MWD Residential Lettings manages 550 properties across Scotland, from individual landlords to institutional partners, and for years that meant one person carried the inventory process almost single-handedly. It took the most experienced property manager on the team to keep up with the pace it demanded.
Today, every property manager runs their own inventory, to the same standard, and the business has saved the equivalent of a full-time hire in the process, real money it would otherwise be spending as its portfolio keeps growing.
The problem: a digital form wearing a modern coat
MWD's previous suppliers weren't bad systems. They were dated ones. Dropdowns and descriptions had to be built up manually on-site, photo quality was inconsistent, and taking photos itself was slow. Whatever a property manager captured in the field still needed double-checking back at the office before it could go anywhere near a landlord, which meant the job was never really finished when the visit ended.
The hours told the real story. An inventory meant one to two hours at the property, then at least an hour putting the report together afterwards. A routine inspection added another hour, split between the visit and the write-up. A check-out was worse: an hour on-site and two more back at the office, just to produce the report, before anyone had even compared it against the original inventory. That comparison, done by hand, could easily add another three hours on top. Across the lifecycle of a single tenancy, that added up to four or five hours of pure admin, most of it copying, pasting and cross-referencing rather than anything that needed a property professional's judgement.
With around 25 appointments a month, that manual overhead was quietly costing the business the equivalent of a working week, every single month, for one property manager alone.
The switch: moving two legacy platforms without lifting a finger
The part MWD expected to be hardest turned out to be the easiest. Wooma Vault consolidated the business's entire history from its previous suppliers and backed it up as part of the switch, with the migration handled entirely on Wooma's side.
Switching systems is normally the most stressful part of any change like this. You're always worrying about the data. Wooma made it as easy as switching bank accounts. It just worked, and we didn't need to lift a finger. I've never seen a switch that smooth in this sector before.
Mark Dempsie
Managing Director, MWD Residential Lettings
The solution: an inventory anyone on the team can run
Wooma's AI image scanning generates accurate descriptions in seconds, and the output keeps improving on its own, with the Wooma team pushing updates to the workflow every week based directly on feedback from MWD's own property managers. Photo quality is sharper, reports come out consistent regardless of who's compiling them, and the whole thing runs on the phones and devices the team already carries.
That consistency changed who could do the job. Alan Craig, who leads on inspections, no longer has to be the one doing every inventory himself.
Check-outs used to mean downloading the original inventory, downloading every inspection since, then comparing it all by hand. Wooma does the whole thing in seconds now. For check-outs alone, it's an absolute game changer.
Alan Craig
Property Manager, MWD Residential Lettings
Around ten check-outs a week now run through Wooma automatically, comparisons included, and less experienced team members produce reports to the same standard as MWD's most seasoned inspector. An AI-generated summary of every report also gives the wider team instant context on a property's history, so nobody has to read through a full report to pick up where a colleague left off.
The integration: Street.co.uk as the single source of truth
MWD runs its CRM on Street.co.uk, and the integration between the two platforms is one the business has directly helped shape alongside the Wooma team. Wooma pulls MWD's properties automatically from Street, keeping the two systems in sync so Street stays the single source of truth for the portfolio, rather than something the team has to update by hand in two places.
Landlords and tenants sync the same way. Documents can be sent straight to tenants for eSignature, and on to landlords once complete, without anyone copying contact details across from one system to the other. The moment a document is signed off, it syncs back to Street automatically, so the record in the CRM never falls out of date.
The results: consistency the business can put a number on
Reporting time has dropped by roughly two hours per inventory or check-out, and the 5 to 6 hours of manual copying and cross-referencing that used to fill a property manager's week has effectively disappeared. Across the business, that's worth around 50 hours a month, more than 600 hours a year, the equivalent of 15 working weeks that's gone back into managing client relationships instead of paperwork.
Previously, it took our most experienced person to keep pace with an inventory. Now every property manager runs their own, to the same standard. That gives me total confidence every client gets consistent quality, no matter who's compiling the report.
Susan Westwater
Letting Agent, MWD Residential Lettings
That consistency reaches tenants too. MWD's tenant portal means far more reports now come back signed and returned, which has meant fewer disputes at check-out, and a clearer, fully auditable record across a property's entire lifecycle. On the financial side, MWD no longer needs to outsource overflow inventory work during busy periods, and the business is on track to avoid hiring additional property managers as its portfolio grows, a cost saving already estimated at £60,000 a year.
What's next: closing the loop on scheduling and compliance
MWD and Wooma are now building on the Street integration to automate scheduling itself. Appointments will be generated automatically in Wooma based on when a property's compliance certificates are due to expire, then slotted into an optimised route for each property manager, so there's no gap between a certificate lapsing and a visit being booked to renew it.
Alongside that, the two teams are building a dedicated AI tool to manage the team's email inboxes: sorting messages, creating tasks, and helping the wider business get more out of AI generally, not just out of Wooma.
Other systems don't have someone in the trenches with property managers who actually understands the problems to solve. Wooma clearly combines property expertise with tech expertise, and it shows. Feedback is always welcomed, and changes get prioritised fast, at MD level and on the ground.
Mark Dempsie
Managing Director, MWD Residential Lettings
With the business projecting 50% growth over the next three years, MWD sees that partnership as central to getting there without growing headcount to match. Mark Dempsie sums it up plainly: he wouldn't hesitate to recommend Wooma to other agents across Scotland and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
How much has MWD Residential Lettings saved by switching to Wooma? MWD estimates around £60,000 a year in direct savings, money it would otherwise be spending on extra property managers as its 550-property portfolio grows at current projections.
How much time does Wooma save on inventories and check-outs? Reporting time has dropped by roughly two hours per inventory or check-out, reclaiming around 50 hours a month, more than 600 hours a year, across the team.
How did MWD migrate its historic inventory data to Wooma? Wooma Vault consolidated MWD's entire history from its previous suppliers, with the migration handled entirely on Wooma's side and no manual work required from the MWD team.
Does Wooma integrate with Street.co.uk? Yes. Wooma pulls MWD's properties, landlords and tenants automatically from Street.co.uk, and syncs signed documents straight back once complete, keeping Street as the single source of truth for the portfolio.
Can less experienced property managers run inventories to the same standard with Wooma? Yes. Before Wooma, only MWD's most experienced property manager could keep pace running inventories. Now every property manager on the team produces reports to the same standard, regardless of experience.
If your team is still relying on one person to hold your inventory process together, request a demo to see what Wooma looks like across a whole portfolio.