As COVID asserted its control, it became obvious that the traditional ways of business would have to change. The multifamily sector, known for being a person-to-person industry, had no choice but to embrace the technological advances it once spurned.
With so many changes occurring in multifamily leasing and management, owner/operators are seeking ways to meet the challenges of shifting consumer tastes, ongoing hiring and retention issues and maximizing revenues. Centralization is the next step.
Prospective renter preferences and expectations vary significantly, as do renter profiles, between the multifamily and single-family space. Operators must market and manage accordingly for optimal property performance, so it is essential to define and distinguish the demographics for each group.
With cross-country moves continuing and a sizable portion of the workforce shifting to remote and hybrid work environments, prospective residents are beginning searches for new homes much earlier. How can we make sure we’re not leaving these leads behind?
The past 12 months have been hard on us all. Apartment leasing – and life in general – have felt upside down at times. But the leasing experience during the pandemic is not an anomaly. Instead, with its proliferation of touring options like self-guided tours and video tours, it points the way to the future.
One area where property managers need to up their game is sourcing their leads. An Anyone Home analysis of one large operator found the company’s lead source accuracy was only 56%. In my experience, this stat is far from uncommon across the industry.
By this I mean operators too often think of implementing solutions as an either/or scenario: should we offer guided tours or self-guided tours? Should we have prospects interact with chatbots or leasing agents over the phone? The answer in these situations is almost always “both.”
If you visit Porsche’s factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, the first thing you notice is … well … it’s tiny! Like smaller than a satellite parking lot at Ford! And when you learn that they make more than 55,000 cars per year at that factory, it’s easy to ask, “How?”
One of the keys to successfully adapting to the pandemic is to realize that nothing has to be set up perfectly before implementation.
Self-guided tours were certainly becoming more common in multifamily before COVID-19. With social distancing, the adaption of them has accelerated.
Self-guided tours were inching their way toward the multifamily mainstream before the coronavirus hit. Now, with the need for social distancing still here, they’re much more common across the apartment industry. This is a solution that is here to stay.