Early January is a special time of the year for the technology-inclined. Tens of thousands flock to Las Vegas for four days to feast their eyes on the latest inventions and innovations at CES. There were over 4,500 exhibitors clamoring for attention this year. But hidden among them were a surprisingly large number of vendors who’ve turned their attention to one of the biggest changes of the coming decade – our aging population. The vast majority of seniors prefer to age in place, staying in their homes as long as possible. But just as many underestimate how much support they will need as they grow older. Currently, only one-third believe they will eventually need long-term care services, but the actual rate is near 70%. To add another misconception to the pile, many seniors believe that Medicare will cover them in these cases. But Medicare, as it exists now, provides for skilled medical care — think hospital stays and rehab. Though there have been some motions in the Medicare Advantage space to accommodate long-term services and supports, many of tomorrow’s seniors are likely to be underprepared for the costs of growing older. Which is why we’re thrilled that more and more technology developers are focusing on senior living and creating unique ways to help. Here are five of our favorites from CES 2020 for upcoming technology with the potential to change the way we age. A robot ball that recognizes falls If you’ve watched any of the new Stars Wars films, you can see where the inspiration for Samsung’s new creation might have come from. Called Ballie, this palm-sized rolling robot can follow its owner around the home, communicating with other smart devices, interacting with household pets and — most useful for caregivers — keeping...

We’ve all heard that renters are interested in smart home devices. How much are they willing to pay for them, though? We dive into the 2020 National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) & Kingsley Apartment Resident Preferences Survey to find out. What renters value is determined by how much they are willing to pay. The Resident Preferences Survey set out to put a monthly price on smart home features that renters crave. Nearly 373,000 renters living in 5,336 communities across the U.S. submitted their opinions on desired gadgets and pricing. The 2020 report is the largest compilation of apartment resident insights to date. Let’s take a look at which smart home features are most valuable to renters. Most Valued Smart Home Features All valuable smart home gadgets are connected to the internet of things (IoT). It takes more than internet connection for renters to value a gadget. The survey reveals that the most valuable smart home features are those that offer a combination of benefits in a single gadget. One of the most valuable smart home features makes the unit more comfortable, functional, and healthy. Survey respondents are willing to pay $36 for smart or dynamic glass. The technology helps to moderate indoor temperatures. It also reduces glare on display surfaces like televisions and tablets. Additionally, the dynamic glass promotes better health by blocking harmful light rays from the sun. Smart locks are the second most valuable. This product also multitasks: it offers the convenience of keyless entry as well as a layer of security. Most smartphones are protected with face recognition, fingerprint scanners, or PINs. An authorized user must be present to unlock the phone and then use an app on the smartphone to manage the lock to the unit. Renters are willing to...

To remain competitive, real estate providers face pressure to provide high speed internet. This pressure is felt throughout all property classes, from subsidized to luxury housing and commercial properties. Yet the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is pushing back against signal boosters that pose a threat to public safety. The story is currently unfolding. Here is what we know: What is DAS? Broadband signal boosters are proving to be a benefit for multi-tenant real estate owners and a danger to FCC operations. Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) are one of the most common boosters. They are a network of separated antenna nodes connected to a single source that enhances wireless service within a geographic area or structure. DAS helps to provide high-speed internet in areas where infrastructure is unfavorable for any number of reasons. Such fixed wireless technology has relatively little capital expenditure for ownership. No street-level digging is required. But like its pricier fiber optics competition, it offers a wide range of broadband transmission capabilities. The challenges for real estate providers Real estate providers turn to DAS to improve internet accessibility and performance for renters and tenants. Renters demand high speed internet, and the demand shows no signs of slowing down. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council Resident Preference survey, 93% of renters rate reliable cellphone reception as a top interest.  About 55% of respondents view high-speed internet as a necessity. Additionally, 74% of renters are interested in community Wi-Fi. In the multi-tenant commercial environment, broadband connectivity is among the top three features that tenants require, reports the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the Urban Land Institute. Broadband connectivity is standard in new construction, and more than 50 percent of existing construction is retrofitted in some way to accommodate the technology,...

In a world where online banking, social media, e-commerce and other online services are a constant part of daily life, a verified digital identity is an important validation of one’s official existence. In 2016, an estimated 1.5 billion people globally could not access routine banking services because of the inability to prove their identity with a valid birth certificate, passport, proof of residency or other commonly accepted means. Use of a digital identity is a way of authenticating the “real you” when utilizing digital connections like the internet. Access via biometrics With technology’s sprint into the future, various new ID schemes have been launched or initiated all over the world. Some include biometrics, mainly in the form of fingerprints. The newest form of biometric identification is face recognition. One such example is PopID, which offers a cloud-based platform that enables consumers to authenticate their identity by using facial recognition. PopID’s latest launch is a platform that can unlock workplace doors and enables employees to enter the building using only their face. The system can also provide building and facility managers with alerts about tailgaters following authorized users into a secure location without installing any additional equipment. Unlocking doors has moved from old-fashioned keys to magnetic key cards or mobile devices, and now face recognition looms as the next normal. Tech savvy building managers can replace key card readers with facial readers. If employees don’t want to use biometrics to authenticate, this program also accepts key cards and mobile devices to unlock the doors. Additionally, building managers can designate authorized employees and hours in which you can enter the property. Secure digital identification Digital driver’s licenses are a secure version of your official government ID in your smartphone. There is a new project known as...

Social housing providers in Ontario strive to improve efficiencies and remain compliant while providing the best outcomes for residents and their communities. As non-profit organizations, achieving those goals on limited resources can be tough. But with innovative software, achieving success in social housing management is revolutionized.  Yardi Voyager Social Housing leverages tried-and-true best practices to offer secure and powerful software with a single, integrated database. Intuitive workflows, convenient automation, and industry-specific tools make subsidized housing management simpler. Voyager Social Housing empowers providers to save time, save money, and thrive. Empower Staff for Success Staff efficiency is essential to success in social housing. Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager of Yardi Canada explains, “Yardi understands the demands and changes within this industry. ONPHA serves more than 700 non-profit housing providers over 400,000 people in 163,000 homes within Ontario. It’s important work and they’re doing a great job, but turnover is high and resources are limited for providers.” To make the most of available resources, Voyager Social Housing facilitates optimal operation of Canada’s non-profit housing. In addition to robust accounting tools, Voyager Social Housing helps manage RGI (rent-geared-to-income) reviews, Rent Supplement programs and facilities management. The cloud-based software equips staff members with the fundamental tools needed to work confidently and efficiently in the office and offsite. With the integrated general ledger, staff avoids repetitive data entry and costly errors. Streamlined workflows make it easier to obtain consistency, reduce inaccuracies and coordinate efforts among team members. Staying compliant is also simplified with easy-to-follow workflows. With redundancy and discord minimized, staff is free to focus on more critical tasks. Simplifying Rent Voyager Social Housing offers features that simplify RGI reviews: Provincial requirements can be readily updated in Voyager, making it easier to calculate rents using the most...

As technology advances, crime keeps pace. Modern lawbreakers can now hold lives hostage from afar. It’s all because of type of malicious software called ransomware. These programs are designed to lock down computers and data until a monetary demand is paid. When these viruses first cropped up, they generally targeted users indiscriminately by casting a wide net of spam emails and infected links, waiting for an unsuspecting web surfer to bite. Your computer would freeze, or your data would disappear under encryption, and you’d be treated to a pop-up asking you to pay up. But cyber criminals have gotten more sophisticated with their methodology just as the technology itself has evolved. These hackers now increasingly target health care organizations for their vast wealth of confidential medical records, which can be sold on the dark web for up to $1,000 each. At the same time, the attackers can deny access to the health care organization’s systems, including their electronic health records and medical administration solutions. This can have huge consequences for caregiving. Since most health organizations now rely on tablet-based charts, staff are left without medical histories and care plans to ensure proper treatment, putting their patients’ lives at risk. Long-term care under attack Hospitals aren’t the only care facilities affected by ransomware. Criminals have begun targeting businesses who handle the IT service needs for smaller organizations in health care – including senior living providers. This way, hackers can infiltrate hundreds of client businesses from a single breach. It’s what recently happened to Virtual Care Provider Inc, based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On November 17, a criminal group encrypted the data of their entire customer base: 110 skilled nursing and acute care providers in 45 states. Resident records were locked, internet access blocked and medication...

New regulations. Rising acuity. Huge demographic shifts. There’s no doubt that senior living as an industry is changing. And it’s changing faster than many providers are ready for. But there are a few who are facing these challenges head on, ready to adapt with novel practices and new technologies. Earlier this year, Senior Housing News spoke with nine such leaders in senior living as part of a series they call the Changemakers, sponsored by Yardi. They published the interviews individually over the past few months (and we chronicled a few here on The Balance Sheet), but they’ve now compiled the highlights – along with the leaders’ accomplishments, tips and insights – in a complete ebook for your reading pleasure. Download the ebook to learn how these senior living innovators are pushing the industry forward. There’s a wealth of experience and learnings shared throughout the pages, so you don’t want to miss it. Not convinced? Here are a few great excerpts:   “[Our] program has been studied by Vanderbilt University. What we’ve learned is that, one, residents who experience mild cognitive impairment can thrive within assisted living, and also that it’s possible, as I said, to change the trajectory of the disease process. That’s a mind-bending accomplishment, particularly for a disease process that still has no medicinal cure.” – Patricia Will, Co-Founder & CEO of Belmont Village Senior Living       “We have people who have lived long lives, who have gained life experience and, hopefully, some wisdom. Now, there’s that opportunity not just to sit on the front porch in a rocking chair, but to become engaged with the world around you and to share that wisdom, to share that life experience out into the world, and to make a difference. To cement...

One of the best ways to maximize a training budget is to avoid repeat instruction. When staff learns materials the first time, property managers avoid redundant training costs and quickly enjoy the benefits of properly trained staff. Did you know that assessments play a big part in making sure knowledge is properly absorbed? Assessments are most easily described as the quizzes and tests that pop up during a training session. They aren’t there just to make learners sweat a little bit before wrapping up a course. The real purpose of those tests (more specifically referred to as assessments) is to make sure learners have absorbed the material being taught. When properly written, an assessment can document that a student has gained some knowledge and strategically determine which concepts need to be reinforced before the course can be completed. Here are some tips to consider for your course assessments. Identify the true purpose of the assessment. Before writing test questions, ask yourself what exactly you want to measure with the assessment. Keep all questions focused on that goal. If you include anything else in an assessment, no matter how benign, you may wind up with extraneous, perhaps conflictive data that is not useful in measuring how well the course taught the material. Make sure questions ask about the core learning objectives. Including fun, obscure information during training can be a good way to make training interesting. Just be sure to leave those fun facts out of your post-class assessment. You want to know that learners are acquiring critical knowledge, not the extra stuff that a course may cover. It’s okay to have difficult questions, just don’t make them tricky. Assessments should make students think, but shouldn’t be at all devious or crafty. Trick questions are...

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, is ENERGY STAR Day, described by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “a celebration of energy efficiency” and a means to raise awareness of the benefits of favoring products and properties with ENERGY STAR® certification. And there’s a lot to celebrate. On average, ENERGY STAR-certified buildings use 35% less energy than typical buildings nationwide and command a premium of up to 16% for sales prices and rental rates. More than 34,000 buildings have earned certification, which requires an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higher, meaning that such a building performs better than at least 75% of similar buildings nationwide. All told, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped save American families and businesses more than $450 billion and over 3.5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity since 1992 while also achieving broad emissions reductions. Another facet of the ENERGY STAR program has been similarly fruitful for industrial plants, while ENERGY STAR-certified homes, apartments and products are built to an equally high standard of efficiency. Yardi is intimately familiar with ENERGY STAR and its benefits. Property managers use the Yardi Pulse Suite to capture energy data for ENERGY STAR® benchmarking and reporting. The company employs experts who can help clients identify conservation opportunities and comply with ENERGY STAR and other standards. Yardi is also sponsoring a series of webinars this month on new ENERGY STAR compliance requirements taking effect in the U.S. and Canada next year. The EPA, co-manager of ENERGY STAR, has recognized Yardi as an energy efficiency leader. In April 2019, the company earned designation as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, the highest level of recognition the agency offers, in the service and product provider category. Check out the EPA’s toolkit for spreading awareness of ENERGY STAR Day through...

Identifying quality residents will keep your long-term costs low. Low occupancy rates in the current Canadian rental market allow property managers to focus on selecting the most desirable residents for their vacancies. It is important, however, to make quality selections quickly before those ideal prospects sign a lease elsewhere! Explore how technology can help you efficiently sign leases with the right residents. Know your applicants Basic credit checks aren’t enough to get to know prospective renters. Add a range of inquiries to screening process to give you deeper insights that help mitigate risk—without slowing down the process. “A more robust screening process doesn’t have to be time consuming. Online, automated applicant screening improves speed, data access, and accuracy. Your screening software should integrate with your property management platform for full transparency,” suggests Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager of Yardi Canada. Screen confidently Regardless of income, prospective renters need to be held to the same screening standards. Equifax credit data, criminal and court records, fraud checks, employment and rental histories are all important sources of information to properly evaluate an applicant. “Consider adding Certn as well to your screening process as well. Certn is the world’s largest risk relevant database, uses data from thousands of publicly available records and incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning to evaluate prospects,” Altobelli says. Certn data includes high-risk behaviors, criminal and court records from 240 countries, 350 Canadian court boards and tribunals, adverse media, eviction records, watch lists and social media profiles. Understand the benefits  Advanced screening technology that analyzes a range of reliable data can help you consistently choose quality residents. When that technology integrates with your leasing and accounting platform, it brings additional benefits. “An integrated screening solution compares your screening process with the overall...

Your tenant in the eastern wing is chronically cold. You’re fighting an uphill battle for safety as your tenant’s employees bring personal heaters into the space.  In the western wing, however, your tenant’s employees can’t get cool enough. They complain of high energy bills while swearing the humidity will lead to mold problems. Uncomfortable tenants are more than a headache. They are a threat to your bottom line. Thermal comfort can impact your tenants’ desire to renew their leases. Additionally, a commercial property with low thermal comfort may indicate inefficiencies in its climate controls or building envelope. High turnover and an inefficient building will adversely affect your bottom line. Thermal Comfort + Your Bottom Line The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers defines thermal comfort as the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment. It is subjectively assessed by using the Comfort Scale or Thermal Index, both of which evaluate temperature, humidity, air velocity, and radiant temperature. As comfort is subjective, a commercial building’s thermal comfort ranking will vary from person to person. Health and Safety Executive recognizes an international standard which suggests that a building has “reasonable comfort” when at least 80 percent of its occupants are thermally comfortable. Improving Thermal Comfort in Commercial Properties There are three ways to notably improve tenant comfort and protect your investment: 1. Identify and Fix Leaks Address leaks in the building envelope. Contact a contractor to identify areas where your heating and cooling efforts are defeated by oversights in construction or maintenance. Resealing windows and adding weather stripping to doors, for example, are two quick fixes for drafts. Leakage significantly decreases the energetic efficiency of an HVAC system. As a result, the HVAC system may be working overtime to regulate indoor conditions. Have your units...

For decades, commercial property managers regarded information technology as a support function, one that was almost always isolated from the strategic direction of the business. Today, with virtually all property stakeholders expecting greater operational control and transparency, relegating IT to a peripheral or firefighting role is no longer an option. The consensus among Yardi’s Dhar Sawh and other experts who participated in a recent Realcomm-hosted webinar holds that IT, as a company’s technology implementation gatekeeper, should command status as a full partner and value generator. Sawh defined the purpose of a technology strategy as satisfying owner and investor expectations for favorable revenue, cost and risk mitigation outcomes. Performing the business operations necessary to achieve them requires visibility into revenue, occupancy and other indicators that spans the organization. That, in turn, requires connected solutions that unify people and resources, from vendors and employees all the way up to investors, in a common vision. He also pointed out that extracting cost and revenue benefits from current operations, rather than actively pursuing new yields, is the most reliable generator of investor returns late in an economic expansion cycle such as the current one. IT drives those results with technology that’s scaled across the organization and empowers stakeholders with automation and self-service capabilities like online invoice processing, payments and work orders. Another example of technology occupying a place at the core of a business is active sensors that monitor a space and preheat or precool the area before it’s occupied. This allows building owners to avoid charges for utility usage at peak times. “This is an example of integrating technology for the benefit of business objectives,” Sawh said. Once invested as a full partner in the business, IT can create positive experiences for owners and occupants by elevating...

Are online payments really worth the fuss? The short answer is yes! But don’t take our word for it. Check out seven reasons why online payments are a necessity for successful communities. Renters Seek Convenience Today’s residents love their smartphones. “According to recent reports, the average American checks their smartphone almost 50 times per day. For millennials, the number is even higher, at 74 times per day. With half of the renter population under the age of 30, digital technology is a game changer at apartment communities for both the residents and property managers,” said Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing at Yardi. Online banking is one of many tasks that modern renters perform on their smartphones. It offers the simplicity that renters crave: more than two-thirds of respondents to the NMHC Consumer Housing Survey said they seek technologies to make their lives easier. You Seek a Competitive Advantage Offering online rent payments gives your communities a competitive advantage. The most recent NMHC Kingsley study reveals that more than 25 percent of respondents currently pay their rent electronically. Nearly four times as many would prefer to pay their rent online. “An astounding 90 percent of respondents say that online rent payment availability is important or very important when considering their apartment community. This is the second highest rating behind online maintenance requests,” shared Bonardi. Better Security Cash in the leasing office? No, thank you. Fraudulent or lost checks? You likely want to pass on those, too. Online payments offer greater security and fewer risks than cash or checks. Flexible Payment Options When residents have access to quick, easy payment options, you will receive your payments faster and on time. With payment processing, you have several options to extend to your residents. They can pay with traditional...

Does your senior living community offer electronic leases yet? Maybe you’ve heard the term, but don’t know if it’s worth the transition. Well, rest assured, there’s plenty to like. From faster sales cycles to searchable online records, electronic leases make the move-in process painless – for both your staff and your residents. At their core, electronic leases, or eleases, are a legal and secure online version of the document that you already know so well. But you’re missing the full picture if you think it’s only a digital agreement thrown on a computer screen. A full electronic lease management solution like what Yardi offers can help you generate customized leases in a few clicks, get mobile signatures from family members and store the forms in one centralized place, saving hours of labor (and who knows how many headaches). We’ve built eleasing into the entire Yardi Senior Living Suite. From creation to approval to signing, everything flows together seamlessly so your sales counselors never have to retype a thing or search for another missing document. And at the executive level, you can manage leases across communities and states, pushing real-time rates for rooms and services to teams on the ground floor. Here’s a quick look at how the process works in the Yardi senior living solutions. Generate a new lease in no time with Yardi Senior CRM Once a prospect has decided to join your community, your staff can jump into Yardi Senior CRM and quickly create a new lease specific to that resident. Senior CRM offers an automated, online workflow, which guides staff through each step of the prospective lease agreement: Select the community, enter the deposit, choose a unit and add any incentives or concessions. They can then adjust the care level and...

One of the disadvantages of working in an open office space is that not everybody likes to clean up after themselves. Many have the bad habit of eating at their desk, so there will most definitely be crumbs on the carpet. Rainy days result in dirty shoes. Somebody celebrating their birthday can leave a trail of confetti on the floor and just like that, the whole space can be a mess in just a few minutes. But what do you do when you have a visit from your customers and the place needs to look sparkling clean, but the cleaning crew isn’t coming before they arrive? Robots Will Save Us This is when 21st century tech comes in handy. By using IoT technology, an intelligent robot vacuum cleaner concept was created for smart offices. Each of the robot vacuums has a different approach to cleaning. Some are methodical, while others may move around randomly, which can be a bit confusing, but in fact, they’re mapping the whole surface with in-built cameras or other smart sensors. Some of these devices are controlled via a mobile app that allows you to schedule the cleaning sessions and access status, battery and alerts through your phone, while others come with a remote control that allows you to direct the device to the exact spot you want them to clean. One such example of commercial indoor robotic vacuum designed specifically for office buildings is using an intelligent booking system in Outlook to schedule the automated services. The robot creates and updates its program in real time, considering existing bookings made in Outlook. In addition, the device analyzes when one room was booked and plans its next cleaning session so those conference rooms are always clean for the next meeting...

Did you know that Yardi offers products and services for 18 industries? We are continually in development of quality software that maximizes technology and benefits your business. There are several ways to learn more about Yardi’s solutions for your real estate company. Online, All the Time The Resources page is available 24/7. Whether you’re looking for quick bites of info or in-depth analysis, we’ve got you covered. eBooks – These in-depth resources explain key benefits of our software solutions in reader-friendly formats. They’re rich with informative graphics and helpful data. Client Success Stories– Explore how clients in your industry use Yardi to revolutionize their businesses. Client success stories address tools for improved efficiency, going paperless, and other ways to improve the bottom line. Quick Videos– Got 3 minutes or fewer? Client interviews and “explainer” videos are an easy way to get your real estate questions answered and learn about Yardi software and services. White Papers– Dive into case studies that give you a detailed look at how fellow industry professionals used technology to advance their businesses. Product Brochures– Maybe you’ve heard the buzz about a new product and now you’re ready to learn more. Our brochures offer a high-level overview of product information. You will also find helpful contact information for additional details. Upon visiting the Resources page, you will encounter our latest and most popular uploads. Looking for something specific? Simply use the Filter to drill down into materials unique to your industry. You can also search by Solution Type. Live, Customized Experiences At Yardi, we value the opportunity to meet you face-to-face. These priceless encounters are a great way to dive into the nuances of the industry, your business needs, and how Yardi software bridges the gaps. The Events page delivers current...