Resident retention is the cornerstone of multifamily success. As a property manager, it’s your top priority to keep your occupancy rates high, whether you oversee a few communities or a vast portfolio of properties. With this in mind, it’s important to focus on meeting potential residents’ demands for maximum appeal while continuing to satisfy current residents’ needs.
The first step is being attuned to the latest trends. For example, expectations of high-quality rental accommodation are rapidly increasing. As the world around us modernizes, residents expect the same quality, convenience, and high-tech amenities in their buildings as they have in every other aspect of their lives. So to succeed in today’s market, you must deliver the best possible living experience to your tenants and that means staying on top of emerging trends and meeting their evolving expectations.
So, how can multifamily property managers meet these growing needs?
1. Peace of mind
Visibility over the security of their apartments can help to reduce any unnecessary stress in your residents’ day-to-day lives. With access technology installed in your buildings, including entrances, common rooms, and apartments, both you and your residents can enjoy increased peace of mind. Through an easy-to-use app, residents are able to check if doors are locked and can even lock or unlock apartments remotely, giving them greater control over their living spaces.
Water solutions, which rely on sensors and IoT tech to alert property managers and residents of leaks or usage anomalies, can also help to put your residents’ minds at ease. With this intelligent technology in place, they won’t have to worry about unforeseen costs due to major damages caused by a leak or a high bill due to a tap being left on, as the system’s valves will automatically cut off the supply in these circumstances.
2. Energy savings
Cost of living is top of mind for many this year. Your current and prospective residents will likely be looking for ways to save on bills wherever possible to combat higher energy rates. Property managers can appeal to their needs by installing smart home technology, such as a smart thermostat, which has the potential to save residents (or property managers when a unit is vacant) up to 23% on energy consumption.
Smart thermostats enable residents to set temperature schedules in their homes for optimized usage based on their habits. The devices can recognize sudden deviations, such as a door or window being left open in the winter. Built-in geo-fencing technology enables the smart thermostat to detect when a resident is away from the property. In both of these scenarios, the intelligent technology will automatically adjust to reduce wasted energy consumption.
In our Property Management Insights report, we found that 73% of enterprise multifamily property managers who utilize smart tech solutions are seeing annual savings in their operating expenses. Beyond that, two-thirds strongly agree that smart home tech is equally as valuable for operational savings as it is in creating new revenue.
3. Customizable living experience
Smart home amenities that have proven popular for homeowners, such as smart lights, smart thermostats, and virtual assistants, are now available for renters too. These amenities allow residents to customize their living experience based on preference, which enables residents to create a comfortable and convenient living space.
Residents can set up a heating/cooling schedule on their HVAC system through a smart thermostat based on their daily routine, creating a comfortable and convenient living space.
4. Seamless, secure access
Integrating community access technology into the locks in your building enables you to provide seamless access to visitors, vendors, staff, and prospective residents. Current residents will also benefit from this technology, as they can enter the building and their apartment without a physical key and remotely grant access to their visitors.
This means if your resident is at work and is expecting a dog walker, they can provide a temporary access code that only works during the allotted time and granting more control over the security of their home. Seamless access also creates a better living experience for residents, as they no longer have to walk to the building’s entrance to allow visitors in or miss parcels when they’re away from the property.
According to our research, smart lock technology is the most desired property feature for current and potential multifamily residents.
Automated smart home technology empowers property managers to provide residents with a more convenient, less stressful lifestyle that can be tailor made to fit their preferences. Devices, such as smart locks connected to Community Access technology, offer required building security for everyone. Meanwhile, monitoring tech, such as HVAC and water sensors or smart thermostats, actively protects against costly bills and damages – an appealing feature in the current economic environment.
Home automation technology is a no-brainer for property managers who want to keep current residents happy while attracting new prospective residents in the year ahead. The benefits of these smart property innovations, like safety, security, and cost-efficiency, apply to the property, business, and employees.
Looking for more ways to improve your multifamily property’s appeal? Read our blog on the sustainability trend.
