As apartment operators slowly abandon antiquated pet policies in favor of forward-thinking procedures that reflect the preferences of the modern-day renter, pet owners and non-pet owners tend to agree on several issues that conventional wisdom suggests they’d typically be divided on.
In the apartment industry, you seldom observe organizations that downplay the employee experience. Great results, average culture doesn’t necessarily qualify as a sizzling tagline. Yet while nearly all organizations claim that they are among the best places to work, it can ring hollow in some instances.
According to the Multifamily Pet Policies and Amenities Survey recently released by PetScreening and J Turner Research, 26% of pet-owning respondents indicated they acquired their pet during the pandemic. The rate climbs to 39% when narrowing down to student-only respondents.
More than ever, the rental housing industry understands the value of data-driven decisions. The industry has done a commendable job of collecting the data—particularly in the past few years—but still must make headway in quantifying it and converting it to actionable business intelligence (BI).
Like any industry, residential building operators saw their entire work lives change in a matter of weeks at the onset of the pandemic. There were obstacles aplenty. Managers had to adjust to working with smaller property management teams—or in some cases, with teams almost exclusively offsite.
For decades, pet policies were something of a cookie-cutter concept at apartment communities: Only certain breeds, only certain sizes and a limit of one or two pets per household. Those standard policies, have become antiquated as pet owners constitute one of the fastest growing segments in rental housing.
The multifamily industry has largely been composed of closed systems that perform a specific functionality and don’t play well with others. But more than ever, the industry is learning that true integration can result in streamlined operations and create several new layers of accessibility.
Prospects expect to see a variety of review content, and often are more concerned with how well the community is addressing resident concerns. The adverse impact of a negative review is lessened if the community team is handling the concern in a friendly and effective manner.
A new apartment may be where residents will bring home their first child, or perhaps it represents a fresh start. And normally the leasing associate can help set the stage for that experience. onsite teams are learning on the fly which tech best enhance personalization.
It has become readily apparent that housing providers don’t have the luxury of playing the waiting game until things return to normal. Business as usual isn’t coming anytime soon, which has forced industry leaders to adjust on the fly and modify longstanding processes.