The most important multifamily news of the week: leasing lessons learned during the pandemic, event opportunities this spring, single-family rental operators becoming common buyers of new homes, rent prices show largest jump in April since 2017, NAHB asks Biden administration to address lumber costs, and investors are walking away from ‘walkability.’
This week’s top storylines in multifamily: trends in post-pandemic rental housing, consumer demand for environmentally conscious designs, the nuances of assistance animals in rental housing revealed, smart rent goes public in $2.2 billion merger, developers struggling with lumber prices and an increase in demand for multifamily professionals.
The most important multifamily headlines of the week: short-term rentals are here to stay, how to attract and convert prospects with your property website, the power of ‘and’ for multifamily operators, developers are struggling to build garden-style communities, keeping expenses in check in an uncertain market and making a statement on DE&I.
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.”
Survey data indicates that an overwhelming 71% of residents support charging higher pet fees for irresponsible pet ownership. This includes failure to pick up after pets and repeated off-leash instances. It also factors in pet misbehavior, such as incessant barking and aggressive behavior.
This week’s top multifamily storylines: study shows more renters moved in 2020 despite the pandemic, the complexity of apartment companies requiring vaccines, average rent due to exceed $6K for those behind on rent, LeaseLock hits $1B in leases insured, Lincoln gets ready to acquire Excelsior Multifamily and affordable housing set to get a boost from Biden’s infrastructure plan.
The top multifamily headlines this week: COVID’s impact on rent varies by neighborhood, the most common mistakes of a smart home retrofit for multifamily, smart access control provides assistance during pandemic, the top markets for apartment net absorption, the extension of the federal eviction moratorium and the strength of affordable housing lending.
Package management had become a growing concern for apartment communities, even before “safer at home” and “quarantine” became a part of our everyday life. But the pandemic triggered an irreversible trend for consumers, who now rely on e-commerce for even their most basic needs.
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.
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.