Idea Spike 6: Building Management System

By Matt Paulin
Posted on November 15, 2025

Building a Condo BMS in Two Days Using AI: From Idea Spike to Full Property Management Platform

On November 15, 2025, I completed my sixth idea spike: a rapid-fire exploration where I take an idea and see how quickly I can turn it into a working system using vibe coding and modern AI development tools. This time, the inspiration came from a friend who serves on the board of his condo complex and was dissatisfied with the software available to manage the building. That raised a simple but compelling question.

How quickly could I build a full property management platform for a condo community—something that actually solves the real problems residents and boards face?

The answer: about two days.

By combining structured product management, fast user-story iteration, and AI-powered development tools, I built a multi-role Building Management System (BMS) deployed to Google Cloud with real functionality across communication, maintenance, invoicing, budgeting, and more.

What started as a casual discussion became a working prototype of a professional-grade platform. And, interestingly, many of the features I naturally gravitated toward aligned closely with a full research-backed requirements set for modern condo property management software.

This article explains the build, the system, and how it aligns with the core capabilities expected of a mature BMS.

Why Condo Communities Need Their Own BMS

Condo communities are unique. They operate like small municipalities, managing:

  • Finances
  • Maintenance of shared assets
  • Community communication
  • Compliance and governance
  • Owners, tenants, and vendors

A BMS (Building Management System) for these communities must unify communication, payments, maintenance operations, and governance into a single, clear interface. It needs to serve everyone—residents, owners, managers, board members—with appropriate permissions and high transparency.

During the idea spike, I built exactly that.

The System I Built: A Multi-Role Condo Management Platform

The system includes four user types, each with their own dashboard and permissions.

1. Administrator Panel

Admins have full visibility and control:

  • Registry of all units
  • Occupancy and ownership tracking
  • Assignment of units to owners or tenants
  • Invoice management
  • Maintenance request oversight
  • Building-wide announcements
  • Budgeting and financial tools
  • Reporting dashboards

This mirrors the “Resident and Unit Management” and “Financials and Accounting” core capabilities identified in condo-management research.

2. Manager View

Managers have a reduced, operations-focused interface:

  • Maintenance request processing
  • Announcements
  • Limited unit and resident management

3. Owner Portal

Owners can:

  • View owned and occupied units
  • Track their maintenance requests
  • Receive announcements
  • Access key documents

4. Resident Portal

Residents have access to:

  • Announcements
  • Maintenance requests
  • Messaging tools

How the Build Progressed

I followed a familiar product-development loop:

  1. Collect user stories
  2. Translate them into features
  3. Build each feature in sequence
  4. Deploy and test
  5. Repeat

On the technical side:

  • Postgres database
  • Docker for local development
  • Production deployment to Google Cloud Run
  • GitHub Actions generated by Claude Code
  • Deployment assisted and monitored by Gemini

Core Capabilities of a Complete Condo BMS

1. Resident and Unit Management

A BMS must maintain a complete registry of:

  • Units, owners, and tenants
  • Occupancy and contact details
  • Unit attributes (size, parking, amenities)
  • Move-in / move-out history
  • Emergency contacts

2. Financials, Accounting, and Dues Collection

  • HOA dues, assessments, and fees
  • Automated invoicing
  • Online payments (ACH, cards, e-check)
  • Late-fee rules
  • Vendor bills and accounts payable
  • Budgeting and reserve tracking
  • Full audit trails

3. Maintenance, Repairs, and Work Orders

  • Submit and track maintenance requests
  • Assign work orders
  • Track costs and attach invoices
  • Preventive maintenance scheduling
  • Automated notifications

4. Governance, Meetings, and Board Processes

  • Board and committee roles
  • Meeting scheduling and minutes
  • Voting and elections
  • Violation tracking
  • Governing document storage

5. Communication and Community Engagement

  • Mass announcements
  • Message boards
  • Event calendars
  • Surveys and polls
  • Document library

6. Access Control, Security, and Building Operations

  • Digital access credentials
  • Visitor management
  • Smart lock integrations

7. Reporting and Analytics

  • Standard reports
  • Custom report builder
  • Maintenance backlog dashboards
  • Forecasting tools
  • Full audit logs

8. User, Role, and Permission Management

  • Role-based permissions
  • Two-factor authentication
  • SSO options
  • Insurance policy tracking
  • Certificates of insurance
  • Compliance checklists
  • Violation letters and notices

10. Mobile and Field Tools

  • Responsive mobile design
  • Work-order updates in the field
  • Photo uploads
  • Push notifications
  • Offline mode

11. Integrations and Extensibility

  • APIs and webhooks
  • Accounting exports
  • Banking integrations
  • E-signatures

12. Security, Backup, and Auditability

  • Data encryption
  • Backups and disaster recovery
  • Granular permissions
  • Rate limiting
  • Detailed access logs

Phased Roadmap: MVP to Full Platform

Phase 1 – MVP (Implemented in Idea Spike)

  • Owner and unit registry
  • Basic dues invoicing
  • Resident portal
  • Maintenance requests
  • Basic reporting
  • Role-based permissions

Phase 2 – Core Expansion

  • Governance tools
  • Violations and compliance
  • Vendor management
  • Forecasting
  • Document storage
  • Mobile notifications

Phase 3 – Advanced and Integrations

  • Smart-access systems
  • Amenity reservations
  • IoT integrations
  • Predictive analytics
  • Plugin ecosystem
  • Full audit and compliance modules

Key Challenges Ahead

  • Ensuring an intuitive UI for all residents
  • Accurate and transparent financial reporting
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Flexible workflows tailored to each community
  • Data migration from legacy systems
  • Pricing models
  • Support and training

Conclusion

In just a couple of days, using vibe coding and AI development tools, it was possible to build a working Building Management System for condo communities and deploy it to Google Cloud. What began as an experiment quickly mapped onto a full-fledged blueprint for professional-grade property management software.

With further iteration, this could evolve into a robust system ready for real communities, blending governance, operations, communication, and financial management into a unified, modern experience.