Technology adoption and demand for flexibility in leasing have been the two most accelerated trends Yardi has seen in residential real estate throughout 2020. The uncertainty of Covid-19 has put strain on owners, operators and residents by introducing new challenges in the effort to maintain some form of human interaction, in turn jeopardising response times for marketing properties, executing applicant move ins, maintenance repairs and the excellent level of customer service expected in build to rent, PBSA and PRS.
Flexibility in Leasing is Key in Effective Space Use
With the way that space is used and demand shifting quicker than before, flexibility is more prevalent than ever. This has been seen across the entire residential sector, and can be further demonstrated by the Governments’ support in the reduction of red tape in the Change of Use legislation
Since the advent of Covid, Yardi has seen heightened interest from property owners requiring a more frictionless way of managing space and lease types. A residential property owner might have a mix of residential leases all within a single portfolio, even one building in some cases. From build to rent to student housing, technology needs to be adaptable and flexible enough to deal with the intricacies of each type of lease. With platforms such as RentCafe CRM, landlords can manage multiple lease formats while providing applicants and residents with an effective way to communicate.
Tech to Aid Frictionless Living
As it is in many aspects of modern, everyday life, residents expect services on demand. From communicating a broken dishwasher, to reserving the lift or paying their rent, technology can streamline the whole process. Resident mobile apps create frictionless experiences, especially when the app seamlessly integrates with payment gateways for convenient payments and direct debit set-ups.
Mobile app use has doubled this year according to Yardi, which evidently highlights the need for increased communication and convenience, particularly through times of limited human interaction.
Connected PropTech
Collaboration between teams is a great way to truly achieve a success in managing residential portfolios, and technology is at the heart of collaboration. Using connected technology, marketing teams can connect with leasing teams, leasing teams to residents, residents to property managers, and property managers to owners who ultimately connect with investors.
Having a single connected platform ensures property and resident data is in one place. It minimises the risk of security and data protection breaches and it ensures a low total cost of technology ownership, which when comparing to connected ‘best of breed’ options, eliminates numerous implementation costs of multi-system technology platforms.
One system also offers the ability to connect with, and nurture the relationship with a prospective resident until they have been guided seamlessly through the onboarding process to become a new resident.