Frequently Asked Questions
This page contains a list of real questions asked by real users. If you have
a question which is not shown here then please contact
us.
About the Product
Technical
Functional Questions
About the Product
To try the Personal Edition you simply register on the web site. Registering
is free and once you do this we will automatically set up your own private
database with a demo so you can browse around the web pages and get a sense
for what the web site can do for you. You can also click on the Help link to
see the on-line help which is also a good way of learning about how things
work. When you're ready to set up your own data, click on the link called
'New Starter? Click here' and follow the steps in that help topic.
When you first register we will automatically set up your own private
database with a demo so you can browse around the web pages and get a sense
for what the web site can do for you.
Yes - it really is free. There really are no gimmicks or tricks. In addition
the software is fully functional other than the limits specified on the Products page.
The main difference between the different editions is the amount of information
you can manage. Personal Edition has limits on the number of properties, number
of tenancies and number of users. The other editions simply have higher limits.
There will be no loss of data. When you upgrade you will simply see higher
limits automatically applied to your database and, in addition, you will be
granted access to enhanced features.
We take payment either monthly or quarterly in advance. You can cancel anytime
with 1 month's notice. If you pay quarterly and wish to cancel, we will refund
any unused whole months.
We have no intention of ever discontinuing the free Personal Edition. Most of
our business comes from members who initially start with the free personal
edition and then decide to upgrade to paid-for editions so we see a lot of
value in continuing to provide the Personal Edition.
Having said this, we reserve the right to make adjustments to the Personal
Edition, for example:
(a) Make certain features only available to paid-for editions. However, if we
do this we will not remove access to those features from Personal Edition
users who have subscribed prior to the change being made.
(b) Change the limits applied to the Personal Edition (e.g. today you can
record details of up to 30 tenancies). However, if we do so, existing members
who have a usage above the new limit will have their limit set to their
existing usage, plus a discretionary additional amount so they are not forced
into upgrading until they have genuinely grown their usage.
There is no download required to use the software. You simply use it through
your web browser.
SmartPropertyManager.com takes data security very seriously. We have
implemented a series of measures to protect the service and to guarantee
security of your information:
- Users have to authenticate using their password with each new
session.
- User sessions will automatically timeout after a period of no activity.
- Individual user sessions are uniquely identified and re-verified with
each transaction.
- Customers passwords are not stored in a human-readable form and hence
cannot be accessed by staff.
- All our staff have attended technical training classes on data
security.
- Hardware and software have been specifically designed to provide secure
logical separations of customer data which ensures that each customer can
only view their own information. Data privacy is checked with every query
and transaction to or from our databases.
- The service is highly scalable and redundant, allowing for fluctuation
in demand and expansion of users while greatly reducing the threat of
long-term outages.
- Customer data is backed up regularly in an encrypted form and copied to
two separate secure offsite locations.
Absolutely not. Security of your information is very important to us and we
will never pass it onto a third party unless it's required to provide you
with a genuine service. For example, when placing an advert for a vacancy we
will pass details of that vacancy and your contact details to a third party
organisation to save you re-entering the same information through another web
site. Even then, we will make it clear what information is about to be passed
to the external party so you can opt out if you are not comfortable with
proceeding.
The registration screen does ask for a company or business name, but that
doesn't mean you have to be a registered company. It's simply the title you
wish to use for your property lettings business. In the case of a regular
landlord this is often your name. (Think of it as the first line in your
letterhead).
Certainly, a large proportion of our customers are small to medium
landlords who do not operate as formal companies.
Technical
The following browsers are currently supported by the system:
- Firefox versions 3.6+
- Internet Explorer version 8.0+
- Google Chrome - latest version
- Safari 4.0+
For all browsers you must enable JavaScript, cookies, and SSL 3.0.
The software runs within a browser window - there is no download so it will
run fine on an Apple Mac.
Yes, the software can be accessed from an iPhone and most modern smartphones
which run a decent web browser.
Yes - You can access your account from different computers and smartphones.
Yes - You can access your account from any computer with an internet
connection, whether at home, in the office or in an internet cafe. You can
also access your account from a modern smartphone (e.g. an iPhone).
However, remember to logout if accessing your account from a public or shared
computer.
Unfortunately, we can't tell you the password that you used to register as we
don't actually record it in a human readable format for security reasons.
However, if you have forgotten your password then you can reset it as
follows:
- Go to the login page
- Click on the link which says: Having problems logging in? Click here
for help.
- Follow the instructions for resetting your password.
The system will generate a new password for you and will email you at your
registered email address.
Functional Questions
You can achieve this by creating a separate portfolio per landlord.
Yes - it is possible to set up multiple, parallel recurring charges against a
tenancy, which will allow you to track the separate
payments due per tenant.
Yes - in this case you would set up a recurring rent charge for the rent
expected from the Benefit service and a separate recurring rent charge for
the top-up expected from the tenant. The system will then track
these for you showing exactly what is expected to be paid separately.
You can start using the software at any time. The tax worksheet will
obviously require a full financial year's worth of information to provide
accurate figures, but you can easily enter historical entries up to the
beginning of the financial year if you wish to use this part of the web site.
If you click on the Organizer link at the top of the page your usage is shown
as a bar in the top right-hand corner of the Organizer page. Hovering your
mouse cursor over the bar will show precise usage amount versus quota.
Reminders are generated 30 days before they are due and will appear as tasks
on your task list.
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