HOT & RELEVANT TOPICS
Balancing Technology with Human Interaction in Multifamily
For multifamily, technology increases productivity, strengthens decision-making, increases efficiencies and improves the resident experience. With rents continuing to rise, residents’ expectations are increasing as well. By implementing proptech, creating a feature-rich website and offering a helpful app, onsite teams are able to continue offering exceptional service while technology helps carry the workload.
Read Julie Blank’s article in The Multifamily Journal
Proptech for a Touchless Today and Tomorrow: COVID’s Lasting Influence
Despite all the challenges introduced by the pandemic, some positives emerged for the multifamily industry. While select technologies were born out of necessity and have since fallen by the wayside, some of the advancements adopted by owner/operators continue to provide assistance and gains. Mobile maintenance systems, online payments and paperless offices are emerging as lasting benefits to the tech surge in the industry.
Read Paul Willis’ article in NAA Industry Insider
What Residents Hate Most About Apartment Life (And How to Fix It)
Lease renewals are as important as bringing new people in the door, and the way to drive those renewals isn’t always to find out what makes residents happy, but instead to find the drivers of dissatisfaction. Inadequate customer service from teams, administrative hassles and poor maintenance are some of the items that typically discourage residents from choosing to stay. Understanding residents and addressing problem areas are key to driving renewals.
Read Alex Samoylovich’s article in Multifamily Insiders
IN THE NEWS
Property Managers Report Application Fraud Increase
An estimated 11 million fraudulent leasing applications were submitted in the past year, and a large majority of property managers believe applicants are becoming more comfortable with the practice. Digitally altered pay stubs and bank statements offer false impressions of a prospective resident’s financial worthiness and can lead to evictions, one of the biggest expenses owner/operators face.
Read Leah Draffen’s article in Multifamily Executive
Multifamily Braces for Another Fed Rate Hike
Now that hopes for inflation to correct itself have faded, the Federal Reserve is instituting another significant rate hike in an attempt to cool the economy. Increased borrowing costs may result in acquisitions, deals and developments that could be paused until those costs decline. However, even with the hike, interest rates remain at historic lows and the industry as a whole remains strong even as growth slows from record levels.
Read Jeffrey Steele’s article in Multi-Housing News
The U.S. Will Need More Than 4 Million New Apartments by 2035
The United States will need to build about 266,000 new apartments every year for the next 12 years to meet rising demand and address the 600,000-unit deficit that currently exists, according to research by the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association. More than 30% of those new units will be needed in California, Florida and Texas alone. The report also stated that in order to meet this goal, developers need to be provided greater incentives and fewer restrictions, as well as explore innovative measures to spur development.