United Property Management has worked with Ricardo and his team for over 10 years, and they've helped us fully develop customized software solutions to suit our business needs. The Telos team has always helped collaborate on ideal solutions, resolve tough problems, and worked through issues with us as great partners.
Eric Milton – CTO, United Property Management
The Challenge
United Property Managers faced a common yet critical dilemma in the multi-family residential industry: the market's leading revenue management solution was not only prohibitively expensive but actively working against their business interests. Units sat vacant longer, ownership had no control over pricing decisions, and when issues arose, they were at the mercy of support tickets.
Beyond pricing, their operations team was drowning in non-uniform inventory tracking across their portfolio, with no market solution capable of handling their specific control requirements. They needed a partner who could see technology not as a one-size-fits-all solution, but as a tailored expression of their unique operational philosophy.
Our Approach
We approached UPM's challenges with first-principles thinking, questioning every assumption about how property management technology should function:
Revenue Management System:
- Architected a custom pricing engine that implemented UPM's proprietary pricing models, giving ownership direct control over their revenue strategy
- Developed sophisticated analytics and reporting tools to provide real-time visibility into pricing performance
- Created a second version incorporating renewal pricing logic—a capability the market leader couldn't provide
- Built seamless integrations with existing POS systems while maintaining data integrity
- Established a robust database architecture capable of handling one of South Florida's largest property portfolios
Inventory Management System:
- Designed a comprehensive system for tracking appliances, orders, shipments, and internal transfers
- Implemented sophisticated routing and approval logic to enforce accounting controls
- Integrated advanced reporting and analytics to identify spending patterns and trends
- Built fraud prevention mechanisms directly into the system architecture
- Created uniform processes across the entire portfolio where chaos once reigned
The Results
What began as liberation from expensive licensing fees evolved into a decade-long competitive advantage:
- Financial Impact: Custom development proved less expensive than market-leading software licenses while delivering superior results
- Operational Excellence: Unit occupancy increased as vacancy times decreased dramatically
- Strategic Control: Ownership gained complete sovereignty over pricing decisions, transforming from reactive to proactive management
- Renewal Success: Version 2's renewal pricing capabilities reduced churn significantly—a victory the market solution never achieved
- Fraud Prevention: The inventory system's controls eliminated theft and fraud, protecting assets across the portfolio
- Lasting Partnership: Both systems continue to power operations a decade later, proving the durability of first-principles design
