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Like many developers, The Danco Group managed its growing portfolio with siloed Excel files and Word documents, making project tracking time-consuming and fragmented. With data scattered across multiple platforms, pulling insights and comparing projects required excessive manual effort, slowing down critical decisions.
Danco implemented Builders Patch to transform their workflow, in under 10 weeks, receiving consistent support and customization options tailored to their needs. Weekly meetings with our dedicated Customer Service team ensured seamless onboarding, with custom templates and AI tools that optimized for the intricacies of affordable housing projects.
Danco’s team now enjoys a streamlined workflow, drastically reducing manual tasks and increasing efficiency. Generating financial reports used to take days – now it takes minutes. Their team can instantly compare construction costs across projects, track land deposits and due dates in real-time, and automatically generate professional deal pages and reports for stakeholders—all from a single platform. This has enabled them to focus on strategic development while maintaining real-time access to all project data.
With over 20 years of experience in the affordable housing space, The Danco Group faced data and process-related challenges that developers their size typically face. With only a traditional filing system in place, Danco's data was fragmented across multiple Excel sheets and Word docs, making it difficult to track active projects on both the development and asset management side.
Chris Dart, President of Danco Group explained: "As we've been growing and building our portfolio projects, we found that we were having a hard time keeping track of things like land deposits, due dates, and milestone expirations. Updating our financial models was becoming increasingly onerous."
We have heard similar anecdotes in multiple customer conversations. Especially as portfolios begin to grow, developers typically find that their needs have outgrown their traditional way of managing operations.
According to Danco, the sooner, the better. Even if you are a smaller team with limited resources, investing in the right technology from the start will allow you to grow and ultimately, do more with less.
To solve the above challenges, Chris Dart asked his colleagues about other comprehensive options available on the market. He found none. According to him, “there isn’t any software out there that meets the specific needs of affordable housing deals. Other asset management softwares on the market did not have the forecasting capabilities we needed. You are the only player in the market who already has a product like this.”
"There isn’t any software out there that meets the specific needs of affordable housing deals."
Chris Dart, President
Before coming across the Builders Patch solution, Danco worked with an external group that could build the system they needed in-house. The process was incredibly expensive and took a lot of the development and the executive team’s time to define the needs. Once they came across our solution at a conference, they were quick to recognize the value we offered.
The Danco team abandoned the idea of building an in-house tool, realizing it would be a costly and time-consuming effort with no guarantee of the outcome they envisioned. Builders Patch, being a fully developed solution, offered Danco a cost-effective and immediate alternative to building their own tool in-house, eliminating the risk of development delays and high costs..
Many small to mid-size developers hesitate to adopt new tools due to their past experiences with prolonged onboarding processes for accounting and asset management tools. Several existing solutions on the market can take between four to six months to get all the projects set up and your staff trained. Once the implementation period is over and the handoff is complete, there is very little coverage and input from the software platform team.
At that point, typical Customer Service teams would only interface with customers if any problems are flagged and a meeting is requested.
We turned this model on its head by committing to a lifelong collaborative approach to our customer service. The Danco Group recognized this from the get-go and this approach made us stand out from our competitors.
Michele Kerrigan, an Asset Manager at Danco, said “A key selling point was the personal engagement. Kanan Ajmera, the CEO, was involved in every call, which added a personal touch. She shares a similar background with us in the development world and understands the frustration with some of the software available. Her approach to creating a solution that works is shaped by the perspective of someone who is actively working in the field every day. She speaks our language.“
The Danco Group was onboarded in just a few weeks, thanks to a streamlined process led by the customer success team. Weekly meetings ensured constant communication, allowing Danco to ask questions, provide feedback, and customize the platform to fit their unique needs.
One of the key challenges during implementation was adapting Danco’s existing proforma templates. These templates had been developed over the years and were essential for their day-to-day operations. "There were some back-and-forth adjustments to get everything just right," says Chris Dart, "but Builders Patch was patient and responsive. They made sure the system could handle the complexities of our projects without losing the customization we had built over time."
The Builders Patch team’s consistent, hands-on approach meant that Danco could see results quickly. This collaborative relationship has set a solid foundation for future enhancements, with custom features and AI tools that continue to evolve alongside Danco’s needs.
With Builders Patch, Danco upgraded their capabilities, from data management to investor communications, including several key features:
As AI becomes an increasingly powerful tool in the real estate industry, developers are tapping into AI features to improve workflows and enhance decision-making.
The partnership between Builders Patch and Danco Group has opened up exciting new frontiers in AI integration, showcasing the potential for developers who adopt new systems. By leveraging their existing relationship and deep understanding of Danco's needs, Builders Patch can create custom AI tools that are supplementing their new workflows and decision-making processes.
The AI document summary feature, for instance, has become a game-changer for Danco's questions. Michele Kerrigan, Asset Manager at Danco, shared:
Another exciting component is the potential for continuous innovation. Once on the platform, developers can actively participate in shaping their AI tools. The Builders Patch team, with their deep understanding of each client's unique challenges, acts as a conduit for turning industry-specific needs into powerful AI solutions.
"We can cross-reference multiple documents at once, ensuring we're meeting the most stringent requirements," Michele adds, highlighting the efficiency and accuracy gains that AI brings to their compliance processes.
From predictive analytics for project timelines to AI-assisted compliance checks, the possibilities continue to shift. As AI technology evolves, so does the platform, ensuring that developers stay included in market trends. It’s a great way to future-proof operations without losing the ability for people to have the last say when reviewing content generated by AI tools. It’s a great way to enhance systems while still valuing countless years of industry experience.
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