The multifamily industry has many options when it comes to solutions that claim to deliver optimal results for both clients and renters. But which ones actually do? According to Multi-Housing News, the answer lies in automation and artificial intelligence. Chatbots powered by natural language and AI that extend beyond predetermined conversations, for example, offer communities the chance to create meaningful online engagements, all while increasing conversions and advancing innovation. But not all prospects want to engage with a chatbot — at least not at first. You need to be aware of how leads find your website, and understand that real engagement — the kind that converts — might be infrequent. So when it comes to using AI-based systems for multifamily marketing, aim for quality over quantity. Check out an excerpt: “The visitor has to hit the website first, and they have to elect to engage,” Paul Yount, industry principal at Yardi, explained to Multi-Housing News. “There’s a fairly large segment of the population that doesn’t want to engage with a chatbot; they know it’s a machine, and they think that it won’t be helpful.” Overall, the quality and reliability of leads matters infinitely more than the number of engagements, something facilitated by an acute use of automation. RentCafe Chat IQ is an AI-powered bot that features active, engaging responses, such as automated email responses and phone calls. “You really have to go beyond the chat for both business and operation efficiency and make sure that you’re getting consumers from all those different channels,” Paul Yount detailed. “The volume of chat is notably lower than email and web leads…much lower than phone calls, emails and potentially [text-based] leads. Consequently, such engagements significantly enhance lead quality and potential.” Two things change the game for good when it comes to converting prospects and keeping residents happy with a chatbot: natural language processing and omnichannel features. Let’s dive in on what makes each so important. Natural Language Processing A chatbot that can overcome casual language, spelling errors and grammar mistakes can simulate a more humanlike conversation. Natural language chatbots open opportunities of flexible conversation, enabling customers to ask questions pertaining to policies, schedule tours and ask much more in their own way, compared to chatbots that limit customers with predetermined questions. This enables your chatbot to deliver personalized customer service, meeting your customers where they’re at, every time, no matter when they reach you. Omnichannel Features More often than not, leads slip through the cracks because their initial inquiries were ignored. According to Yount, “Nobody says, ‘If only we had more leads!’ You don’t have a lead quantity problem; you have a lead quality and qualifying problem, one where the leasing team simply can’t handle all the inbound communication.” But keeping a tight grip on inbound communication is possible. How? With a smart bot that can field questions across multiple channels. A bot that can automate responses to emails, texts, chats and calls frees up your staff and increases the possibilities of gaining quality leads. Next Steps Interested in the future of multifamily chatbots? Read the rest of the article to find out more about how automation and AI-driven chatbots can help you convert prospects, take care of residents and save staff...
Bug of the Century
Could Y2K Happen Again?
Readers of a certain age might recall the buildup to Jan. 1, 2000, as an exercise in high drama. The object of concern was the so-called Y2K bug, the fear that hardware and software systems would stop functioning if they interpreted Jan. 1, 2000, as the first day of the year 1900. The issue was a legacy of computer programs from the 1960s, when engineers used a two-digit code for the year, omitting “19” to save data storage space. 2000 was comfortably far away then. But as that year approached, the concern grew among experts that the faulty interpretation of “00” would wreak havoc on everything from national defense systems and energy grid infrastructure to home mortgage calculations and factory operations. Corporations and governments formed task forces, planned and tested for years leading up to 2000. Large businesses in the U.S. spent an estimated $100 billion creating Y2K compliant programs. Boeing conducted a series of test flights with systems simulating a 2000 rollover to safeguard its 10,500 jets in service worldwide. AT&T spent $650 million to bolster its phone system. There was a fair amount of worry, too; IBM attributed its 9% fourth-quarter earnings drop in 1999 to large corporate customers delaying computer purchases. Smooth start to the millennium On Jan. 1, 2000, everything held together with only minor glitches attributed to Y2K. The U.S. Federal Housing Administration listed incorrect dates on a few reports. A Berlin opera company’s system made people born in 1995 appear to be 95 years old, rendering their parents ineligible for government-mandated subsidies. A video store in New York state foisted a $91,250 charge on a customer who, according to their computers, returned a rented movie 100 years late. There were some airline flight delays and a few other snafus...
And a App-y New Year
Four apps to enhance productivity in 2023
It’s the end of the year, and you are starting to feel sluggish. Scrolling social media endlessly or putting off tasks are everyday bad habits that society picks up in December. Why not start now with some New Years’ resolutions and download some productivity apps that can help get you out of that slump? We’ve done some research and found a few apps that can help. Here are four apps to increase productivity for the end of the year and the start of next year: 1. Todoist App (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome, Safari, Firefox). Todoist is a task management tool that promises to make complex to-do lists manageable. This app is for individuals, helping you track your tasks and ensure nothing gets forgotten. Key features of Todoist include task management, prioritizing tasks, project goals, and reports. Todoist offers a slick, cross-platform interface that makes it quick and easy to manage functions if you struggle to keep on top of your to-do list. 2. Trello App (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and web). Trello is like Todoist, except it is for collaborative teams. Tasks are added and organized on “to-do,” “going,” and “done” statuses, which helps teams keep track of progress. Tasks can be grouped into boards and cards, which contain multiple functions in themselves. Individual duties can be assigned to groups or team members with deadlines and checklists. Key features of Trello include project management, to-do lists, Trello boards, working with anyone, and instant messaging. Instant messaging makes it easy for teams to communicate and collaborate, especially in today’s world of working from home. 3, Zapier App (Windows, Mac, iOS, Andriod, and web). Zapier is a simple automation tool that can save teams vast amounts of time on repetitive tasks and switching between different apps. Zapier sends data between apps like Trello and Outlook, so emails are automatically sent out when anything changes in Trello. Add all these automations together, and your team will collectively spend much less time on menial tasks to focus on more critical ones. Key features of Zapier include the integration of apps, automation of tasks, and custom automation. Zapier is a very gentle introduction to business automation, but it can impact the day-to-day tasks that often slow down collaborative teams. 4. Forest (iOS and Android). This is more of a quirky app to keep you from scrolling social media all day. It is designed, so you stop spending so much time on your phone and/or tablet. Forest essentially gamifies downtime away from your mobile devices. When you want to focus, you plant a “tree,” and the more time you spend away from your smart device, the more it grows. Spend enough time away from your phone to produce an entire forest. The best perk of this app is that you can earn virtual coins by staying focused on your tasks and use them to grow real-life trees from the app. Forest key features include productivity, gamification, and growing actual trees. Forest not only increases a bit of fun into productivity but also helps you make the world a better place while improving your workflow. So far, Forest has planted over a million trees! We hope these apps have given you some inspiration so you can get your productivity game up. These are here to help productivity and not add stress to completing everything on your to-do...
3D Home Update
Aiding Affordable Housing
3D printing has picked up the pace in the housing market, especially with inflation rising. Builders can print houses faster building with more earth friendly resources and fewer staff. Let’s explore the latest updates with 3D homes in the affordable and single-family housing markets. The University of Maine unveiled the first 100% bio-based 3D printed home made entirely with bio-based materials. It features 3D-printed floors, walls, and roofs of wood fibers and bio-resins. The house is fully recyclable and highly insulated with 100% wood insulation and customizable R-values. “Our state is facing the perfect storm of a housing crisis and labor shortage, but the University of Maine is stepping up once again to show that we can address these serious challenges with trademark Maine ingenuity,” said Gov. Janet Mills. “With its innovative BioHome3D, UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center is thinking creatively about how we can tackle our housing shortage, strengthen our forest products industry, and deliver people a safe place to live so they can contribute to our economy. While there is still more to be done, today’s development is a positive step forward — one that I was proud to support through my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan and my budget.” The technology is designed to address labor shortages and supply chain issues that are driving high costs and constricting the supply of affordable housing. Due to automated manufacturing and off-site production, less time is required for on-site building and fitting up the home. Printing using abundant, renewable, locally sourced wood fiber feedstock reduces dependence on a constrained supply chain. These materials support the revitalization of local forest product industries and are more resilient to global supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. Using advanced manufacturing processes and materials, future low-income homes can be...
What’s After 5G?
Next Generation Networks
5G, the next generation mobile network, launched in 2020, following in the footsteps of a steady progression of voice capability, call and text encryption, data transmission, video calling, mobile internet. 1G started it all in 1981, 2G came 11 years later, and 3G and 4G made their entries in 2001 and 2012, respectively. 5G figures to impact everything from entertainment and healthcare to farming and robotic factory workers, meeting an ever-growing need for high data rates for virtual, augmented and mixed reality. So is 6G the inevitable next step in this evolution? On one hand, 5G, which promises significantly faster data rates, higher connection density and lower latency, among other things, hasn’t even been fully deployed. But “in the next 10 years, we can expect massive changes and new technologies coming into our lives which will require more and more connectivity at higher speeds as we transfer more and more data,” says Dr. Shaghik Atakaramians, a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales Sydney’s School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications. She continues, “We can imagine completely autonomous systems; or multi-sensory extended reality which integrates the five traditional human senses with the digital world; or real-time remote telesurgery; or complete virtual shopping malls.” ‘Always on a 6G path’ That means, New York City-based technology information consultant Lifewire says, that “technology always pushes forward and standards take a long time to mature, so we’ve always been on a path to a 6G world. We’ve managed to go from 1G to 5G in such a relatively short amount of time, so 6G is just the natural progression towards faster and better wireless connectivity.” Once developed, 6G most likely will involve using ultrahigh frequencies (millimeter waves) of the radio spectrum. It might eventually approach the upper limits...
Student Housing Tech
WiFi Reigns Supreme
Life for a college student today is much different than it was 20 years ago. Students expect to have the connectivity that they are accustomed to at home. As we dive into student housing tech, one priority is clear: college students demand a fast, reliable WiFi connection. As for Mom and Dad, parents will appreciate the security of electronic locks and cameras, especially when it is their children’s first time off to college. According to a recent article from the National Apartment Association (NAA), for student housing management companies, smart technology offers many advantages: It can alert authorities to danger fasterPeace of mind that no stranger or unauthorized visitor can pick up a key or keycard to get inside the buildingProtect staff by tracking movements in and out of apartmentsSave energy during summer and winter breaks with smart thermostats and alerting if there has been a window left openFree staff from security monitoring to do other tasksDetect leaks in fire and water lines or utility disruptions Security transformation Gone are the days of propping open doors with rocks or losing keys frequently and racking up fines. Smart locks at every entrance mean no more keys or even magnetic cards to carry. Codes are also on the way out since many will share with friends and roommates might not feel comfortable anymore. Bluetooth credentials are the new ways to open doors. Keys, fobs, and codes all can be copied but a Bluetooth credential cannot. Since student housing has a lot more likelihood of damage than your typical multifamily complex, cameras all around the building will also provide security and help staff to see if there was a drunken incident or a pet that is not allowed. Smart doorbells and window security in all units along with a video image of the main entrance intercom on the unit’s touchscreen will benefit for student residents to see who is at the door before admitting them. The window security will alert when a window has been opened and will benefit for winter and summer breaks. Smart locks also allow for contact tracing. “With COVID, once a student or other user reports becoming ill, Servitas LLC can trace his or her movements through the building and alert authorities and other recent users of the same doors and study rooms,” says the NAA article. Smart home shortcomings All the benefits of smart home technology come with some drawbacks as well. Can a building’s network withstand 100% of usage? Students come with myriad WiFi demands such as smartphones and tablets, laptops, TVs, gaming consoles, and more. Student housing property management companies are constantly having to upgrade and maintain bandwidth and equipment, and deal with resident complaints if anything goes down for more than a minute or two. For many years, most companies made eight- to 10-year Internet service agreements; “now I won’t do longer than five years,” says David Braden, Servitas senior VP of operations. Student housing provider Landmark decided a wise choice to handle in-unit tech was a hybrid smart-home hub for each housing unit. The hub handles devices like unit and bedroom locks, door/window open notification, leak detector, thermostat, smart dimmable light switches and video visitor management. Residents can also customize with items like a smart speaker or smart outlets. Apps are managed through a touchscreen. Saving time and money Comprehensive software platforms for leasing, rent pay and maintenance requests are saving student housing staff a lot of time and freeing up extra money for other expenses. Students can log into their accounts to sign leases, and select a perfect roommate with a questionnaire that asks compatibility questions. Chatbots are also becoming more common. Artificial intelligence has improved tremendously and can help those who do not take the time to read the marketing website. “In the first quarter of 2022 alone, the bots responded to 52,000 inquiries, saving the company more than 16,000 staff...
Chips Are Down
Shortage Hampers Manufacturing
Some materials, like air and water, are easily seen and felt and keenly noticed in their absence. Other substances are just as ubiquitous but more hidden and easily taken for granted – until they’re scarce. Take computer chips, for example, the processing and memory units that are the engines for everything from personal computers, smartphones and washing machines to electric toothbrushes, refrigerators and cars. “I imagine there are more than 100 billion chips in daily use around the world,” notes Matteo Rinaldi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University. One trillion chips were fabricated globally in 2020 alone, according to the European Union. But lately the process of producing more chips to meet ever-growing demand and new technologies has hit multiple snags. Demand for chips exceeded supply even before the pandemic, and when much of the world economy shut down during the pandemic, so did factories, holding up delivery of the supplies needed for chip manufacturing. With the pandemic came an explosive surge in demand for devices and their components, with home-bound people using more tablets, phones and other electronics than ever before, far exceeding what manufacturers could provide. Port closures and labor shortages produced shipping bottlenecks. Companies like Nissan, General Motors and Apple subsequently noted the negative impact of chip shortages on their manufacturing and sales performance, while Ford Motor Company reported a loss of $3.1 billion over the three months preceding April 2022. Car maker Audi and its parent company Volkswagen stripped Invidia tire pressure display, wireless charging pads and other chip-reliant features from certain models. Hoarding amplified the disruption. Similar to nervous grocery store shoppers, manufacturers stockpiled computer chips during the pandemic, preempting the “just in time” manufacturing model favored by companies that order parts as close to...
Heavy Metals
Crucial Tech Elements
The 17 rare earth element (REE) metals comprise the building blocks of much of the technology we depend on daily. These elements, which aren’t actually rare but are sparsely concentrated in minerals, include the exotically named dysprosium, neodymium, lanthanum, praseodymium and terbium. Encompassing properties that make devices lighter, faster and smarter, REEs “let smartphones glow and ring and buzz, make fridges cold, lightbulbs bright and TVs vibrant,” in the words of Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune reporter Nicole Pollack. They’re also present in the screens on smart phones, computers and flat panel TVs, the motors of computer drives, defense systems, hybrid and electric car batteries, new-generation light bulbs and much more. With greater investments in clean energy, demand for REEs could increase six-fold by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. An electric car, for example, needs six times the mineral inputs of a conventional vehicle and a wind plant requires nine times more minerals than a gas-fired plant. A major problem with these elements is that mining, separating and refining them both requires and produces large amounts of toxic materials. Up to 95% of this work is done in China, by some estimates. Harvard International Review reports that for every ton of REEs produced, the mining process yields more than 28 pounds of dust, up to 423,000 cubic feet of waste gas, 2,649 cubic feet of wastewater and 1 ton of radioactive residue. Recycling, partnerships could ease supply strains The environmental implications of REE harvesting have prompted experts to seek alternate ways to meet ever-growing demand. Recycling REEs from discarded electronics rather than mining is one option, using new processes that enable extraction with minimal use or creation of pollutants. Harvard researchers are working on extracting REEs using bacteria rather than toxic chemicals, while...
Affordable Housing Tech
Insight from Chris Voss
Editor’s note: The following interview was originally published on The Breezeway, the official blog of Yardi Breeze. Chris Voss is currently a vice president at Yardi, but he’s been working in affordable housing for over 20 years. In that time, he’s worked on the investor side of the business, putting together tax credit deals to help developers get their properties built. He later shifted gears and spent a number of years working directly with operators. He’s experienced in helping property management companies optimize and modernize with the help of affordable housing and compliance software. Chris is the perfect person to discuss the future of affordable housing. Keep reading to see how he’s helping Yardi revolutionize affordable housing and simplify compliance. What’s the goal of Breeze Premier?We’re looking to bring everyone on our legacy systems over to Yardi Breeze Premier. This will help us better support our clients with newer software and get upgrades out faster. It also provides a portal for applicants and residents to apply online, make payments and enter work orders. Are there any features that tend to convince people to switch or migrate?One of the bigger points of interest for our residential clients is the ability to launch branded corporate and property websites with RentCafe. This is our marketing and leasing solution built into Breeze and Breeze Premier to support online leasing. It also includes options for integrated screening and renters insurance. Historically, rent collection and work order management have been done manually, so to have an integrated system is really compelling. The most-used feature of RentCafe is probably the resident portal, which automates rent collection and centralizes online maintenance requests. And residents love the RentCafe Resident app. Looking back, what made the previous generations of Yardi software relevant in their time?Years ago, Yardi Genesis and Yardi Genesis2 were some of the most powerful property management systems around. This was especially true for small to mid-sized companies. They didn’t need everything a system like Yardi Voyager had to offer. However, a lot of that functionality was built in to help clients with activities in the back office such as bookkeeping, financial reporting and resident tracking. The reality is that a lot of employees at smaller affordable companies wear multiple hats. They do more than back-office activities. That’s where Breeze Premier come in. What’s making Breeze Premier relevant in our time?In addition to accounting, operations and reporting, our latest property management software includes built-in marketing and leasing tools plus a host of optional add-on solutions to do even more. We’ve implemented text messaging to better communicate with residents and introduced a CRM queue to track customer communications and initiate follow-ups. We leverage artificial intelligence to communicate with potential residents using our RentCafe Chat IQ chatbot. We provide the option for clients to outsource their utility billing and utility invoice processing, among other features. Not to mention, we just rolled out maintenance call center services to Breeze Premier clients with RentCafe Connect. If you were to reimagine affordable housing, what might it look like?Reimagining the future of affordable housing is really about finding ways to reduce the costs and complexities of operations. It starts by reducing the friction that is involved with finding and applying for an affordable home today. RentCafe.com is an internet listing service available for our residential clients. Even a person who wants to move to a different state can now easily apply online. They can also complete the entire certification process without ever having to walk into that out-of-state property. We’re also trying to eliminate fair housing complaints from even arising. With RentCafe Affordable Housing, the certification and application process are done online, so the manager never has influence over the application process. So even if that household ends up being denied, they can’t point back and say the property manager was discriminating against them. Put it this way: In every respect, the future...
Multifamily Experts Agree
Tech Eases Transition Challenges
Demand for rental apartments through the first three quarters of 2021 was 28% higher than the U.S. single-year high in the same time frame in 2018. Asking rents were up 11.4% nationally year-over-year through September, with the occupancy rate of stabilized properties reaching 95.9% in August. Stats like these inspire observers to use words like “robust,” “red-hot” and “overheated” in discussing the state of the multifamily industry. Is this strong market built to last? Or is it too good to be true? What key trends will chart the industry’s direction in 2022 and beyond? A group of experts offered insight in a recent conversation with Richard Malpica, vice president and Eastern region general manager for Yardi. Online tech’s scope expands Social distancing mandates fueled expectations for increased online service and flexibilityamong renters and property teams. The desire for a frictionless digital experience extended to all aspects of property management, including marketing and leasing, electronic money orders, vendor payments, invoice processing, self-guided tours and more. Cincinnati-based Towne Properties and BH Management Services of Des Moines, Iowa, whose representatives joined the discussion with Malpica, are among the property management companies that have accelerated their technology adoption for these and other operations. Joanna Zabriskie, BH’s president and CEO, reported that nearly all residents at the company’s properties who were previously paying rent by check converted to electronic payments after the onset of COVID-19. Among other forward-thinking initiatives, BH is also rolling out leak detection technology that prevents costly water damage and enables instant maintenance services, she added. Fraud, staff shortages spur adoption With fraudulent digital transaction attempts against businesses on the rise, risk mitigation is another principal concern for property managers. The discussion participants predicted that artificial intelligence facial recognition technology will be increasingly incorporated into self-guided tours, online leasing, vendor access, income verification and other operations. The group noted a trend toward adopting virtual assistants that respond to all prospect and resident communications, including chatbots that can generate high-quality leads. Smart home tech for locks, thermostats, leak detection and other elements of multifamily housing is also moving up as a priority for residents and managers alike. On another front, the so-called “great resignation” across the economy has impacted the multifamily industry, making it harder for property managers to find and retain qualified staff. Some have responded by centralizing leasing, renewals, collections, maintenance and other operations, automating processes or instituting a combination of centralization and automation. “Centralizing some of our leasing and maintenance has helped us meet our prospects’ and residents’ demands while mitigating staffing shortages,” said Chad Munitz, vice president at Towne Properties. “We were able to move to a hybrid work environment. I think flexibility to work from home has become an essential perk in today’s tough labor market,” added Zabriskie, who noted that 13% of BH’s onsite positions have been open for several months. “It’s harder than ever to hire and retain valued employees,” prompting the BH recruitment team to place more emphasis on positive corporate culture elements such as days off for mental health, bonuses and added benefits. Boston-based Berkshire Residential Investments also sharpened its focus on company culture issues, instituting monthly town hall meetings to address remote work challenges and other issues, according to Josh Glastein, its chief information and technology officer. ESG’s importance grows With 15% of emissions coming from real estate, sustainability continues to grow as a priority. Institutional clients are increasingly asking for sustainability to be included in property budgets, and ESG is growing in importance for residents as well, according to the discussion participants. Local and federal requirements to comply with ENERGY STAR® standards and other energy initiatives have spurred an interest in energy software capable of gathering and reporting consumption data to property owners and managers. The way forward The participants agreed that, as multifamily property managers and owners adapt to new expectations in the post-pandemic era, carefully chosen and properly utilized...
Selling the Metaverse
JLL Invests in Digital Real Estate
Yardi client Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is investing in the metaverse. The reality is as strange and beautiful as it sounds. You’ve heard of the metaverse, but what is it? In short, the metaverse is a virtual reality. It’s an entire virtual world where people engage in the same activities as we do in the “real” world. It’s like Second Life or The Sims in that it is a life simulation. But there are distinct differences between the metaverse and the games of the early 2000s: The metaverse is a more immersive experience. Rather than using a laptop, most participants engage via virtual reality (VR) devices that literally encase your skull.The metaverse is interoperable. Information is exchanged between different systems (like the integration between Yardi Voyager and the Elevate suite). Rather than having Second Life and The Sims as two distinct worlds, the characters could interact with each other in the metaverse.NFTs allow individuals and companies to “own” items in the metaverse. You can own everything from a unique masterpiece to real estate.You can make (and spend) real money in the metaverse. This is where things get very interesting for companies like JLL. The corporate world cashes in on the metaverse While the metaverse is still fringe territory, CIOs across various industries are exploring its potential. For organizations like JLL, the proof on concept stage is an exciting frontier. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, commercial real estate services company JLL expressed interest in development within the metaverse. Edward Wagoner, CIO at JLL, said the company may use several different paths to invest in the metaverse. The long-term value of commercial real estate in the digital realm is undetermined. But as a first step, JLL plans on “buying specific virtual locations within high traffic areas to test various scenarios,” said Wagoner. Such test plots give the organization ideas of how marketing and services will work in the metaverse. While that approach is on par with a commercial real estate company, its second approach demonstrates how the metaverse can give mundane routines a fresh start. JLL may explore using the metaverse as part of its hybrid work model. Remote work via the metaverse will supplement in-office arrangements. JLL is not going into the metaverse alone. While technology plays a significant role in scalability at JLL, the company does not plan to develop metaverse tech on its own. JLL may invest in startups that help to “prototype and create these metaverse-related opportunities,” reports Wagoner. To boldly go where no one has gone before Virtual reality is not a world that we will ever (easily or feasibly) visit. But in any space where humans interact, there are opportunities for businesses to engage with consumers. The metaverse is a growing media channel with a growing participant base. That means uncharted territory where all content can take a fresh twist. Stay abreast of industry trends and insights on our News...
Tech Trends + Innovations
Proptech to Drive Success in 2022
Technology has permanently changed how consumers search for, tour, rent, buy and sell real estate. Check out which established proptech tools get a fresh twist this year, and which innovations bring greater conveniences to the industry. Multiple tour options are no longer optional Today’s prospects expect multiple ways to view a property. Technology plays a huge role in the ability to offer multiple convenient tour options. For most renters, the search begins online. A survey reveals that “renters are becoming so comfortable with renting digitally, that 72% say they would rent an apartment without ever seeing the property in person if a 3D virtual tour was offered.” In stead of stagnant photos, 3D self-guided tours use special software to give online viewers a 360 tour of every space in the property. While the majority of renters may sign a lease at this point, for many, this option acts as a filter. It helps prospects identify which units they want to further investigate. Live virtual tours allow prospects to remotely attend a walk-through lead by an agent. This gives prospects an opportunity to ask clarifying questions about the unit, property and neighborhood. The engagement gives the agent a chance to build a relationship with the prospect. Not all prospects want the guidance of an agent. For self-guided tours, prospects use online scheduling software like RentCafe Self-Guided Tours to book a tour. After a quick yet secure verification process on their mobile phones, prospects access the unit. They complete the tour at their own pace, unassisted by an agent. Multiple tour options give forward-thinking property managers an advantage over less tech-savvy competition. Digital twins have joined the chat Want to get ahead of the tech curve and offer your prospects something truly unique? Digital twins have a growing presence in real estate. A digital twin is software that uses real world data to create simulations that predict how a unit or building could perform. The technology empowers prospects with a better understanding of a property: its environmental efficiency, typical cost of utility bills, and the scope of resilience against natural disasters to name a few. Properties that offer special structural features now have a way to demonstrate those advantages. Bitcoin establishes itself among flexible payment options Online payment options have included ACH and debit / credit cards. More recently, text and voice command payments entered the real estate scene. Now, real estate professionals are also integrating cryptocurrency and blockchain-supported contracts. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, began disrupting real estate transactions en masse in 2013. Since then, its popularity and legitimacy has steadily grown. Blockchain, the supporting database, offers secure, anonymous and accurate transactions from start to finish. Real estate firms interested in optimal efficiency and seamless international transactions may consider cryptocurrency with blockchain-supported transactions. Chatbots with machine learning improve responsiveness Responsiveness will make or break a relationship with consumers. Chatbots can answer inquiries 24/7/365 without inconveniencing human agents. Chatbots with machine learning, like RentCafe Chat IQ, will offer a noticeable difference in customer service. These AI-supported bots “learn” with experience, adapting to the nuances of human vernacular to improve future interactions. With chatbots, property managers can offer stellar customer service at any time of day. Staff leans into automated ads Software can automatically transform ILS listing into detail-specific ads. If needed, staff can adjust parameters to hone in on key audiences. For each automated ad campaign, staff receives data on views, clicks and demographics, allowing tweaks throughout the process. Automated ads reduce manual labor while improving ad spend control and ROI. Tech for the win Tech is a powerful ally for any growing real estate business. Technology improves staff efficiency and reduces menial task loads. The same products serve as differentiators that offer sought-after conveniences to consumers. Seeking a tech partner to help your business grow? Join a webinar to discover a suite of multifamily tech tools to support your...
Home, Smart Home
Meet Yardi's Smart Home Solution
Smart home technology is expanding rapidly. Renters want smart home amenities for security and convenience. Property managers are interested in its easy and productive operational management. Smart home technology is also used for risk mitigation and real-time insights to improve buildings’ sustainability as well as property managers’ understanding of their properties’ processes. RentCafe Home IQ is Yardi’s smart apartment solution for the multifamily industry. It allows for increased revenue opportunity and resident retention by offering advanced technology features and experiences. Home IQ deploys and manages a fleet of connected devices without installing custom or third-party software, making it easy to add convenience, streamline operations and manage risk. With new technology comes fresh considerations and questions. Here to help is Vice President Greg Smith. He’s been with Yardi more than 20 years and has been instrumental in the development of Home IQ. Below he shares a little insight into the smart home market, why we made Home IQ and how it compares to other products for multifamily. What is the current state of the smart home market? Smith: Smart home is hopping! And it’s not just for the techies out there. We’ve seen that renters are beginning to look for it and, in some asset classes, expect it. The good news is that smart home tech has as many (or more) benefits for the property owner and operator as it does the resident. Why is Yardi getting involved? Smith: Smart home tech is a natural expansion for Yardi. It’s easy to think of smart home as just a resident function, but the reality is that it can be a huge efficiency gain for the owners and operators. Yardi is always working on solutions to help our clients improve asset revenue and decrease risk, and smart...
Smart Home Tech
Good For Everyone
Smart home technology is our new reality. We’ve gone from remotely controlled lightbulbs to a whole universe of interconnected home goods that can be controlled from a phone. Smart home automation saves time and increases efficiency, improving resource management and security for both property management teams and residents. Renters in many markets are seeking out smart apartments, often willing to pay more for units with the right smart home tech. While smart home technology may seem like a simple appliance upgrade, it often offers data resources that have the potential to transform your business. Property managers use smart home tech to mitigate risk and get real-time insights that can ultimately streamline processes and improve sustainability at their communities. We asked over 16,000 renters about smart home technology and their preferences in a survey on RentCafe.com. Although the technology is still relatively new, a full 48% of respondents said that smart home technology was somewhat to very important to them. Here is what we found. What today’s renters are looking for Many renters are beginning to consider smart home technology a necessity more than a luxury. Some features that are more important to them than others — including smart thermostats, automated lighting features, alarm/security systems and smart locks. While many of these features are for renters’ convenience, it is also for their security and safety. In our smart home survey, we asked respondents which features they desired most, allowing them to choose more than one option. Of the 16,590 responses, 35% wanted security cameras, 22% wanted digital thermostats, 18% wanted keyless access locks, 15% wanted motion or leak sensors and 10% wanted wireless lighting control. Worth noting, according to a 2021 study by Assurant, 47% of prospective renters say that smart home technology increases their...
New Dimensions
In Property Security
With many workers staying at home during the pandemic, commercial buildings emptied but the obligation to maintain security for buildings, technology, hardware and data remained. Now that many of those employees are on the verge of returning to work, managers of residential as well as commercial properties are bolstering traditional physical security – the protection of outer and inner perimeters and interiors with guards, fences, locks, video surveillance, fire detection and more – with new capabilities. Seventy-five percent of respondents to a recent survey of U.S. physical security and facility management professionals said the pandemic increased the importance of physical security in their organizations. Propmodo, which covers the global property industry, notes, “The expectations about safety and security have changed [after the pandemic] and security teams and the buildings they manage need to be prepared to meet these new higher standards.” Enhanced systems for evolving needs As a result, many property owners seeking to mitigate risk are embracing a notion of security that combines traditional physical security elements with access control technologies that have evolved, as Georgia-based real estate investment advisement firm Think Realty says, “to support a digital environment for tenants and property managers.” Advanced access systems encompass door entry, video surveillance and intrusion detectors, and real-time monitoring of entrants and the property. Many such systems are cloud-based, enabling remote management and scalability. Many employ voice, retinal, and facial recognition, thermal imaging and artificial intelligence. Engaging a technology platform capable of seamlessly physical and data security operations with other Internet of Things building infrastructure elements gives security and facility managers “the opportunity to create an environment that is not only safe and secure, but promotes productivity, collaboration and success,” Propmodo says. Commercial and residential property owners most likely will adopt other new practices...
3D-Printed Housing
Habitat for Humanity, Tempe
Habitat for Humanity is leading the way on innovative housing solutions. The Tempe branch is exploring 3D-printed ranch-style homes to address a growing need for housing. The flagship structure demonstrates the efficiency and beauty of combining conventional and 3D printer construction. It takes a village to print a 3D house The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house was designed by Scottsdale-based Candelaria Designs and printed by PERI group of Germany using a Build On Demand (BOD2) printer. More than 20 sponsors provided funding. The house contains 1,738 square feet of living space and a total of 2,433 square feet for the project, reports the nonprofit. Of the total square footage, 70-80% of the house will be 3D printed. The BOD2 works alongside construction crews and volunteers. It uses the gantry principle, which allows it to move in any position within the structure, printing inner and outer walls in thin layers. As it prints, human workers can continue their electrical, plumbing and other tasks. Humans will also install the ceilings. Construction is scheduled for completion in October 2021. Explore Habitat for Humanity’s earth-friendly passivehaus design. For now, the BOD2 house at 677 W. 19th St. will be one-of-a-kind. The 15 adjacent homes will be traditional builds on four city lots. Habitat for Humanity has made it clear that more 3D-printed homes are of interest. The project is a direct response to an acute affordable housing crisis in the area, reports the nonprofit. About 20% of renters are considered extremely low income. Of them, 75% of households are severely cost burdened. The phrase is used by the National Low Income Housing Coalition to describe renters spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The state would need more than 136,000 affordable units to safely house extremely low-income renters. Scalable, affordable...
Need Efficient Leasing Solutions?
There’s Tech for That
Technology offers several benefits that make it a mainstay in the multifamily leasing process. Today, we will check out solutions that add efficiency and convenience to your daily processes. Automated communication Automation is an essential part of an efficient leasing workflow. Automation means less hands-on time for staff, especially during redundant and menial tasks like responding to general questions. Let’s face it: most people don’t thoroughly read. An online study suggests that fewer than 25% of readers complete an online article. This means that—no matter how many details you put on your website—your staff will receive requests to answer the same questions. Additionally, your staff must remind prospects of upcoming tours, manage cancellations and rescheduling, and follow-up after tours are complete. Those simple tasks are time consuming, but they don’t have to be. Automated email services issue follow-ups and disseminate commonly requested information. Automated correspondences can save your staff time and save you money without sacrificing a high-quality user experience. Chatbots for intelligent automation Automation improves response times, which is important to prospects and residents alike. The 2020 NMHC/Kingsley Apartment Resident Preferences Report reveals that 88% of consumers expect a response within an hour and 33% of that group expects an answer in 15 minutes or less. Delayed or missed responses are bad for business. How do you improve response times while decreasing hands-on time for staff? Chatbots offer real time assistance. They answer questions, book appointments and “learn” to adapt to a company’s unique needs and customer trends. Chatbot are growing in popularity. It is estimated that 85% of human interactions online will be handled by a chatbot by 2025. Users demonstrate such trust in chatbots that 68% of them expect a better experience with a chatbot than a human. Get 3 Critical Tips for Picking the Right Chatbot Virtual and self-guided tours Virtual tours can take many formats. Pre-recorded video tours and live video tours are both popular, agent-led options. These tours give your staff the opportunity to build rapport and pursue the sale during conversation. They also offer the convenience of engagement without face-to-face interaction. But agent-led tours still require a notable time investment from staff. The third tour type, self-guided tours, empowers prospects to schedule their tour online, check in online, and gain access to the unit without the intervention of an agent. Prospects can then enjoy a live tour and follow-up correspondence from an agent. Self-guided tours are in-demand. A survey of 4,974 consumers on RentCafe.com reveals that 70% of respondents would take a self-guided tour. This convenient tour offering is also effective. Yardi client QuadReal reports that 33% of its self-made appointments converted to leases. Virtual options allow you to schedule more tours and expand touring hours. Both benefits facilitate greater convenience for your team and your prospects. Online rent collection Consumers crave online conveniences. Yardi client Applied Property Management has a leasing process that is entirely online. More than 92% of its market-rate residents also pay rent online and the company expects the number to reach 100% in the near future. Residents at Applied Property Management aren’t unique in their payment habits. Per the NMHC/Kingsley survey, nearly 80% of residents prefer to pay online. Online payments can take several convenient forms for your residents. They can pay online with a credit or debit card, schedule a one-time or reoccurring ACH and even pay by text message. When there are fewer people dropping off rent checks, you reduce office traffic and strain on staff. Online payments also result in zero rent envelopes to open, deliver to the bank and wait for processing. Online maintenance requests and tracking To a resident, every disturbance in their home workflow may feel a rip off and a domestic emergency. They aren’t paying for a broken dishwasher and that leaky pipe is threatening their personal belongings. So until the issues are resolved, you’ll get regularly scheduled calls from...
Forbes Cloud 100
Yardi makes list again
Yardi has been named for the sixth time to the Forbes Cloud 100, the definitive list of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world. Yardi was a member of the inaugural Cloud 100 in 2016, landed at No. 34 for 2020, and is No. 50 this year. “We’re honored that Forbes has recognized Yardi once more for our industry-leading cloud solutions,” said Jay Shobe, senior vice president of cloud services at Yardi. “To consistently rank among these prestigious companies reflects the efforts of our employees and the tremendous support of our clients worldwide.” The evaluation process involved four factors: market leadership (35%), estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), people and culture (15%). The Forbes Cloud 100 judge panel, which includes 34 major public cloud company CEOs, was responsible for selecting and ranking the top 100 companies globally. “The companies of the Cloud 100 list represent the best and brightest emerging companies in the cloud sector,” said Alex Konrad, senior editor at Forbes. “Every year, it gets more difficult to make this list — meaning even more elite company for those who do. Congratulations to each of the 2021 Cloud 100 honorees and to our 20 Rising Stars up-and-comers poised to join their ranks.” “The private cloud ecosystem continues to see historic rates of digital transformation,” said Byron Deeter, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “Private cloud valuations are getting bigger as the market’s appetite for cloud continues to grow. These founders represent the absolute best in cloud computing today, and they appear likely to follow in the footsteps of our esteemed Cloud 100 alumni. Congratulations to these cloud leaders!” The Forbes 2021 Cloud 100 is published online at forbes.com/cloud100 and will appear in the September 2021 issue of Forbes magazine. About Bessemer Venture...
Experts Unlock
RE Tech Adoption Secrets
What’s the formula for promoting a tech-friendly culture in an organization? We asked four leaders in Canadian real estate for their insights as part of the Yardi Canada “Canadian Trailblazers” series. Olivier Rocheleau, corporate controller for Groupe Petra, identifies showcasing upper management’s willingness to innovate, recruiting support within the company and instilling strong change management skills as the principal elements. “Everything starts with upper management understanding the need and benefits of technology, not just its cost. Business will see a decline in profitability and lose valued employees who are tired of working with outdated tools, if changes are not made during these times,” he says. At the same time, he notes, employees are usually the best sources of insight into the shortcomings of the current tech situation and processes. Sandeep Manak, CFO for Wesgroup Properties, concurs. “Get the president or chairman to use new tech” as the first adopters and to lead by example, he advises. Sarah Segal, director of real estate for Informa Connect, manager of the Canadian Real Estate Forums, considers formulating a strong vision for the future, nurturing cultural evolution and displaying a willingness to go the extra mile as the principal ingredients of successful tech adoption. “A team that sees potential in a pivot, expansion or improvement will dig in to see it happen,” she says. Creativity is another key attribute, she adds, with ingraining out-of-the-box thinkers in the company culture and openness to new ideas being among the top elements necessary to forge an environment that encourages constructive change to thrive. Michael Brooks, CEO of REALPAC, notes that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of technology, from new and pre-existing in the market. This includes videoconferencing platforms, messaging apps, digital contracts, paperless banking, shared creation and management of documents and...
Paperless Made Easy
Improve Document Management
Did document management get lost in the shuffle as you shifted to a paperless office or remote work environment? Your team may now struggle to track down files and keep versions organized as they send copies back and forth. Fortunately, it’s never too late to achieve the level of organization, accessibility and security that you need. Paperless made easy Paperless documentation is an industry standard. Yet without the right technology, managing electronic documents can be even more challenging than paper files. Users face a series of challenges related to organization, access, storage, searchability, security and integration. Yardi Document Management for SharePoint integrates with Voyager property management software and Microsoft 365 to eliminate paperless documentation challenges. Centralized storage Centralized document storage can take place on local servers and in the Cloud. The latter permits secure access to documents for staff in office, in remote work environments and on the go. Work together from anywhere Improve collaboration without redundancy or version control issues. When combined with the power of SharePoint, interconnected document management software empowers users to collaborate. With Cloud syncing, each team member stays up-to-date with the latest developments. Document management also integrates with Microsoft 365 and other Yardi applications to improve accessibility to and security of your documents. Secure and accessible Managing permissions and end-user access can be a pain point for organizations. Skip the hassle of creating new profiles and credentials within your document management system with Voyager integration. SharePoint permissions will reflect your security settings in Voyager. As a result, users can access files quickly and securely with no VPN required. Intuitive organization Folder structures and hierarchy make organization simple. You can track version history of documents as well as individual contributions from users over time. Such tracking makes it easy to...
Time for Fintech
Hot Tech Trend
Fintech emerged in the 21st century and the term was applied to the technology employed at the back-end systems of established financial institutions. These days, it includes multiple industries including education, retail banking, fundraising and the nonprofit realm, among others. Additionally, it includes the development and use of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, and describes various financial activities including money transfers, depositing a check with your smartphone, applying for credit, raising money for a business startup and many other, generally without human assistance. The use of technology has increased significantly in the past years, but especially last year as the need for touchless interactions grew. As of now, businesses rely on technology for payment processing, e-commerce transactions and accounting. Contactless payments are now the norm. According to a report by KPMG, financial institutions have invested more than $27 billion in digital innovation and fintech since 2015. Tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple started with digital payments and moved on to more serious business. In 2019, Apple launched its credit card with Goldman Sachs which eliminates processing fee and also provides a layer of privacy and security. Last year, Google launched a checking account product in partnership with Citigroup, which will be available through the Google Pay app. As part of stepping up its fintech game, Amazon offers mature financial services across payments and lending to 100 million Prime customers, and in India the company offers Amazon Pay credit card with ICICI Bank. Earlier this year, Walmart announced that is launching its own fintech startup in a joint venture with Ribbit Capital. This partnership combines Walmart’s retail knowledge with Ribbit’s fintech expertise with the end goal of providing tech-driven financial experiences for customers and associates. The retail mogul already offers some financial products such...
Flexible Office Space...
Technology Transition Solutions
Adaptability bolsters the longevity of any organization. Yardi commercial market experts have observed that many urban and suburban office owners are transitioning to more flexible site models. The smoothest transitions occur when they are supported by integrated technology. Brian Sutherland, vice president of commercial sales at Yardi notes, “We will continue to see a lot more flexibility in the future of office. There is increasing demand for flexible workspace. Clients seek asset management and construction products as their urban and suburban offices convert into more versatile, mixed-use spaces.” Office spaces embrace the transition to more flexible workspaces Among office spaces, suburban sites have remained steady during the pandemic. Though they were not as vulnerable as their urban neighbors, many suburban office owners are exploring flexible spaces to adapt to tenant demand. As many tenants implemented remote work policies for employees, the daily demand for office space declined. Months later and moving forward, many tenants have announced hybrid office models that permit occupants to share socially distanced workspaces on a staggered schedule. Common areas are expanding to accommodate healthy and flexible work conditions. Some urban offices are taking the shift to adaptable spaces even farther. “To leverage current conditions, owners transform office assets into mixed-use facilities including traditional offices, flexible workspaces, retail and even multifamily,” reports Robert Teel, vice president of global solutions at Yardi. Technology tools to support the transition to flexible workspaces The transition to more accommodating spaces has resulted in an increased demand for technology. Solutions for construction management provide visibility into projects and cost management as owners transform buildings to meet the changing needs of the market. Short-term leasing and space management solutions help owners drive revenue in any space while promoting occupant safety. Vendor management, vendor compliance and procurement systems...
Black Innovators in Tech
13 Names to Know
The technology that you’re using to read this blog post was created in part by a black innovator. The smartphone that’s beside you and the streaming service that you use for your favorite shows are both the contributions of black scientists and mathematicians. This is astounding considering that only 1% of tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are black, per a recent report. African Americans made strong contributions to technological advancement throughout the Golden Age of Invention. They paved the way for, and participated in, the boom of Silicon Valley and subsequent tech hubs. We’ve compiled just a few tech powerhouses in this list, focusing on contributors to computing. Where would we be today without video conference calls? Better question: where would we be today without Marian Croak? Croak is the pioneer of Voice over IP, technology used to communicate via audio and video while using the internet. She holds more than 100 patents in VoIP technology with an additional 100 currently in review. Croak serves as vice president of Engineering at Google. High speed internet is also a household name thanks to Victor Lawrence, an electrical engineer and pioneer in global telecommunications. His contributions helped to bring greater accessibility to high-speed connections. Because of his work, small businesses and households have access to broadband, DSL, HDTV technologies and wireless data transfer. Additionally, his work has advanced data encoding and transmission, modem tech, chip design, ATM switching and protocols, as well as audio and video coding. In short, the U.S. economy might not have survived the pandemic without Lawrence. Ever heard of an electret microphone? You likely use one every day. James West invented the first practical electret microphone. It is used in many smartphones, cameras and digital recorders. What made his take on the electret microphone unique is that it uses a charged material instead of a cumbersome polarizing power supply. Inventor and engineer Otis Boykin was a tech master with range. He improved everything from common household items to military technologies. He held 28 patents and his electrical resistors are used in computing devices, missile guidance as well as pacemakers. His innovations resulted in safer and more efficient resistors, which promoted the mass affordability of electronic devices. Roy Clay stands among Silicon Valley’s earliest pioneers. His earliest notable work is as a research and development director with Hewlett-Packard (HP)’s computer division in the 1960s. He went on to create Rod-L Electronics, which is a world leader in developing electrical safety testing equipment. One invention includes dielectric withstand testers that protect personal computers from electrical surges. During the same time and practically down the street, Mark Dean was developing the earliest IBM PCs. He pioneered three of IBM’s nine original patents including the first gigahertz chip. We can also thank him for color PC monitors. (Do you remember when they were green and black? Yikes.) Dean and his partner Dennis Moeller created microcomputing systems with bus control for peripheral process devices. That means you can plug in speakers, disks drives and other peripheral items to ports on your desktop and laptop devices. As early as 1999, he launched development for a voice-activated tablet. Fast-forward and Dean is still a contributor to the industry as CTO for IBM Middle East and Africa. Paving the way for Clay and Dean was Frank Greene, a leading technologist responsible for high-speed computer systems in the early 1960s. He is also the founder of Technology Development Corp. and ZeroOne Systems, Inc. a venture capital firm for minoritized groups. Etta Falconer is another noteworthy technology trailblazer who dedicated much of her life to the advancement of marginalized groups. Falconer began her career as a mathematician and soon became one of the first black women to earn a master’s degree in Computer Science. She then dedicated herself to increasing the number of black women in mathematics and math-related careers by teaching at Spelman College, a historically black university in...
Senior Living Priorities...
Tech tops the list
Senior living community operators spent much of 2020 working to stabilize their operating environments. Technology has played a major role in that adaptation. “The need to have technology access in senior living has jumped up a level, and it will stay there,” Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, told Senior Housing News. Zoom meetings, virtual tours, video chats and other capabilities that maximize safe interaction are “likely to continue long after the coronavirus has been contained,” adds a blog article posted by Life Care Services, a Des Moines, Iowa-based senior housing community operator. Eighty percent of respondents to a Senior Housing News survey in August reported increasing their tech spending this year to address the COVID-19 pandemic; 68% said their companies implemented telehealth since the beginning of the crisis. Looking ahead, 87% of survey participants expected their organizations to increase their technology budgets in 2021 for resident monitoring, contact tracing, telehealth, virtual activities for residents, virtual tours for prospects and other operations. “And that’s just the beginning,” Life Care Services says. New applications coming over the horizon “will make life easier, safer and more engaging for residents,” including motion and voice controls that eliminate the need to press buttons or grab handles, virtual reality systems for more immersive community tours, wearable smart technology and even robotic pets for memory care residents. Other areas that senior living operators are targeting for expanded investment include resident safety and emergency call systems, air purification and other infection control measures, wellness programs, and sales and marketing. Access to technology will also become a larger factor in families’ evaluation of senior living options going forward. “If you go into a community … and there’s no Wi-Fi in the room, people will not put up with that,”...
Technology Tools
Helping Seniors Stay Connected
Isolation is necessary to keep senior living community members healthy during the pandemic – and a challenge to their well-being in other ways. As HealthTech magazine put it, “Important safety measures to keep high-risk people isolated during the pandemic hold a particular disadvantage for older adults in assisted living.” While the absence of sustained interaction can’t be completely mitigated as COVID-19 runs its course, a number of collaboration tools give senior living community residents vital mental and physical stimulation plus social engagement with the outside world. “Advances in technology for senior living are more focused on improving quality of life, providing data that enhances housing and developing personal devices that give seniors more control over their environment,” according to Craig Fukushima, managing partner for The Fox Group LLC, a health care consulting firm in Upland, Calif. Many of the technology tools leveraged by older adults are familiar to the non-senior population: smartphones, tablets, videoconferencing, telehealth. HealthTech reports that residents at Connecticut-based Maplewood Senior Living, for example, use iPads for video chats, virtual cocktail hours and birthday parties. A Thrive Senior Living community in Germantown, Md., added Alexa-enabled voice control and smart speaker devices. And Seattle-area operator Merrill Gardens outfitted seven of its communities with devices that support video calls with family and activities such as virtual card games and trivia contests. Video games are another way to keep seniors active. Fitness trackers can help them count steps, compete in competitions and create workout routines. Other apps offer quizzes, puzzles and other stimulating activities. The gap between tech-savvy younger generations and their elders is narrower than some people might think. An AARP survey published in January 2020 revealed that 51% of older Americans bought a smartphone, smart television, wearable device or other tech product in...
