AppFolio Adds Gen AI-Powered Payment Options for Property Managers

AppFolio has added generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and new payment options to its cloud business management solutions for the real estate industry.

The new generative AI conversational interface, Realm-X, is designed for property managers and joins AppFolio’s suite of AI capabilities known as AppFolio Realm, the company said in a Thursday (Sept. 21) press release.

Realm-X uses generative AI to streamline leasing, maintenance and accounting workflows, according to the press release. By automating real estate tasks and eliminating repetitive work, Realm-X allows property managers to focus on building resident connections and driving business performance.

One of the features of Realm-X is its ability to answer any question posed by property managers, the release said. For instance, property managers can ask about the number of assigned work orders with no activity in the past five days. Moreover, Realm-X can handle common tasks like drafting text messages to request status updates on work orders. Property managers can also train Realm-X to automatically perform tasks such as refreshing work order lists weekly and texting vendors for updates.

See the video: Push to Debit Brings ‘Emotional Relief’ of Faster Payments to Property Management Sector

AppFolio is piloting Realm-X with select customers, with plans for broader availability in the coming year, per the release.

AppFolio is also introducing several other capabilities to enhance the experiences of residents, owners and vendors, according to the press release. These include personalized rent payment options, digitized vendor payments to simplify transactions, enhanced owner access to property data and tasks, and an integrated leasing tool called Leasing CRM to streamline leasing processes.

The new rent payment options are offered in partnership with financial platform Best Egg and allow renters to divide their payments into smaller amounts, the release said. The digitized vendor payments enable direct payments and instant payments.

Shane Trigg, president and CEO of AppFolio, said in the release: “Our ambition is to be the one platform at the heart of our customers’ business, enabling them to unlock their potential and create exceptional experiences for their customers and communities.”

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that real estate firms realize that adopting faster payment methods can help forge stronger vendor-supplier partnerships. In fact, 90% of those surveyed plan to start receiving payments in real time within the next year, according to “Corporate Changes in B2B Payment Practices: The Future of Real-Time Payments in Real Estate,” a PYMNTS and The Clearing House collaboration.