E - Newsletter
Property Management Solutions since 1978

Volume III,  Number 1
Published occasionally by FullHouse Software, Inc.
March 1, 2009
5415 Lake Howell Road, Suite 207
Winter Park, FL 32792
800.653.8428
technical.support@fullhousesoftware.com

Welcome!
This edition focuses on two releases, and an IPM user who's been with us since the start.

The big news is that February 1 saw the release of what we expect to be the last update to IPM 2007, IPM 2007.16, and IPM 10 enters rolling release.

Despite the economic news, we're staying the course. Sure, we're feeling it but we know that a calm head and hard work will get us through.  No matter what the 'talking heads' say on Sunday mornings, people still rent properties, and that means those properties have to be rented. Heck maybe we'll release a version called "Repo Manager."

FullHouse software also has received a deluge of inquiries from ex-Rent-Right users, a sobering turn of events following the end of support for Rent-Right 4 in December.

We may feel the squeeze, but we'll continue to make lemonade from the economic Lemons. 

IPM 2007 Forever?
Everyone currently on our Maintenance Plan will get IPM 10.0 when it's in full release at no cost, just as you get all our program updates. 

However, if you don't have internet access, or have an older computer, or just don't want to change, we want to serve you, too.  This presents a quandary for us; we want to provide everyone with the latest and greatest software possible, but we don't want to force our users into something they don't want.  

To that end, once IPM 10.0 is in full release, we will offer a "Legacy Maintenance Plan" for users of IPM 2007 to receive basic support - unlocks, "how tos" and new installations.  Database services will be available at consulting rates for Legacy Plan members, and of course there won't be any more updates, but we'll keep you up and running as long as you still want to use IPM 2007.

New Website
Coming  Soon

As if we didn't have enough to do, we'll be updating our website in the upcoming months. Our goals are to make navigation simpler, give a better experience for new and returning visitors - and focus on IPM 10.  Watch our website for more info and a sneak preview.

Thirty Years of Success:
R. Scott Tucker and Associates

As part of our ongoing celebrations of three decades of IPM,  we're highlighting IPM users. This month the spotlight's on  a company that's been with us since the beginning.

In 1978, Bob Maxwell, Founder of Realty Automation and creator of IPM, started issuing serial numbers when he sold his software.  Thus, the first IPM user was literally #001. Over the years, many of the early users moved on.  However, user #106 is still thriving and still using IPM. 

That's R. Scott Tucker and Associates (RST&A, for short) in Los Angeles, California. RST&A was founded in 1981 by R. Scott Tucker (right) and Yolanda Tucker (below), with the intention of providing superior management services for owners of income properties.  They started with 2 employees, 10 properties and a radical idea of automating management like the big companies. You can guess what their property management software was!

"In the early 80's we had no idea what computers could do for us until Bob Maxwell made a sales call." said Tucker, "I can still remember the clickty-clack of that old Altos keyboard being demonstrated. It was 'fast', or so it seemed at the time. I remember our competition had an IBM with tape drives and we felt we were on the cutting edge with our new box. My then partner, now wife, Yolie was used to doing every thing by hand, so to trust the machine was a giant leap for her. We paid for training and Bob came over frequently to drag her kicking and screaming into the new era."

And Bob was a good salesman! RST & A purchased their Altos system with two 8" floppy drives for around $9,000 - nearly twice the price of an average car at the time. Scott goes on to say, "Bob knew the machine much better than how to 'introduce' us to it. I knew well enough to get the heck out of the office when a training session was scheduled.  It all worked out for the best though, as we finally switched the last old group of buildings to the new IPM this year."

Today RST&A manages apartment buildings, houses and Homeowners' Associations  in the Los Angeles Westside. They manage more than 250 buildings  and have an office staff of seventeen plus twenty employees in maintenance and landscaping. With nearly 30 years of success, R. Scott Tucker plans on a future of "slow and steady growth", a plan we share and endorse at FullHouse Software.

You can visit R. Scott Tucker and Associates at www.rstrents.com

IPM 10  Enters Rolling Release
We're looking for a Few Good Users 
Shortly after the original release of IPM 2007, a long-time user exclaimed in exasperation, "Why do you release software before you've gotten all the bugs out of it?" 

It is a valid question, sort of. We sighed, and explained that there's nothing we'd like more, but no two users use the software the same way, nor have the same environment, so for a small company that's nearly impossible.  We sited the examples of several not-so-small companies ranging from Rent-Right's now-defunct Version 4, to the ultimate case, Windows Vista. Despite unlimited resources and years of delays Vista's still problematic.

IPM 10 has been in prerelease with our customers since October, but we know that's not the same as day-to-day use. So we thought outside the proverbial box, and came up with something once done with major core systems: the rolling release. Under this system, we're going to pick a small number of willing and qualified IPM users and work with them on a close, daily basis to transition them from IPM 2007 to IPM 10.  

Working one user at a time, this system will literally compress months of updates into weeks.  After a few of these early users, we'll be able to put IPM 10 in general release at the equivalent of the fourth or fifth update, and we'll have learned how to make the transition as painless as possible. 

So, if you've got an extra hour a day and have a fast PC with broadband internet connection and would like to be among the first to use IPM 10 in production, email president@fullhousesoftware.com. In addition to our gratitude, you'll get the opportunity to shape IPM 10 and we'll give you a year's free maintenance!

IPM 2007.16 Released

We expect this to be the final update to IPM 2007. IPM 2007.16 includes a new Property Summary report, new command line functionality, a new listing with alternate addresses for HOAs and Condos, a fix for printing tenant ledgers,  and  a few other small enhancements and fixes.

The service pack to update any previous release of IPM 2007 is available free for everyone on the maintenance plan here. If you do not have IPM 2007 installed on your PC, follow the link above and select the "full installation". If you have any version of IPM 2007 on your PC, you can update it to 2007.16 by running the service pack.  No unlock code or download password is required for the service pack.

Yet one more reason why our maintenance plan is a great value!

IPM 10.0 Webinar
Meet the next generation of IPM! 

In the Fall of 2008,  FullHouse Software held two webinars introducing IPM 10 and starting the prerelease program. It covered the major screen and highlighted some of the new features. 

We  recorded this webinar, and it's available free on our website. You can view it on the IPM preview page, or click here.  

We are planning additional free webinars as IPM rolls into full release.

Protest Against Global Warming

Thanks to Tracy Seitz at Liechty Homes! I'd watch that guy at the front right of center - he looks like he's about get violent!

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