many renters due to distance, need to lease an apartment sight unseen. This gives you the capability to provide a great service to people who cannot physically visit your location but need to make living arrangements, perhaps due to a job transfer or military redeployment.
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Where does the VaultWare Check Availability button appear?
The VaultWare check availability button appears anywhere you want to put it! You select the Internet Listing Services (ILS) on which you advertise and where you want your prospects to be able to see your updated pricing and availability and that’s it! After all when you consider that 60% of online consumers check availability from the ILS sites, it’s the logical place for you to capture online shoppers. VaultWare is in a unique position of partnering with all the major ILS’ and this distribution network allows you to automatically leverage having a presence with consistently accurate information. Additionally, the check availability button is easily added to your corporate or property website, another great source for your Internet leads. So, regardless of where people find you, you can be assured that you’ll be ready to let them lease!
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Is it true that my availability information is also distributed to Google’s® classified service, Google Base™ and on Oodle™?
Yes! We have an exclusive agreement with the world’s most popular search engine to display availability of your individual available units, as well as on the popular classified site, Oodle. You simply select Google and Oodle when you set up your distribution and it’s up to date and accurate without you doing another thing. No other availability solution provides this comprehensive of a distribution strategy. And, there’s no extra cost to you.
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How is VaultWare priced?
VaultWare is priced at $895 per property for a one-year subscription.
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Do we still get charged by our screening company for the transaction that the applicant conducts online?
Yes. Your resident screening service provider charges your community directly, using the criteria and prices you have negotiated and established, as if the screening had occurred on-site. VaultWare is simply a conduit for passing along the information required to conduct the screening to your service provider. Keep in mind, VaultWare's online reservation process prevents screenings from being conducted by prospects that are not actually interested in leasing via collection of personal information, a convenience fee charge, and credit card validation. And only about 20% of pre-screenings receive a decline response, so the occasional cost of a screening transaction pales in comparison to the overall value you receive with VaultWare.
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What is the $9.95 convenience fee?
A $9.95 convenience fee is what the online prospect pays to pre-screen online to see if they are financially qualified for a specific apartment at your community. Much like convenience fees charged by online ticketing web sites, this fee is, as it states, a charge for the convenience to pre-qualify online in the privacy of their homes and reserve their desired apartment unit to begin the process of leasing at your community.
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What Property Management Software is VaultWare compatible with?
VaultWare is compatible with most major property management software. For a complete and up–to–date of our PMS integrations please visit our Partners page. Additional compatibility will be developed and made available upon demand.
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What screening companies are compatible with VaultWare?
Properties can use their existing resident screening service provider and allow prospects to self-screen online. For a complete and up–to–date list of our resident screening provider integrations please visit our Partners page. Additional compatibility will be developed and made available upon demand.
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How much time and effort is involved with implementing VaultWare?
You can implement VaultWare in just three simple steps and install the software at the property in less than 2 minutes! The total amount of time depends on how many properties you are setting up, the number of computer workstations at each property that will run VaultWare, and which property management software you use. Since VaultWare leverages your existing technologies and systems, the actual amount of time you spend on implementation will be minimal.
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What commitment do I need from my IT department to set this up?
Your IT staff will love VaultWare. Not only is it "set it and forget it" it’s truly the simplest thing for your IT staff to implement. It can take as little as a couple of hours of IT involvement in most cases.
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Should I wait to use VaultWare until I decide on a new software system or complete a planned Property Management Software change?
If your new software is compatible with VaultWare, there’s no need for you to wait since VaultWare standardizes the unique data format of any system. That gives you the flexibility to change which software you use without worrying about losing the value provided by VaultWare. In fact, implementing VaultWare now could help offset the cost of your future technology change. Why miss the opportunities available to you today?
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I’m already advertising online, so why do I need VaultWare?
If you are already advertising online then you need VaultWare even more! There’s little sense in advertising and not giving your online prospects enough information to make a buying decision. It would be like going to an airline site and knowing there are flights to your destination but not being able to find out if there are seats available or the ticket price. If you’re going to be online, be online all the way!
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What if I don’t do a lot of Internet Listing advertising?
If you don’t advertise online then you may be relying on your corporate or property website to communicate information. Are you showing up-to-date pricing and availability? Are you letting your prospects apply online with a rental application that is sent automatically through the Internet or are you relying on printed PDFs? VaultWare powers your own website with information potential residents need to make buying decisions. And as a VaultWare customer, you will receive free online advertising on major search services such as Google and Oodle.
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How do I control how my available apartments will be displayed online?
You can customize the amount of available apartments to display as well as select specific available apartments to market online through the easy to use control panel.
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Can VaultWare really help me lease more apartments?
It has been proven to! Companies like United Dominion Realty (UDR) and Home Properties have come to rely on it as part of their marketing strategy and as a powerful closing tool. In fact UDR’s Executive Vice President, Property Operations, Martha Carlin, stated that at the beginning of 2007 that 36% of their leasing was done via the Internet.
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Should online leasing be a priority for our organization?
Our customers are finding out that VaultWare is beyond a nicety, it really is a necessity in this age of consumer-driven information. Being online is essential to any business, but when you consider that 70% of people moving go online first to research where to live, it’s important to provide an opportunity for them to commit to renting from you when they find you online.
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I already have an online rental application. How is the VaultWare rental application different?
Online rental applications exist mainly in the form of PDFs. That means that you are expecting a consumer who is online and likes to transact online to PRINT paper in order to complete their online experience with you. This is not a good user experience. The VaultWare rental application lets prospects complete the application and submit it online. They can even pay the application fee online if you use either PropertyBridge or RentPayment.
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How do I know if VaultWare is getting results?
You can get reporting on VaultWare results anytime you want. You can see which Internet Listing Services are working best for you since we track check availability sessions and reservations per ILS and on your own corporate site. There’s possibly no other solution that lets you see more results and get more for the money.
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Can I use VaultWare without the pre-screening feature?
Yes. The pre-screening feature is an optional service intended to provide you with the most serious and qualified of prospects, and provide those potential new residents with the most convenient and streamlined leasing process possible. Even without using this feature, your prospects will have the primary benefit of checking apartment availability, amenities and specials online and be able to submit apartment-specific reservation requests from any VaultWare-empowered website.
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How can VaultWare make my office more efficient?
VaultWare is a true efficiency tool for your leasing staff. Not only does it COMPLETELY ELIMINATE the need for someone to update your rates manually on every site you appear, but it ensures a great consumer experience and less hassle when your potential residents see the SAME information everywhere they see you on the web. No need to back peddle because rates on one site were published less than another site had listed! And, having VaultWare means your leasing agents aren’t stuck answering mundane questions on availability and rates, phone call after phone call or email after email! Instead they end up working with clients who walk in the door and are self-educated on your property and have in some cases self-qualified, saving your leasing professionals time in the leasing process and freeing them to help walk-ins and current residents!
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