Numerous outside factors are affecting apartment operations, but leasing remains strong across the board.

Photography courtesy of TCA Architects

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for technology and spurred a digital transformation in the rental housing industry. While the need for this transformation might have always lurked beneath the surface, it was the pandemic that accelerated its rise, impacting all sectors of the industry from corporate offices to the onsite teams.

The horrible effects of the pandemic have given way to a technological evolution in the industry that might have never been seen, or at least not for years into the future, and yielded unexpected benefits for multifamily professionals as well as prospective and current residents.

The economic pressures witnessed in supply chain shortages, workforce shortages and inflation have also affected the rental housing industry and operations at the community level. Onsite teams and regional staff have adjusted throughout the past two years to improve business operations and better the lives of their residents. One of the most impacted areas of operations in the industry has been leasing, renewals included.

Interactions

The traditional leasing interaction has changed dramatically during the pandemic, and it was well on its way to this change prior to the catalyst of the coronavirus. Current and prospective residents have voiced their feedback, good and bad, to owners and management companies about their leasing experiences and their lives in apartment homes.

“Prospects are more concerned than ever with the exact view and placement of their apartment,” says MJ Trujillo, Founder and Managing Partner of PRAXM Property Management. “As more and more people are working from home, the direction the apartment faces and sun exposure have been factors in their decision-making process. Those concerns have been heard, which is why we are offering advanced sitemap engagement and video touring.”

These requests from residents and prospective residents are changing the traditional move-in and renewal experiences, and if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that nothing is permanent.

“We are constantly evolving our approach to prospects based on their behavior, from how they interact with our websites to how they interact with our teams,” says Tim Hermeling, EVP of Marketing with Cortland. “We consistently solicit feedback and lean into it. In the traditional model, a prospective resident finds basic information on a website then calls to schedule a tour. Over the past 18 months, we have begun to offer a self-scheduling tool and offer richer video content on our website including virtual tours of floor plans. These enhancements allow future residents to be better educated about their options prior to coming into the community.”

Not only have changes affected leasing, but residents are searching for technological advancements in the form of electronic rent payments, service requests, events and more.

Technology

HHHunt Apartment Living anticipated the higher demand for self-guided tours, resulting in them partnering with a smart home and home security company in early 2020. “The demand for self-guidtours has certainly been accelerated during the pandemic,” says Lance Goss, Vice President of HHHunt Apartment Living. The use of the smart lock system has allowed HHHunt to “grant a temporary code to specific apartment doors and allow prospects to do a self-guided tour when needed,” says Goss.

Freeman Webb Company is testing and planning to rollout additional artificial intelligence (AI) bots to respond to prospective residents via text, email and social media. During the trial phase, the bot replied to 42% of all inbound emails, saving countless hours for onsite teams. 

“The digital transformation that is ongoing has really catapulted our industry to utilize technology in all facets of the business. I believe we will continue to leverage software and digital platforms to enhance the customer experience both internally and externally,” says Christy Rodriguez, Director of Multifamily with Judwin Properties. “Renters expect a contactless way of communicating and doing business with the management of the community they live in. I fully anticipate that we will continue to see huge strides in the technology arena that will enhance business services, employee relations and customer service.”

The pandemic has forced Judwin to rethink its traditional business model. It has focused on a contactless customer experience and finding opportunities to improve this process surrounding leasing practices among other segments.

“Additionally, we internally produced 360-degree virtual tours for every floorplan in our portfolio and launched it on our website and then trained our team members on how to guide a renter through one of those tours via phone,” says Rodriguez. “That enhanced customer touchpoint really catapulted our leasing experience, and as a result, our closing ratios soared. By viewing the technology as a supplemental tool to our business practices, we not only have given more time back to our onsite team members to focus on the customer service experience, but we have reduced operational expenses associated with the more traditional ‘paper intensive’ approach.”

Touring Options

One of the biggest benefactors of the side effects of the pandemic and technology has been community and apartment home tours. The use of nontraditional touring options like self-guided and virtual tours has exponentially increased during the pandemic, despite their availability prior to March 2020.

Multiple touring options are available for prospective residents at communities. Trujillo says they still have people that prefer the traditional guided tour by onsite staff, but they also offer virtual and self-guided tours, which she believes are the future of the industry.

“We anticipate that self-guided tours will continue to be a popular option this year and in the future,” says Goss.

“Renters expect options when it comes to shopping for an apartment and it’s our responsibility to meet them where they are,” says Noah Echols, VP of Marketing and Customer Experience with CARROLL. “However, we have seen that the vast majority of renters still want to come to the community to see it for themselves, and they still want some level of assistance to get their questions answered. We see our leasing team as consultants or guides in the shopping experience and they are trained to cater to the experience our customers’ need.”

Bill Freeman, Chairman and Co-Founder of Freeman Webb, believes self-guided tours are here to stay, but there are limitations. “This is the way of the future, but the logistics are challenging for garden-style communities right now. The current technology works great for high-rises with controlled access, butit is still a challenge for other types of communities.”