They were allowed to compete because they won BYU's business-plan contest.

Still, the BYU business whizzes managed to beat a team from the University of Georgia that won second place in the Showdown with the KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detector, which rouses children with a voice recording. Third place went to the Harvard Business School's Jadoo Power Systems, which makes fuel-cell batteries for surveillance devices and broadcast cameras.

"It never hurts to beat Harvard at something," Bateman said. Property Solutions made the Showdown's first cut, when 56 entries from 49 schools were winnowed to eight finalists. A 10-minute conference call with the judges in August was the final competition for the elite eight.

As for Bateman's wife, Amanda, she convinced her employer to use VantageXP. However, she quit her job a month ago to start her own property management company.

So is she using her husband's software in her new venture?

"Of course," he said.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com