What are the Real Costs of Paper Files? Part 1 of 2

Have you ever thought about how much paper files really cost your company? We’ve talked with our property manager partners and we’ve done the math. It could cost much more than you think.

Applicant File Lifecycle

To understand the real cost of working with only paper applicant files, let’s take a look at what’s involved. 

(need some help with this) First, an applicant will submit a paper application that gets put into a file. Then the property manager has to sort it, along with the rest of the applications, either alphabetically or by placement number. Once sorted, the files need to be placed into filing cabinets so they can be securely stored. Every time a letter is sent to an applicant, a copy of the letter must be made so it can be added to the file. Whenever an applicant submits additional documentation, like income and asset documents or copies of government-issued IDs, their file must be located again so these documents can be added. Your property managers will also have to make multiple appointments with the applicants to collect and review all of the required documents. And all communication with the applicant should be logged and added to the file for compliance purposes.

Breaking Down the Costs

In this post we’re going to portray the typical costs of opening a waitlist in a large bi-coastal city. If you would like us to run some estimates for you for another location, please let us know.

The first thing to know is that your costs will vary depending on your location. For example, in major metropolitan areas the cost of a good temp may $40/hour. However, we have customers in less competitive markets who only pay $20/hour. Additionally, our customers in bi-coastal states can receive 5,000 or more applications for people who remain on waitlists for up to 10 years. This is not at all typical in more rural areas. 

Processing the Applications

For a waitlist opening that receives 5,000 applications, it will usually take about 2 weeks to process the applications. This includes deciphering mountains of semi-legible text and entering the data into Excel, which is frequently fraught with errors, and can cause problems like incorrect contact information and misspelled names.

Once the data entry is complete, the applications will have to be sorted. The applications will usually be sorted alphabetically or based on applicant placement number, depending on the requirements of your property.

After the applications are sorted, they will need to be securely stored. The costs for storage vary based on location, and offices in areas with higher real estate values will end up spending more per square foot than offices in less expensive regions.

Processing 5,000 applications in 2 weeks requires about 2.5 full-time temps. At $40/hour, this ends up costing about $8,000, not including the storage costs.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post. And in the meantime, schedule a free demo with us today to learn more about how Haven Connect’s Virtual Document Collection can save your business thousands of dollars.