The spreadsheet that wouldn't die
Here's a conversation that happened this week:
Me: "So how do you track property keys?"
Agency manager: "Spreadsheet. Staff write their name when they take keys out."
Me: "Do they write when they return them?"
Manager: long pause "They're supposed to..."
This is the problem with physical asset tracking—it happens outside the software. Keys, meter readings, photos—all the non-digital stuff gets tracked in notebooks, whiteboards, or (if you're lucky) spreadsheets that nobody keeps updated.
This week I built proper lifecycle tracking for all the physical aspects of property management. Keys, meters, photos, everything. Because if your software only tracks digital records, you're solving half the problem.
The key problem everyone has
Every letting agency has the same key management disaster:
Someone takes keys for a viewing. Forgets to return them. Another agent needs the same keys for maintenance. Spends 20 minutes asking "who has the Victoria Road keys?" Nobody knows. Eventually find them in someone's desk drawer.
Or worse: three people think they have the spare key. None of them actually have it. It's... somewhere.
Without accountability, keys disappear into desk drawers, coat pockets, car glove compartments. And when you need them urgently—plumber waiting outside a leaking property—good luck finding them.
This week I built proper key checkout:
- Check keys out to yourself with expected return date
- System tracks who has what in real-time
- Updates visible across all staff instantly
- Automatic email reminders when keys overdue
Simple concept. Massive improvement in practice.
Before: "Who has the Victoria Road keys?" → 20-minute hunt → frustrated plumber → professional embarrassment
After: Check property page → "Front Door Keys - Checked out to Sarah (mobile)" → Call Sarah → Plumber has access in 5 minutes
Time saved: 20 minutes per key search × 2-4 searches daily = 208-417 hours annually for 3-person agency.
Beyond time savings: complete audit trail. Landlord asks "who accessed my property last week?" You have exact answer with timestamps. Insurance claim requires access documentation? You have it. Staff member frequently forgets to return keys? Data shows pattern clearly.
The meter reading notebook
Utility meter readings are another operational pain point. Move-in inspections require recording readings. Move-out inspections too. These numbers determine who pays utilities and prevent disputes.
So where do agencies track them?
Paper forms. Notebook entries. Photos on personal phones. Occasionally a spreadsheet if someone's organized.
Then six months later tenant disputes their utility bill claiming readings were inaccurate. You need move-out evidence from March. Good luck finding that notebook page.
This week I added proper meter tracking:
- Multiple meters per property (electricity, gas, water)
- Readings with dates and photo evidence
- Automatic consumption calculation between readings
- Complete searchable history for every property
Digital records with timestamps and photo proof. Tenant disputes reading? Pull up record, show photo of their meter display showing exact reading, timestamped on move-out date. Dispute resolved in 30 seconds instead of 40 minutes hunting for lost paperwork.
Time saved: ~17 hours annually from tracking efficiency plus dispute prevention worth £100-500 per avoided escalation.
Unexpected benefit: Historical consumption data reveals problems early. Consumption spike 200% higher? Investigate meter fault or leak before it becomes expensive disaster. Consumption pattern change? Tenant moved out early without notice.
The photo upload torture
Staff photograph properties constantly. Inspections, condition reports, listing photos. Often from mobile phones at property with patchy connection.
Previous implementation: Upload one photo at a time. Each photo takes 8-10 seconds on mobile network. Twelve photos? You're standing around for 3 minutes watching a progress bar.
Multiply by 5 inspections daily: 12.5 minutes wasted daily standing around waiting for uploads.
This week I rebuilt photo uploads to work in parallel:
- Upload 5 photos simultaneously (not one-at-a-time)
- Individual progress bars for each file
- Failures don't block other uploads (retry just the failed one)
- Adaptive concurrency based on connection quality
Result: Twelve photos upload in under 1 minute instead of 3 minutes.
75% reduction in upload time = 38-42 hours saved annually per field agent.
Is it glamorous? No. Does it save real time every single day? Absolutely.
Field agent daily workflow change:
- Before: 13 minutes daily waiting for photo uploads
- After: 3 minutes daily waiting for photo uploads
- Difference: 10 minutes saved daily = earlier finish or capacity for additional inspection
The technical challenges (there are always technical challenges)
Parallel uploads sound simple: just upload multiple files at once. Except:
Concurrency management: Upload too many simultaneously on slow connection → they all fail. Need dynamic adjustment based on success rate. System now detects connection quality and throttles automatically (5 concurrent on 4G, 3 on 3G, 2 on very slow connections).
Progress tracking: Five files uploading simultaneously, each needs individual progress bar updating smoothly. Solved with Alpine.js reactive state + XMLHttpRequest progress events (Fetch API doesn't support upload progress well).
Partial failures: Third file fails, other four succeed. Can't block successful uploads. Need per-file error handling with selective retry. Each upload independent, failures isolated.
Mobile network reality: Connection quality varies dramatically. System adjusts concurrency in real-time: detect failures → reduce concurrency → improve reliability. Detect successes → increase concurrency → improve speed.
Took several iterations to get right. But now works reliably across Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G, even slow 2G without manual configuration.
Why this week matters
This week taught me that sometimes the most valuable features aren't the exciting ones.
Real-time collaboration? Exciting. Offline-first mobile? Exciting. Parallel photo uploads? Not exciting.
But which actually saves more time?
Boring infrastructure improvements affect every single operation, hundreds of times daily. Fix key tracking → save 20 minutes every time someone needs keys urgently. Fix meter readings → prevent every billing dispute. Fix photo uploads → save 10 minutes every day per field agent.
Cumulative impact calculation:
- Key tracking: 208-417 hours/year saved (3-person office)
- Meter tracking: ~17 hours/year + dispute prevention value
- Photo uploads: 76 hours/year (2 field agents)
- Total: 300+ hours annually (7.5 work weeks)
For features nobody notices until they need them.
The best software acknowledges physical reality
The other lesson: software that only tracks digital records fails letting agencies.
Agencies work in the physical world:
- They have actual keys to manage (not just database records)
- They have actual meters to read (not just API calls)
- They have actual properties to photograph (not just data entry)
If your software ignores physical operations, users work around it with spreadsheets and notebooks. And then you've failed to actually solve their problems.
This week's work bridges digital and physical:
- Digital key checkout for physical keys
- Digital meter records with physical photo evidence
- Digital photo upload handling physical mobile workflows
Software that meets agencies where they actually work, not where developers wish they worked.
What agencies actually get
If you're running a letting agency, here's what this week means:
Key accountability: Know who has which keys instantly. Automatic reminders when overdue. No more 20-minute hunts. Complete audit trail for landlords and insurance.
Meter reading records: Digital records with photos and timestamps for every meter reading. Evidence if disputes arise. No lost notebook pages. Consumption history reveals problems early.
Faster photo uploads: Field agents spend 1 minute uploading photos instead of 3 minutes. Multiply by 5 inspections daily and that's 10 minutes saved. 42 hours annually. Real time back.
Mobile-optimized everything: Key checkout works on phones. Meter reading entry works on tablets. Photo uploads work on patchy connections. Because that's where this work actually happens.
Performance optimization is always worth doing
That 3-minute photo upload delay? Barely noticeable for one upload. But multiply by thousands of uploads per month across multiple agencies and it's hours of wasted time every single day.
Small inefficiency × high frequency = massive cumulative waste.
Fixing it saved more time than building a flashy new feature would have.
Also: boring features are easier to sell than you'd think. Try explaining real-time WebSocket architecture to an agency manager—eyes glaze over. Try explaining "your keys will never go missing again" or "stop wasting 3 minutes per inspection waiting for uploads"—instant understanding and appreciation.
Boring infrastructure improvements that save time in obvious, measurable ways? That's what agencies actually need.
What's next
Next week: probably something more exciting than key management and photo upload optimization.
But at least the operational foundation is solid now. Physical asset tracking works. Mobile workflows efficient. Field agents spend less time waiting, more time working.
Building flashy features on top of reliable, fast infrastructure is way easier than building them on fragile, slow foundations.
We'd Love to Hear from You
How does your agency track physical assets? Keys, meter readings, inspection photos? Spreadsheets? Notebooks? Hope?
How much time do you waste on operational overhead? Key searches, lost documentation, slow uploads—small delays that add up to hours weekly.
What physical-world operations slow your agency down? We're building LetAdmin based on real agency workflows, not theoretical software features.
Get in touch: paul@letadmin.com
LetAdmin is in active development, built by letting agents for letting agents. This week's operational improvements (key tracking, meter readings, parallel uploads) are being used at Phillip James (370+ properties) to save 300+ hours annually. If you're interested in seeing how it works or want to join the priority list, we'd love to hear from you.