Maintenance workflow audit Prepared for Western Slope · 2026-10-21
Where a maintenance request spends its time, and who carries it
How a request moves today across your team, AppFolio and your vendors, and where Propflow can take the routine work off your plate.
AUDIT · RECOMMENDATIONS · ROLLOUT
Read-only review of your AppFolio dataPROPFLOW · MAINTENANCE
02 /SUMMARY
The short version
AppFolio records the work order. Your team carries everything around it.
We read 90 days of your work orders and three weeks of your AppFolio texts. Assigning work is fast and your team answers quickly. The time goes into typing requests in, agreeing a visit time, and retyping updates AppFolio already sent.
Work orders
532
last 90 days · about 6 a day
Typed in by staff
46%
of orders, from calls and texts
To agree a time
16h
median, request to scheduled
Texts typed by hand
247
by 5 staff in 21 days
The opportunity is the follow-through, not the intake. Agreeing the visit time, answering residents' replies, and checking the repair actually worked are routine and repetitive. That is the work Propflow is built to do.
Work orders Jul 23 to Oct 21, 2026 · visit timing from AppFolio activity logs, last 12 months · texts Oct 1 to 21 · read-only02
03 /TODAY
How a request moves today
AppFolio sends the notices. Your team carries every conversation.
1 · Request
2 · Work order
3 · Assign
4 · Schedule
5 · Work done
6 · Close
Residenttenant
Portal request (43%), or calls and texts the office
Offers preferred times; replies land with your team
Texts to ask: is the tech still coming?
Nobody asks if it is actually fixed
AppFolioautomatic
Creates the order; texts "request submitted"
Notifies the vendor; chases if no answer
Texts "scheduled" and a reminder
Texts "completed"
Your officeby hand
Types in calls and texts (46% of orders)
Assigns tech or vendor, fast
Agrees a time: 16 hours median
Retypes updates; answers every reply
Checks it is done; closes the order
Tech / vendorin-house 51%
Accepts, often by text
Confirms a window
Does the work
AppFolio does it automaticallyYour team does it by handWhere the time or the loop is lost
Work orders Jul 23 to Oct 21, 2026 (n=532) · AppFolio activity log · AppFolio texts Oct 1 to 2103
04 /TODAY
What AppFolio sends on its own
AppFolio texts residents who use the portal. Orders your team enters mostly get nothing.
Request submitted
40
"Your maintenance request has been submitted…"
Scheduled
28
"…has been scheduled for <date> <window>"
Reminder
35
"A tech is scheduled to come…"
Completed
39
"…has been completed."
162 automatic maintenance texts in three weeks. 45 of 46 portal requests got at least one notice; 44 of 49 orders your team entered by hand got none. Where they do go out, they are announcements, not conversations: when a resident writes back, a person on your team picks it up.
So Clara starts with the replies, not more notices. AppFolio keeps sending its updates for now. Clara answers what residents write back, which today lands on your team.
AppFolio system texts and work orders, Oct 1 to 21, 2026 · wording shortened, names and numbers removed04
05 /TODAY
What your team does by hand
Your team types in nearly half the requests, and retypes updates AppFolio already sent.
Requests typed in
243
of 531 work orders in 90 days were entered by staff from a call or a text. The tenant portal brought in 229; inspections and recurring jobs 56.
Texts typed by hand
247
texts from 5 staff in 21 days, 170 of them to residents. About 43 are about maintenance, mostly one-liners repeating a notice AppFolio had just sent.
"Hi, our technician should come anytime today in reference to work order #<n>. Please let me know if that won't work so I can reschedule."A typical hand-typed update, the same day AppFolio sent its own "scheduled" text
AppFolio intake channel, Jul 23 to Oct 21, 2026 (n=531) · staff texts Oct 1 to 21, 2026 · names removed05
06 /TODAY
Where the time goes
Assigning is fast. Agreeing a time is where a request waits.
Request to assigned
24min
median · 3 in 4 within 13 hours
Request to scheduled
16h
median · 3 in 4 within 46 hours
Request to completed
2.1days
median · 3 in 4 within 7 days
No tech recorded
18%
of orders in the last 90 days
The gap between assigned and scheduled is back-and-forth over a time. Residents already submitted preferred times on 116 orders. Matching them to a tech's window is routine work that does not need a person.
AppFolio work-order activity log, last 12 months, orders with a log (assigned n=374, scheduled n=186, completed n=334)06
07 /TODAY
What residents write about
Most resident texts are routine. A clear minority need a person.
Resident texts
206
in 21 days · about 10 a day
Routine maintenance
36
"is the plumber still coming?"
Need a person
23
rent timing, bills, deposits
"Ok" / "thanks"
50
no reply needed
Your team answers maintenance texts in 14 minutes (median), which is fast. It also means someone is watching the inbox all day. Of the 19 maintenance texts we could trace to a reply thread, 6 had no reply in the window we read.
The rest (94) are leasing paperwork and scheduling. Rent, money and lease questions always stay with your team.
Resident texts Oct 1 to 21, 2026 · sorted by keyword, so treat as approximate · reply time counts nights07
08 /TODAY
What already works
The foundations are in place. We build on them, not around them.
01 · SPEED
Work is assigned in 24 minutes
Median, request to assigned. Half your orders go to your own in-house team.
02 · REPLIES
Residents hear back in about 14 minutes
Median first reply to a maintenance text. Residents are not left waiting.
03 · NOTICES
AppFolio texts at every step
Submitted, scheduled, reminder and completed notices go out without anyone typing them.
04 · EMERGENCIES
Emergency alerts are set up for your on-call team
Propflow emergency alerts were switched on October 9, set to ring three of your staff in turn.
Work-order activity log · resident texts Oct 1 to 21 · Propflow settings for Western Slope08
09 /FUTURE
Where Propflow plugs in
Clara takes the routine follow-through. Your team keeps every judgment call.
1 · Request
2 · Work order
3 · Vendor
4 · Schedule
5 · Work done
6 · Close
Residenttenant
Portal, call or text, any hour
One thread they can reply to, any hour
Picks a time with Clara; can reschedule
Questions answered right away
Asked: how did it go?
PropflowClara
Reads texts and calls; emergencies ring on-call
Drafts the work order with the details
Suggests the tech you usually send
Coordinates a time with vendor and resident
Answers status questions from the order
Asks “how did it go?” after the job; flags anything not fixed
Your officeby hand
Anything sensitive stays with you
Approves the vendor
Anything off-script comes to you
Morning email of questions nobody answered, linked to the AppFolio thread
Tech / vendorin-house or outside
Accepts the job
Confirms the window
Does the work
Automatic (AppFolio or Clara)Your team decides
Proposed future state · nothing changes without your sign-off09
10 /PHASE 1
Phase 1 · what you chose on October 21
Clara starts at the end of the job. Everything before it stays as it is today.
1 · Request
2 · Work order
3 · Vendor
4 · Schedule
5 · Work done
6 · Close
Residenttenant
Portal, call or text, as today
LaterOne thread they can reply to
LaterPicks a time with Clara
Phase 1Questions answered right away
Phase 1Asked: how did it go?
PropflowClara
LaterReads texts and calls
LaterDrafts the work order
LaterSuggests the tech
LaterCoordinates a time
Phase 1Answers status questions from the order
Phase 1Asks “how did it go?”; flags anything not fixed
Your officeby hand
Takes requests as today, with MCC
Creates the work order, as today
Assigns the vendor, as today
Agrees the time, as today
Approves Clara’s drafts by email; billing, deposits and rent stay with you
Phase 1Morning email of resident questions nobody answered
Tech / vendorin-house or outside
Accepts the job
Confirms the window
Does the work
Clara, phase 1Your team, as todayLater phases
Agreed in the October 21 working session · Clara’s replies go to you by email until they are consistently right10
11 /RECOMMEND
What we recommend, in order
Start where it saves the most and risks the least.
01 · NOW
One "request received" message, not two
AppFolio already sends it. Clara stops drafting her own; 38 were held since Oct 11 and never sent.
02 · NOW
Clara answers routine maintenance texts
"Is the plumber still coming?", "can the latch be adjusted?" · 36 in three weeks · shadow first.
03 · NEXT
Clara agrees the visit time
Matches the resident's preferred times to the tech's window and confirms both · aims at the 16-hour wait.
04 · NEXT
Calls and texts become work orders
Clara drafts the order with the details; your team approves · today 46% are typed by hand.
05 · NEXT
Close the loop: "is it fixed?"
After AppFolio's "completed" text, Clara checks with the resident and reopens if not.
06 · LATER
Retire AppFolio notices one at a time
Once Clara's version is proven, turn AppFolio's off so residents get one conversation, not two streams.
ALWAYS
Judgment calls stay with your team
Rent, bills, deposits, disputes and anything sensitive: 23 in three weeks, never answered by Clara.
Ordered by time saved for your team, lowest risk first11
12 /ROLLOUT
How we turn it on safely
Nothing reaches a resident until you have seen it be right.
1 · Shadow: Clara drafts, your team sends
→
2 · Review: you approve each type
→
3 · On: routine types send on their own
Shadow
See what Clara would say
Every reply Clara would have sent is shown next to what your team actually sent. Nothing goes out.
Review
Turn on one message type at a time
Each type, like "visit scheduled", is switched on only after it has been right in shadow.
Always
One switch turns it off
Rent, lease or legal questions are never answered by Clara. One switch stops all maintenance messages at once.
Same staged rollout used for leasing replies12
13 /PHASE 1 TODAY
Update, November 4 · where phase 1 stands
Phase 1 is running. Next, you choose the pace.
01 · NOW
Running in Supervised since October
Every reply waits for a review before it goes out, and Clara keeps getting better from that feedback.
02 · NEXT
Your choice: keep it supervised, or open the gates
Keep phase 1 in Supervised, or start opening the gates one message type at a time.
03 · YOUR TEAM
Name 1 or 2 reviewers
They approve each of Clara’s drafts with one tap.
04 · DONE
One “request received” text, not two
Clara’s own version is off. AppFolio’s notice stays as the only one.
Propflow · Western Slope maintenance · November 4 update13
14 /PHASE 2
Phase 2 · what we propose next
Clara takes the start of the job too. Your team approves, then it runs.
1 · Request
2 · Work order
3 · Vendor
4 · Schedule
5 · Work done
6 · Close
Residenttenant
Portal, call or text, as today
Phase 2One thread from request to close
LaterPicks a time with Clara
Phase 1 (live)Questions answered right away
Phase 1 (live)Asked: how did it go?
PropflowClara
Phase 1 (live)Reads texts, answers calls; emergencies ring on-call
Phase 2Turns calls and texts into AppFolio work orders, checking for an open one
LaterSuggests the tech, starting with your in-house handyman
LaterCoordinates a time
Phase 1 (live)Answers status questions; “on the way” texts via Orca
Phase 2 · optionalOrca notes and photos on the order
Phase 2Closes the ticket when the resident says it’s fixed; bulk close
Your officeby hand
Takes requests as today, with MCC
Approves phase-2 drafts: 1–2 named reviewers
Assigns the vendor, as today
Agrees the time, as today
Judgment calls stay with you: billing, deposits, rent
Says what counts as done
Tech / vendorin-house or outside
Accepts the job
Confirms the window
Does the work
Phase 1 (live)Phase 2Your team, as todayLater
Proposed · each step turns on separately, and stays supervised until you choose to open it14
15 /PHASE 2 · EXAMPLES
Where phase 2 would have helped · your last few weeks
Real cases phase 2 would have picked up.
What happened
With phase 2, Clara would have…
Phase 2 piece
Oct 27 · text with a photoRoofers knocked something off and the kitchen light filled with water. The office said it would open a work order.
Drafted the AppFolio work order from the text, photo attached, for your approval.
WORK ORDERS
Oct 30 · text to your main lineA resident reported a fence panel down by the driveway and asked for a request to be filed.
Drafted the work order from the text, checking for an open one first.
WORK ORDERS
Oct 30 · Unit 320A swamp-cooler winterization reminder went out; the resident replied there is no swamp cooler.
Drafted closing the order as not needed, for your approval.
CLOSING
Oct 27 · building-wide cooler shutdownA resident asked at 9:29 pm what time the techs would come (at work until 6); the answer came next morning.
Texted them when the tech marked “on the way” in the field app.
ORCA “ON THE WAY” · NOW ON
Oct 25 · Unit 421“No one’s come to winterize our swamp cooler yet, when will someone be out?” The next text in the thread came 9 days later.
Answered from the order in one thread, then texted when the tech was on the way.
ONE THREAD · ORCA
Orca already talks to Clara. On a tech’s “job done”, Clara adds the notes and photos to the order, closes it and asks “how did it go?”, held for your approval while Supervised.
Your maintenance texts, calls and work orders, Oct 25 to 30 · names and numbers left out15
16 /NEXT STEPS
Your team decides. Clara does the follow-through.
Next: name your reviewers and choose the pace. Each step opens only when you say so.