There are several reasons why a client may not be able to tour the property in person. Our increasingly mobile and digital industry makes remote tours an excellent alternative, yet it also requires that agents are ready to sell to a client, sight unseen. The six tips below can make selling to remote clients easier and faster than ever. Master the Basics By now, you know that your website must have a virtual tour—or virtual reality tour—along with detailed a floor plan and a description of the condo. Make sure that all information is up-to-date. Even minor changes to appliances or fixtures may matter to a remote client. If any of those essential features are missing, get the tools you need for a better website. Request Client’s Must-Haves In Writing Let’s face it: you’re busy. A written list of your client’s must-haves, desires, and deal breakers is a cheat sheet for you. But most importantly, having a concrete list means that the remote buyer has a clear understanding of what he wants. This list will expedite the condo hunting process, especially if he can choose between several similar unit styles. FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom Tours with Clients The virtual tour on your website is the first step. A live video tour, however, gives the client greater control over what they see and how they see it. It’s like he gets to walk through the home himself. That greater control over the details will help the client feel more comfortable with the unit and ready to seal the deal. Send Listings with All the Local Details If your client has already said the school system, crime rate, or walkability score are important to her, why not email those details with the listings? Presenting a complete...

World Oceans Day is June 8th! Businesses can improve their bottom line by implementing water conservation techniques on the property. By consuming less water and using smart technology as an aid, you can cut costs and protect the environment.   Set conservation goals. A plan without a goal an aimless journey. Goals motivate us and let us know when we’re on track. Take inventory of your current water use. Speak with your utilities provider about setting realistic goals for water conservation as well as a due date for reaching those goals.   Let technology do the heavy lifting. Did you know that there is software that can complete a water audit, identify leaks, recover overages, and negotiate utility costs for you? Yardi Smart Energy Suite provides all of those services and more. Use a single solution to help you jumpstart your water conservation plan. It can be more cost effective that hiring a conservation task force or burdening your existing staff with new responsibilities.   Make low-flow your low-cost upgrade. Low-flow restrictors on faucets can cut water usage by .7 gallons per minute. They cost less than a dollar each. High efficiency toilets can save three gallons per flush, quickly paying for the cost of the upgrade in a high-traffic space. These little changes go a long way towards cost savings and conservation.   Native landscaping cuts costs and adds local flavor. Native landscaping includes grasses, shrubs, and trees that thrive in your local environment. Your environment often provides what the plants need naturally. You can save money that would otherwise go towards supplementing rainfall to meet the water needs for non-local species.   Free water is the best water. Consider rain barrels to catch and distribute rainwater to gardens and indoor plants. You...

Emails can be valuable tools that convert prospects and build loyalty with existing residents. Below are seven emails that every leasing agent should send. Emails for prospects Prospects want to feel courted. They also expect information that anticipates their questions and interests. These three emails hit the spot, helping to forge the relationship between leasing agents and prospects. Automated (Yet Personalized) Introduction Email This important communication serves three purposes. It satisfies prospects’ expectation to receive prompt responses. Secondly, it lets prospects know that you received their inquiry or that you recall your encounter with them. Lastly, it gives them a way to contact you simply by responding to an email. Availability Updates Let your newly available units shine with a showcase email. Be sure to include high quality images and descriptions with plenty of personality. End each listing with a call to action such as “Schedule a Tour” or an option to see similar units. Just Leased Updates Remind your prospects that your property is a desirable place to live and that units are going fast! Consider including the number of days the unit was on the market, particularly if it’s less than three. This is a great incentive for prospects who are on the fence. Emails for residents Renewing a lease costs less than turning a unit, so use emails to build resident loyalty! These three emails reinforce the residents’ bond and promote higher occupancy. Property Newsletter Inform your residents of exciting value-add events for families and perks for pet owners. Such events keep your residents engaged in the community, which increases perceived value. The newsletter is also a fantastic way to notify residents of upcoming maintenance and upgrades to the property. Show your residents that you’re proactively invested in the quality of...

Online reputation management matters. How masterfully a company handles feedback can give it a huge advantage over the competition as prospects shop around for a new rental. ORA Power Ranking shifted through the online reputations of 75,000 rental properties. The following list represents the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) top 10 best-ranked managers by online reputation. The companies below received the highest ORA scores. For perspective, the national average is 60.39. Each of the companies below ranked 71.58 or higher, earning top marks for online reputation. Yardi client The Bozzuto Group once again took home the first place title. The Bozzuto Group has ranked number one in online ratings for four years. To maintain its ranking, Bozzuto increased its score by 2 percent from last year, improving from an ORA rating of 79.13 to 80.76. That 2 percent was needed to stay ahead of second place performer AvalonBay Communities, another Yardi client. With an ORA score of 80.17, it was a close call for the top two positions. In third place comes Gables Residential. This Yardi client received an ORA score of 76.98. This is a noteworthy, 4 percent improvement for the Atlanta-based company. MAA nips at the heels of Gables Residential with a score of 76.44. Its 3 percent improvement in the ORA score kept the organization in the top five. Rounding out the top five with a stellar performance comes Cortland Partners, a Yardi client. This underdog improved its ORA rating by a whopping 10 percent, reaching 75.20 this year. The following companies complete the top 10 rankings. 6. Camden Property Trust 7. RAM Partners (Yardi client) 8. Pegasus Residential (Yardi cient) 9. Aimco 10. Greystar (Yardi client) Congratulations to all of the NMHC Top 10 Managers, especially our valued Yardi...

Multifamily marketers gathered in Huntington Beach, California, for the 2018 Apartment Internet Marketing (AIM) Conference on May 6-9. This year’s event focused on the latest digital marketing trends and technologies. “Marketing executives are increasingly called on to shape the resident experience and manage the pace of innovation,” shared Steve Lefkovits, executive producer of AIM. “We’re delighted to have Yardi and RentCafe as partners in educating the industry about the future.” Some conference highlights for multifamily marketers: Customer Experience Matters Customer experience is the new marketing. At the AIM keynote, Charlene Li, principal analyst at Altimeter and co-author of Groundswell, challenged marketers to examine relationships and experiences. “If you’re not focusing on the customer experience, you’re working on the wrong things,” emphasized Li. Why does customer experience matter? Because the data says so! According to resident satisfaction data from J Turner Research, Q1 2018 apartment reviews grew by 78% as compared to Q1 2017. The average number of reviews per property has grown 20% since Q1 2017, averaging more than 86 reviews per property. The study found a strong correlation between online reputation and resident satisfaction. Resident experience matters, and it influences renter and prospect purchasing behavior. In a session on customer engagement and loyalty, Joseph Batdorf, president of J Turner Research, stressed, “Resident satisfaction matters. Making sure they’re happy affects their willingness to renew a lease.” Customer Engagement Also Matters To create a better customer experience, you need to engage your customer from the get-go and keep them engaged throughout their time with you. Where can you innovate your customer engagement strategy? Create a well-rounded engagement strategy. Implementing a multi-source lead attribution model can help marketers more accurately assign value to each touchpoint in the buyer journey. Market to common values to bolster your engagement. Sticking to common...

Welcoming pets onto your property was your first step in the right direction. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. households own a pet, reports the 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey. Pet-friendly apartments appeal to a broader spectrum of households. But don’t stop there! Several properties in your area are also pet friendly. What makes you different?  Outshine Your Competitors  The pet-centric, value-add services below can help you stand out in prospects’ minds. For your existing residents, the services encourage compliance with property regulations. When residents develop a relationship with the property staff and other pet owners, it improves the likelihood that the resident will care about the pet community at the property. 4 Fun Value-Add Ideas The best value-add ideas are beneficial for your property and its residents.  Small investments in communal spaces go a long way towards a tidy property and happy pet owners. Include pet waste disposal bags and trash can stations throughout your property’s walking trails and dog park. Water bowls and treats at the dog park also make a nice addition. Local discount programs are a terrific way to showcase the conveniences of your neighborhood. Simultaneously, you’re offering incentives to prospects and residents. Negotiate discounts or loyalty rewards opportunities with nearby veterinarians, groomers, pet sitters and walkers. Promote pet daycare services like Wag, Rover, and local boarding businesses. When pets are given supervised breaks to play and potty, they’re less likely to damage the unit they live in. Promoting daycare services is free for you and cuts costs for your property. Make your pet community a selling point by using RentCafe SMS messaging, email, blog, and social media. This is a great way to market your pet-focused events such as adoption events, walking groups, pet hack workshops, volunteer opportunities, and more. What...

On our previous post, there were a few loose ends to tie before hitting publish on your blog post. Once those important details are complete, you are ready to share your content with the world via social media! Why Use Social Media to Share Content? Without social media marketing and SEM services, the only way a person will find your content is by going directly to your website. Before you worked in the industry, how often did you visit an apartment’s blog? Precisely. By sharing the posts on social media, your content reaches more readers. Your social media followers will see the post appear on their news feeds. Social sharing draws attention to the blog post. Their engagement—likes, comments, and shares—will broaden the posts’ reach to their friends. Your efforts will be magnified even more when the platform’s algorithm robots pick up on users’ engagement. The platform may choose to share your content with an even broader audience. With more attention on your blog, you’re bringing more attention to your property! Social media marketing is easy, free marketing. Pick 2-3 Social Media Platforms Where should you share content? Select a few social media platforms that suit your brand. The prominent demographic of your community will determine which platforms are best for you. For example, Facebook is common for most organizations due to its broad user base–1 billion active users– and customizable features. Additionally, properties with young professionals may benefit from an Instagram account, whose 600 million users are mostly young adults ages 18-29. If you have a student property with an even younger demographic, 18-24 years of age, Snapchat may also be a beneficial platform to explore. Once you’ve honed-in on your platforms, learn the native marketing language for each. This allows you to...

The National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) now issues monthly reports called the Apartment Jobs Snapshot. The report includes an overview of the job market as well as a special highlight for a key position within the industry. Creating the Report The report addresses concerns faced by NAA members for years: a lack of comprehensive employment data and a shortage of accessible resources on our industry. Paula Munger, Director, Industry Research and Analysis explains, “We hear often from our members how challenging it is to attract, recruit and retain talent in this very competitive environment. There is a shortage of labor in the apartment industry as it continues growing in this cycle. As the Snapshot evolves over time, it can be used as a benchmarking tool based on location, job title, salary, time to fill and any number of other variables.” Rather than presenting a white paper, the NAAEI report features engaging infographics that are colorful, informative, and concise. “Since it’s basically real-time data, the goal is to release it as soon as we can at the close of every month,” says Munger. “We wanted a very easy-to-digest, quick ‘snapshot’ of the current apartment job market.” First Edition Higlights The first report, issued in February, shows over 4,600 jobs are available in the nation’s apartment industry. That’s an 18 percent increase in job postings over the previous month. Demand increased across the board but particularly for maintenance supervisors. There are more than 580 job listings for maintenance supervisors spread across the United States. Next in demand came leasing consultants with more than 530 job postings. Some cities carry the bulk of job demand. Denver leads the percent of total real estate jobs in top metros with a staggering 48 percent. Denver is followed by...

The month of May has a ton of holidays. You don’t have to keep up with them all, but highlighting a few can be a rewarding way to engage residents. Here are a few May holiday ideas that can help to build loyalty and boost resident retention. May 6, National Nurses Day May 8, National Teachers Day Cool Idea: Have resident nurses and teachers stop by the leasing office for a grab n’ go breakfast. Since both work long hours, foods that slowly release carbohydrates will be a huge win for them. Consider oatmeal, fresh fruit, green smoothie shots, and nut-based breakfast bars. Above and Beyond: Nurses and teachers are on their feet all day. Offer relief by teaming up with a neighborhood spa to offer foot-friendly, sample-sized products with their morning goodie bags. Be sure to include business cards for the spa. The owner gets free marketing and you get to pamper your residents (read: build loyalty). May 13, International Fair Trade Day Cool Idea: Fair Trade products reinforce the importance of livable wages for workers. In your upcoming newsletter, include a list of local shops and restaurants that prioritize Fair Trade products. Everything from coffee to clothing and home décor can be sourced Fair Trade. Above and Beyond: Make your list interactive! Throughout the month, set a table near a high-traffic area in the leasing office. Invite the Fair Trade-friendly businesses to contribute a product for sale or free samples. Circulate the products every few days so that multiple brands are represented. This approach draws residents to the leasing office to get the know the staff members—rather than only seeing them when there is a problem. May 15, International Day of Families Cool Idea: Consider hosting a raffle at your family-friendly property....

Once you add great media to your blog post, you’re almost ready to hit publish! There are three tidbits that will help readers find your blog post and bring greater return on your investment. Add Categories and Tags Categories and tags are primarily used to organize your content and make it easier for readers to find what they’re looking for. These keywords are also used to help search engines identify what your content is about. This makes it easier for your blog post to appear appropriately in search queries. Let’s continue with the nursery safety blog example from our previous posts. In that instance, category may be “apartment safety” and tags may include “childproofing your apartment,” “baby proofing your apartment” or “nursery.” SEO Plugin  If you are working on a blogging platform that permits plugins like WordPress, an SEO plugin may be a worthwhile investment. It goes beyond the functionalities of Categories and Tags to help search engines “crawl” through your content. (That’s a nerd term for quickly scanning the content to identify its purpose and help it appear appropriately during internet searches.) The SEO plugin may ask you to identify keywords. Long-tail keywords are best here. “How to create a safe nursery” will be more beneficial than just “nursery,” for example. The plugin may also request a description. This is a brief summary of your blog post that may appear as an excerpt under your link and blog post title in a query listing. Keep the description to 2-3 sentences. Social Media Plugin Depending on the flexibility of your platform, you may also be able to add a social media plugin. The best of these plugins allow you to create custom posts for social media. You can add hashtags and use the format...

Multifamily housing is changing more rapidly than ever before. The National Multifamily Housing Council recently released the Multifamily Disruption report. It highlights eight major trends that are changing the way we design and marketing apartments. 1. Robotics Tech research consultants at Gatner estimate that 26 billion devices will be connected through the cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) by the year 2020. The five-fold increase includes more than 11 billion sensor-connected devices that control resident comfort, shopping, and entertainment. Investments in consumer artificial intelligence products may reach $126 billion by 2025. Residents have come to expect the integration of smart technology into their residences. Owners and operators are scrambling to integrate—and update— tech-savvy gadgets into rentals. 2. Convenient, Customizable Living Convenience reigns. Renters value reliable cellphone reception and high-speed internet more than fitness centers, pools, or in-unit laundry machines. By 2023, more than 90 percent of the U.S. population will own cellphones and use them as the main method of interaction with businesses and services.  The 2017 State of the Connected Customer report advises businesses to focus on immediacy, personalization, consistency, and anticipation. If these expectations aren’t met, 66 percent of polled consumers say that they’ll drop the brand. About 70 percent of consumers say that mobile technology makes switching brands easier than ever. When it comes to apartments, this translates into a few major points. Cell reception and high-speed internet are must-haves. When renters reach out to leasing office staff, they expect quick, personalized responses. Moreso, they expect the leasing staff to anticipate their needs, promptly issuing updates and repairs before they’re requested. 3. Looking Beyond Millennials One-bedroom apartments are no longer the hottest floor plan in most markets. Larger apartments at affordable prices are consuming a greater share of demand. About 73 million...

In our previous post, we compared popular blogging platforms WordPress, Wix, and Blogger. After choosing a platform and theme, then it’s time to start writing! Create a Content Calendar Planning pays off. When you take a moment to create a content calendar, you won’t miss timely events or feel the pressure to brainstorm hours before a due date. You will already have a list of topics on hand. Prioritize timely content related to seasons, holidays, and events. For example, it makes the most sense to publish a post on pool safety right before your pool opens in the late spring. Use the blog to promote timely events weeks in advance rather than waiting until the last minute. Identify Your Audience Your topic should be of interest to your residents. Consider the broadest demographic at your property as the audience for most of your post. You may occasionally choose to write for niche groups. Once you identify your audience, consider its needs and interests. Blog post content can stem from renters’ frequently asked questions, updates on the property, apartment lifestyle, local events and more. The possibilities are endless! Choose a Blog Topic The best apartment blog posts are those that will add value to the renter experience. Let’s say you check your content calendar and see that you’re due for a post on taxes. The topic applies to most of your audience since everyone pays taxes, right? You consider writing the post on local tax filing services. How can you make the list of businesses more valuable to residents? Perhaps you contact the businesses and request a discount for your residents in exchange for the business referral. Such a post could build loyalty. It promotes the benefits of living at your property and living in...

You hear it all the time: to improve your organic ranking with Google, you need frequent, fresh content for your website. Blogging is a common best practice for keeping new content on your site while connecting with your residents. But how do you start a great blog? First, you need to select your blogging platform. There are several options available, varying in price points and features to fit your needs. WordPress WordPress has been the leader in the blog industry for years. It’s the most popular choice because it allows for the most flexibility. There are about 10,000 supported themes for WordPress and each one offers a degree of customization. That means that your blog can compliment your brand and stand apart from the crowd. With nearly 30,000 available plugins and hundreds of widgets, you can enhance your site in a multitude of ways. User-facing add-ons permit event calendars, image galleries, social media streams, merchandise sales, and all sorts of interactive goodies. There are also more technical plugins that impact the functionality of your site. While there are a lot of options, WordPress doesn’t need to be overwhelming. WordPress is as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Pick a theme. Write a post. Publish. Done. You can choose from WordPress.com or the self-hosted, open source WordPress.org. The latter allows greater customization and control while the former is a simple starting point for beginners. Wix Wix is the new kid on the block that has tons of personality and a growing fan base. This simple platform makes it easy for newbies to get started. Choose from a dozen, predetermined templates with a simple drag-and-drop user interface. These fresh themes give your site a clean, modern look that’s popular with top name...

Property marketers use lead attribution to determine where leads are coming from so they know what is working, what isn’t and where to spend their marketing dollars most effectively. But single source lead attribution models only credit the first or last source with the lease. “We know that 50% of renters visit five or more websites before they even set foot inside your leasing office. But we only give one source credit for the lease?” says Holli Beckman, vice president of marketing and leasing operations at WC Smith. “If 100% of attribution is going to the first touch, then you are indicating that none of the other sources have any value.” So how do we fix it? How do we more accurately assign value to all the touchpoints that prospects interact with on their buyer journey? The answer is multi-source lead attribution. It’s a relatively new model in multifamily, and it’s a topic Beckman is passionate about (check out her article “Why the Multifamily Industry Is Missing the Boat on Multi-Source Lead Attribution”). So is the development team at Yardi. We’re constantly evolving RentCafe CRM to accommodate new data points and provide deeper insight into prospect activities and marketing sources. That’s why we invited Beckman to join us at the Yardi Marketing Forum in Beverly Hills this week to share her insights as we preview new lead attribution tools designed to increase accuracy and ROI for property marketers. Before the forum, we had a chance to catch up with Beckman and ask her a few questions related to her session and trends she is seeing right now. What limits property marketers’ ability to deliver leads? Beckman: A true understanding of customer behavior. For so long we’ve only reported on one step of the customer...

Your residents are the lifelines of your community. Where would you be without them? It’s essential to build resident loyalty by showing that their presence is valuable. Organizing a Resident Appreciation Week is an excellent place to start! Below are 10 ideas to help you win Resident Appreciation Week: Pet Photo Contest Cutest pet photo contests are a great way to get pet owners involved in social media—and receive free marketing! Have participants follow your chosen social media account. To enter, they must tag you in their pet photo and give you permission to share the image. Your social media handle circulates, you gain more followers, and residents get goodies. Win-win. Binge Night Host a movie marathon or binge watch a season of television series. Keep it fun and lighthearted with entertainment like Fast and the Furious, Star Wars, or Friends. You may want to skip out on This is Us unless you want everyone to go home in tears. Team Spirit Night Shuttle residents to the local high school to support student activities. Proceed the event with a family-friendly pregame party. Game (or Gaming) Night Board games, card games, and multi-player video games are a great way to get residents to interact. Don’t forget the snacks and plenty of napkins. #shoplocal Bar Crawl Provide a shuttle to take residents to locally-owned bars and breweries. If possible, negotiate with shop owners to provide discounts for residents. The shop gains new loyal customers and you earn points towards resident loyalty. Another win-win! Themed Costume Party Pick a decade, movie, or another creative theme for your party night. Prizes for best-dressed (maybe even rent discounts) are a good incentive for greater participation. Raffle A raffle is an easy way to let everyone participate regardless of his...

World Water Day is March 22! This international holiday encourages individuals, businesses, and governments to explore ways to reduce water waste. For your property, water conservation comes with additional benefits. Boost resident loyalty and reduce turnover with these World Water Day tips. Get Acknowledged for Your Efforts You may already have measures in place to cut water usage at your property. If your residents don’t know about them, they can’t appreciate your efforts. Use RentCafe’s easy text or email messaging tools to communicate with residents about the steps in place to reduce water usage around the property. Perhaps you use well water for lawn maintenance and have the irrigation system on a timer with rain delays. Let your residents know! Little details go a long way towards building loyalty. Let Common Spaces Advertise for You There were plenty of ways to conserve water and market your water consciousness to residents and prospects. Promptly fix water leaks, particularly those in public spaces such as pools, community restrooms and property irrigation systems. Residents can see the needless water waste—they will also note your responsiveness to stop it. Use EnergyStar® and WaterSense®-rated appliances in public spaces such as community kitchens, laundry rooms and the leasing office waiting room. Savvy residents—and prospects—will recognize these cost-saving logos and associate your property with efficiency and global consciousness. Automate Savings for Residents  Most residents want to save money on their utility bills. You can build loyalty when you show how your property reduces their utility costs each month. Submetering, for example, cuts costs by 10-26 percent. Residents also like to know that they are paying only for the water and energy that they consume. Use Yardi Utility Billing to gather and related submetering savings to your residents. Go for Major Impact...

A new research bulletin from Yardi Matrix assesses the ongoing recovery of multifamily markets in U.S. areas hit hard by hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters in 2017. Three hurricanes inflicted about $110 billion in property damage and $300 billion of economic loss in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, the bulletin notes, with the affected counties in the two states accounting for about 13% of total U.S. housing permits. Relocation by renters and homeowners sparked a rapid rise in apartment rents. Houston, for example, saw a 1.6% increase over the last four months of 2017, reversing about 18 months of decline. While increases were lower in Miami, Tampa and Orlando, this may change as residents displaced from Puerto Rico, which still needs major infrastructure resources, spur demand in these Florida metros. The bulletin predicts that the long-term need for housing will lead to higher occupancy rates, especially in the renter-by-necessity segment. Another factor impacting the housing recovery is a shortage of construction labor, driven by fewer young people entering the industry and a declining immigrant labor force. “As a result, expect prolonged construction delays nationwide,” the bulletin says. The report also examines natural disasters’ impact on the insurance market. Property owners in the private insurance market “should brace themselves for not only increasing insurance rates but also tightening terms and conditions of their policies,” the bulletin says, noting that “insurers are increasing deductibles for multifamily portfolios, and changing the deductible structure from a dollar value to a percentage of property value.” In California, which endured wildfires from San Diego to Sonoma, Proposition 103, an insurance regulatory measure, is expected to moderate rate hikes. Download the complete bulletin, titled “Flood and Fire: The Multifamily Sector’s Response to Natural Disasters.”...

The new report, As Rents Rise, More Renters Turn to Doubling Up, explores the growing rate of co-living arrangements. Finances were the primary reason for multiple generations and teams of adults sharing a single home. You could benefit from this trend, even if you never considered marketing your units as a co-living floor plans. Co-living Styles and Motives Co-living isn’t a recession-era trend. It has been on the rise well since the economy began to recover. The rate of co-living has increased from 39 percent to a whopping 54 percent for people ages 23 to 29. In multigenerational living, young adults team up with their parents or in-laws to form a single, cost-effective household. On top of saving on rent, co-living allows families to save on utilities, entertainment, and childcare costs. In addition to families teaming-up under one roof, the research reveals that non-familial teams formed with the same motive. To improve rental affordability, many adults double-up in housing. Without surprise, the co-living trend is most prevalent in the nation’s metros with the highest rents, particularly Los Angeles with a co-living rate of 46 percent and Miami at 41 percent. So what is the income threshold for co-living? Renters with an annual income near $30,000 or less shared homes more often than their peers with higher incomes. While that income amount varies by metro, renters that choose to share abodes tend to make about 30 percent less than renters who choose to live alone. Making Co-Living Work for You How might you benefit from the rising rate of co-renters? If you don’t permit subletting, it may be worth considering. Creating contracts for residents to use can help you remain in control while benefiting from a lower vacancy rate. Realistically, you probably have several renters subletting a...

Are you feeling energized for 2018? It’s a new year, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities. And while every January can inspire a list of resolutions, for every real estate business one goal is likely to top the list year after year: reduce costs. When it comes to lowering operational expenses, going paperless for as many tasks as possible is smart. And here’s some great news: it’s easier to do than you might think, and the benefits are big. For Dallas-based apartment manager LumaCorp, centralizing and automating procurement and payables processing on its mobile Yardi property management platform using Yardi Procure to Pay has not only reduced costs for the company, but also saves its staff valuable time (in addition to sparing more than a few trees). And in just three months, by eliminating the cost of transporting invoices by courier, Procure to Pay paid for itself. Better Buying and Bigger Discounts LumaCorp manages 24 apartment communities with more than 6,000 units. According to Larry Orth, LumaCorp’s controller, the company’s maintenance, repair and operating supply costs fell by 4 percent the first year after adopting Yardi Procure to Pay, an end-to-end, paperless procurement and invoice processing system that’s part of the Yardi Multifamily Suite full-business platform. Orth said, “For me, the great thing about it is the time efficiency, both at the properties and in the accounting department. We are a full service Procure to Pay client, so the processing is handled by Yardi, which takes a lot off our onsite people’s hands. All told, Procure to Pay has reduced by up to 40 percent the time our team spends on the payables process. And it’s a paperless system, which obviously also benefits the environment.” LumaCorp has also gained savings from the negotiated pricing across...

Many states do not require landlords to specify a reason for lease non-renewals. It is in your best interest, however, to have a well-documented reason for not renewing a resident’s lease. Here’s why. Keep Fair Housing Fair Fair Housing laws forbid non-renewals based upon discrimination or retaliation. You likely know this from your new-hire orientation, but here is a quick review of why it matters now: Discrimination: You cannot treat residents differently based upon their race, ethnicity, family status, ability level, sexual orientation, or any other protect class group. Your resident’s rambunctious kids are not a sound reason for lease non-renewal. Retaliation: You cannot treat residents differently because the residents assert their rights in any capacity. Residents always retain their legal rights. For example, if a resident issues a complaint about your property to a government agency and, subsequently, you opt not to renew the lease, you may face legal action. Thorough documentation prior to a lease non-renewal provides clarity for both landlords and residents. You can minimize claims of discrimination or retaliation when there are time- and date-verified correspondences of your concerns. Documentation Best Practices If peer complaints are your first indicator that a resident is a problem, document the complaints electronically. For example, if a resident calls with a noise complaint about a neighbor, write an email identifying the details of the complaint and send it to yourself. It’s beneficial to send a copy to the resident as well. (Your message does not need to contain the name of the person who issued the complaint.) Primarily, the resident may be unaware of the issue. Your message may stop the problem and prevent the costly turnover. The email also lets the resident know that you are tracking their non-conformity to the lease or...

Yardi’s powerful multifamily marketing and leasing platform, RentCafe, achieved double-digit year-over-year gains in 2017. The robust tool has also expanded to five markets. RentCafe helps multifamily professionals attract prospects, convert leads and retain residents via dynamic property websites, advanced SEO and SEM capabilities and convenient resident portals. Continued Growth “RentCafe demonstrated measurable success in 2017, reaching over 4.7 million licensed units,” said Patrick Lawler, director of RentCafe product development at Yardi. “One of the very exciting patterns we saw last year is the increase of online lease execution. The interest in electronic signatures continues to grow and we anticipate this to be widely-adopted in 2018,” added Lawler. RentCafe experienced the following gains: Platform adoption increased 34%, resulting in 4.7 million units Online leasing rose by 54%, creating over 4.2 million leads Online work orders expanded by 45%, generating over 4.8 million work orders eSignature adoption grew by 310%, exceeding 2.2 million eSignatures Online payments grew by 51%, totaling more than $18 billion “Yardi never stops innovating. It always raises the bar,” said Belinda Torres, corporate marketing director at Continental Realty Corporation. She has noted firsthand how RentCafe improves SEO, significantly increasing leads through nudge marketing for the company. Other RentCafe users include industry leaders such as Pinnacle, Continental Realty Corporation, The Bozzuto Group, and Monarch Investment and Management Group. Recent client highlights include a 34 percent lead conversion rate and a 20 percent increase in time spent online as a result of RentCafe. “Our clients’ successes are proof of our ability to respond quickly to industry trends and client demands for new features,” said Lawler. New Markets In addition to the flagship RentCafe product developed for apartment homes, the platform has expanded services into other markets. Users can now implement RentCafe’s powerful features for self-storage, affordable, student, senior and military properties. RentCafe is part of the Yardi...

What does a largely stagnant year for the multifamily industry in 2017 imply for this year?  How will economic, tax policy, demographic, capital market and supply factors impact the segment?  These and other issues comprise the content of “Sustainable Pace?”, a new market analysis compiled by Yardi Matrix. The Yardi Matrix research team’s study suggests that there’s enough steam left in the sector’s bull run to make multifamily a solid, dependable real estate market segment over the next 18 to 24 months for property owners, residents and investors. Rent growth cooled in 2017 amid robust development and occupancy levels began to trend down in some metros.  On the upside, demand for multifamily shows no signs of slowing in 2018, as the renter cohort ages 20-34 keep growing while retirees continue to downsize.  Urbanization and other social trends will also conspire to keep rental demand steady. Economy: Bright Prospects With regard to the national economy, “we expect another year of moderate economic growth, which potential upside from the recently passed tax reform bill that will lower tax rates and encourage corporate investment,” the report says, adding, “Job growth could slow as the labor market nears full employment, but should remain healthy.”  A 17-year high in consumer confidence plus healthy housing, automobile, manufacturing and other segments are additional positive indicators. Rent Growth: Modest but Steady Following multifamily’s significant deceleration in 2017, the report forecasts rent growth in the 2.5% range nationally this year, with increases in supply and lack of affordability in high-cost metros checking growth.  “Supply is the biggest headwind,” the report says, forecasting apartment deliveries in 2018 to increase by 20% to 360,000.  This new supply will outstrip demand and prompt a slow slide in the occupancy rate. Sacramento, Calif., is the projected leader...

Many multifamily firms are turning to corporate social responsibility (CSR) to meet the needs of their communities beyond the walls of the homes that they develop, manage and support. CSR initiatives encompass a company’s efforts to promote positive societal, economic or environmental change. The initiatives are self-regulated, and the scope and scale of CSR programs can vary widely. The results, however, share common benefits. Four real estate firms shared their successful approaches to local and international CSR projects. Spreading local goodwill MC Residential of Arizona founded the Sharing the Good Life Foundation, the company’s non-profit, to make a positive difference in the communities where employees live, work, learn and play. Lesley Brice, President, has been involved since the nascent stages of the program. “We’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years, most of which have been through payroll deductions and time off deductions or donations, as well as vendor matching activities,” Brice said. The Foundation has collected 715 volunteer hours, 42,036 employee PTO hours, and $55,617 in payroll contributions. The funds raised are directed towards local nonprofit organizations. The nonprofits are nominated by employees and selected by a peer grant committee. In recent years, MC Residential focused resources on two national organizations: Autism Speaks and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC). “We found our niche in raising money for autism when we brought autism awareness to the Arizona Multihousing Association (AMA). We raised over $100,000, mostly through PTO donations. We created a program, hours4autism.com. That way, rather than reaching in their pocket, team members can donate hours of PTO time toward whatever charity we were getting behind at the time. Everyone got to participate in a little way that added up,” Brice said. MC Residential also encouraged vendor...

When J Turner Research president Joseph Batdorf released the most recent survey on top residents complaints, he issued the following statement: “Apartment residents remain concerned with a broad range of customer satisfaction issues but far and away the immediate opportunity to improve customer service and resident satisfaction levels is by addressing dissatisfaction with onsite staff responses to resident concerns.” When noise complaints besiege your front office staff, you have options to address residents’ concerns without a major renovation. Improve resident satisfaction with affordable soundproofing retrofits. The tips below will help you jumpstart the conversation with your contractor. Unforeseen Challenges Before you can fix the noise problem, you must identify the source. In some cases, your building may not have been built to code even though it received a certificate of occupancy (COO). New and remodeled multifamily construction is required to have an STC of 50 by design and 45 by field test. Sometimes, building inspectors often overlook noise control. If you’re frequently receiving noise complaints, you could hire an acoustician to verify if the building was built to sound code. That may be a slippery slope that you’d rather avoid. Instead, understand the root of the sound leaks. Then you can find the most cost-effective solution. For example, during drywall installation, many contractors will raise the gypsum board to create a snug fit between the wall and ceiling. This leaves a gap at the base. Contractors will hide the gap with the baseboard and forego proper caulking techniques. The resulting void permits sound to travel between units and rooms. Older buildings may have multiple causes for noise transfer. Single-pane windows, hardwoods without soundproofing underlayment, and even old or damaged insulation may be at the root of your residents’ complaints. Solutions Quiet Clause The easiest...