| Steve | email | Jun 24 2015, 04:41 PM |
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Stephan, I know you have put alot of work into this software to make it so great. You now have several versions and will most likely have newer ones down the line. Is there a reason that old versions are not for sale at a discounted price? If someone needs only very basic property management that can be accomplished by your version 6.xx for example, why couldn't they buy that for a discounted price? The same would apply to your version 11.xx which most likely will not be sold anymore once version 12.xx comes out. I know updates and bug fixes would be discontinued for old releases, but the software could still be a great option for someone. Just wondering because I'm planning on buying your software and I'm seeing the life cycle and it appears there may be a Version 12 coming soon so I don't know if I should buy or wait. Regards, Steve |
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| Stephane Grenier | email | Jun 25 2015, 11:45 AM |
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Hi Steve, First thank you for the kind words about the software, they are appreciated. In terms of your question, this is done for a number of reasons, including security, support, as well as a number of other reasons. Its the same reason you can't buy Windows XP today even at a discount, nor can you say buy Adobe Photoshop version 4, 5, 6, and so on. I personally don't know of any software solution that offers you the ability to purchase discontinued versions at a discounted price. That being said I'll address the bigger issues, but let's just say it's even more involved than what I'm posting here. Before I even start talking about security issues, one thing you have to remember is that older versions may not even work on modern computers. As computers advance things change and the software has to adapt according to new technologies. To give you an idea for example, you cannot even run version 3.11 of LandlordMax on any modern computer because of how Microsoft Windows changed the way data is managed within applications. In other words if you ran version 3.11 it would completely fail. Similarly version 6.05f was discontinued before Windows 8.1 was even released. Computer technology changes and the software is continually adapting to it. Additionally the software comes with code signing certificates which are timed based for both Windows and Apple computers. Older versions of the software will have expired certificates if you try to install them. In fact Apple even recently completely overhauled their code signing certificate which required software vendors to have their certificates re-issued. In other words these are continually maintained and updated based on improvements by Windows and Apple. They also cost money to acquire. The next issue has to do with security. Remember that you're managing very sensitive financial information for your tenants and as a result they expect you to be running updated software for security reasons. For example you yourself expect that your mortgage broker is running updated software. How would you feel if you found out they were using software that was discontinued for years and has had no security updates? That is software containing your private and sensitive financial information. Your tenants have the same expectations from you. For example the recent Home Depot hack was because the company was using outdated and obsolete software: http://www.dailytech.com/Appalling+Negligence+DecadeOld+Windows+XPe+Holes+Led+to+Home+Depot+Hack/article36517.htm This doesn't mean that older versions of the software weren't secure, it just means that no updates or fixes have been done on the previous version for over a year, as well as no further support is planned. For most software this isn't a big issue (for example a movie player software, a music player, etc.) but when it comes to managing properties you are storing very sensitive financial information related to your tenants, so security is important. Again the same as I'm sure you would want your mortgage broker (or Home Depot) to store your sensitive information on updated software and systems. It may be more than you need but because you're dealing with sensitive financial data it is important to keep your software updated. Also just to let you know Home Depot is now dealing with a number of class action lawsuits for knowingly running obsolete software, which you could expose yourself to as well. Again you're dealing with other people's sensitive financial data therefore there are legal expectations that you keep your systems updated, not just LandlordMax but your operating systems (Windows or Mac OS), and other software on your computers that store sensitive information. I understand that money is important, but if you consider the price of the Desktop Edition is just $199, this is generally very small in comparison to the total costs of your operations. And even if we did offer purchases of the older versions, we couldn't offer a discount. We could never just offer the older versions without any updates and not expose ourselves to legal and liability issues, therefore we would need to maintain these systems, hence you wouldn't really save any money at all, the price would pretty much have to stay the same anyways. Lastly, if you haven't any comparison shopping, I would recommend looking at our competitors and the prices they charge. As far as we know no one comes anywhere our affordability, especially if you factor the total costs over 5+ years. Regards, Stephan Grenier Founder LandlordMax Software Inc. http://www.LandlordMax.com http://www.FollowSteph.com |
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| Al | email | Oct 14 2015, 07:02 PM |
| What is the costs of software? is there monthy or yearly fees? I only mange 14 properties - my own and family. Is this user friendly, Does it have direct banking that tenants can deposit? | |
| Stephane Grenier | email | Oct 15 2015, 01:02 PM |
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Hi Al, Please find the answers to your questions below: 1. What is the costs of software? I only mange 14 properties - my own and family. You can find the price of the different versions on the purchase page at: http://www.landlordmax.com/shop/shoppingCart That being said seeing as you manage 14 properties I would recommend the Desktop Edition which can be purchased for $199. 2. is there monthy or yearly fees? There are no monthly or yearly fees. Please note that like virtually all other software that the price is for the current version only. That is to say if you decide to upgrade in the future you will need to purchase upgrades. That being said we offer a 50% discount on all upgrades. 3. Is this user friendly, Yes it is. You can view the full online user manual at: http://www.landlordmax.com/support/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=2 You may also be interested in the following short animated videos which walk you through the process or creating recurring payments, rents, late fees, etc.. Please note that although the videos are for the previous versions the process is still the same: http://www.landlordmax.com/releaseNotesV311/scheduledEntriesFromLease/ScheduledEntriesFromLease.html http://www.landlordmax.com/releaseNotesV311/lateSuggestedAccountingEntries/lateSuggestedAccountingEntries.html http://www.landlordmax.com/releaseNotesV605/AdvanceNotice2/AdvanceNotice2.htm 4. Does it have direct banking that tenants can deposit? No for that you would need to go with online and cloud based solutions, and even then you'd easily be looking at costs of $2000 or more per year. No one anywhere near our price range will offer this. Regards, Stephan Grenier Founder LandlordMax Software Inc. http://www.LandlordMax.com http://www.FollowSteph.com |
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