Multifamily Innovation

Why Your Properties are Unprepared for EV Charging

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Do you think your properties are ready for EVs? Maybe you think you’re ahead of the curve because you’ve added a charging station or two to your property. That’s where you’re mistaken.

Some estimates show that by 2030, over half your lot could be full with electric vehicles. 

Consider that many properties have outdated electrical grids that can’t support charging stations, or only one or two. That could be an unexpected and expensive construction project to upgrade when you need more chargers.

When a property adds EV charging stations, they normally go to a manufacturer, order a station or two, pay someone to install it, then ignore it. The station is supposedly an amenity that’s doing its job by existing, like a swimming pool or tennis court. There are clear issues with this implementation strategy. 

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Bringing EV Charging to a Property

Multifamily properties are racing to implement charging stations for electric vehicles to meet the increased demand. They’re running into issues with vendors who don’t understand multifamily, onsite staff who have never handled EV charging, and often aren’t preparing for a growing future with more and more electric vehicles. 

When planning to service the property with a manufacturer, the representative for the property is often the property manager, who is also unlikely to be familiar with electric vehicle charging and the best practices for managing it. That puts the property manager in the expert’s seat.

Here’s a few questions that the property manager will need to answer: 

  • Which types of chargers should be used?
  • Should the property own & manage the equipment themselves or hire a 3rd party?
  • Should the property charge for the electricity or offer it as a free amenity?
  • If charging is free, what are the predicted additional expenses for free charging?
  • Where would be the best place(s) to add charging stations?

The answers to each of these questions can make or break the NOI gained from adding charging stations. Since every property has a distinct history, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. If the property manager isn’t prepared to answer these questions, the non-expert manufacturer will answer the questions for them.

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Properties should have an expert multifamily EV charging consultant to prepare for the installation and future management of any chargers. They’re able to take industry knowledge from both sides and use that to make properties more profitable. 


Thinking Long Term

As ESG laws and guidelines develop, as electric vehicles become more popular, what properties need to be equipped with will continue to change. Some state and local governments are developing requirements for a minimum number of charging stations on properties.

When these factors hit, one station with two plugs might not be enough for your property.

By thinking longer term, you can future-proof your property and improve your NOI. Will you have enough chargers for the next 5-10 years? Should you own and manage the chargers or hire a 3rd party? How can you encourage residents to use them?

Like with any product, it’s important to talk to an expert on how it will work in multifamily.

Our client, Refuel EV Solutions, helps properties get electric vehicle charging set up on multifamily properties effectively. They know the ins and outs of EV charging for apartments, from the technology to the installation.

Most property managers aren’t prepared to handle EV charging alone. Make sure they have the right partner to work with.

Patrick Antrim is the CEO of Multifamily Leadership, Chairman of the Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council Multifamily and Strategic Multifamily Advisor.

Want to learn more? Download the report on Why Every Multifamily Property Needs EV Charging Before Their Next Sale or Acquisition

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Multifamily Innovation

5 Hallmarks of a Great Multifamily Smart Tech Supplier

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There is a large demand from residents for smart home tech in apartments. In fact, 57% of renters are willing to pay an extra $38 per month for access to smart technology.

Smart tech isn’t hard to implement into a multifamily property – IF you partner with the right provider, that is. It’s possible to install smart apartment technology across an entire multifamily property in as little as two weeks or less.

That’s within weeks – and no onsite staff will have to lift a finger.

Investors who are looking to buy will prioritize properties equipped with smart home devices, since it’s an easy way to modernize their portfolio. Do you really want to be left with an outdated property that can’t draw residents?

Smart home tech is no longer an optional investment – it's a must in today’s competitive housing market. The question now is which smart technology provider you should partner with.

Let’s explore 5 pivotal factors to consider when choosing a multifamily smart home provider.

Their Devices Are Designed for Multifamily

Multifamily smart homes are vastly different from the single-family homes that most smart tech companies aim to serve. Rather than purchasing a dozen smart light bulbs and some switches off Amazon, multifamily communities require hundreds of devices.

In multifamily communities, each apartment’s devices must communicate with each other while still functioning within a broader property ecosystem. This means single-family home devices repurposed for the multifamily space won’t cut it.

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Smart tech preferences also differ between residents and property managers/owners. Residents want to control their devices from their phone like a single-family home user, while owners and operators need dashboard access to monitor device statuses across all apartments on property. To accomplish this, managers need unique software built to solve multifamily challenges.

A right provider will supply the devices a community needs along with the infrastructure to manage those devices, and those needs can’t be met with single-family smart home products.

They Use the Best Connection Technology

There are many aspects to the technology behind smart homes, but perhaps the most underrated aspect to consider when choosing a provider is which connectivity protocol they use. Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi are the current major protocols that allow smart devices to communicate with one another.

Although many smart devices can now connect directly to Wi-Fi, this isn’t practical when considering that owners and operators manage hundreds of devices that would all have to share limited bandwidth.

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Both Zigbee and Z-Wave can connect easily and reliably with devices of the same type, which is a significant advantage over Wi-Fi devices. For example, this allows Zigbee devices to extend your network's range as long as they are within proximity of each other.

Between the two, Zigbee has the largest selection of compatible devices of the three and is faster than Z-Wave with a longer range. Meanwhile, Z-Wave is more flexible in terms of third-party compatibility. Z-Wave recently released a new version (LR) of their protocol to catch up with Zigbee, but it still has a very limited number of compatible devices.

If a supplier uses multiple connection types to weave together all of their devices, it gets complicated quickly. A great smart home provider will use the best technology available and stay consistent with one connection protocol.

They Offer Transparent and Flexible Pricing

There are two main costs owners must pay when investing in multifamily smart tech: upfront costs for hardware and subscription fees for device management software.

Most providers will charge reduced amounts upfront but make their money by charging higher monthly fees for software. This continuously eats away at ROI. It’s the same scheme used with printers and ink: the printer is cheap, but the ink is expensive.

Beyond individual device and software costs, every property is unique and will require different smart devices and pricing structures based on size, revenue, class, location and more. A 150-unit property will have vastly different planning and budgeting than a 3,000-unit portfolio.

The right supplier will offer pricing options that are flexible and can mold to fit different owners’ budget and property constraints. They should offer monthly installments, upfront purchases, or resident funding programs.

A mediocre smart tech provider will try to upsell you devices that make little sense for your community and exceed your intended budget. Instead of having to fight for every penny, find a supplier that’s willing to get the best results within your budget.

They’re Your Partner Into the Future

Multifamily communities face a different set of challenges that single-family homes rarely encounter. For example, smart smoke alarms/CO listeners and water leak detectors are not very popular smart devices in single-family homes, but they make more sense for multifamily apartments, since preventing expensive property damage can help residents avoid insurance premiums and spare owners/operators in renovation costs with asset protection.

Trusted multifamily smart home providers know what products make the most sense for multifamily properties. They will partner with owners to prioritize the type of devices that are most valuable for their property as a whole. 

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After setup, a partner-provider will advise you as the multifamily landscape changes. It’s no longer “You bought our product, goodbye!” and you never hear from them again. They will answer any technical questions your onsite staff might have, as well as advise you with device selection as your needs change and as technology evolves over time.

Some will even customize their product offerings based on your needs. The best providers are always on the cutting edge of the smart tech industry, discovering problems that are arising and tackling them head-on. Ultimately, a provider that best understands the short and long term needs of the property will give the best service.

They Don’t Create More Work for Staff or Owners

Installing smart devices can be cumbersome, confusing, and time-consuming. If your property includes thousands of apartments, this process can drag on for a while.

Regular onsite staff don’t have the time or bandwidth to install hundreds of devices. Leasing agents and office staff are busy servicing leasing prospects, and maintenance has its hands full responding to incoming tickets.

Hands-off installation handled by the provider is your best option. It doesn’t overload onsite staff or maintenance, doesn’t involve the owners, and minimizes errors during installation. When done correctly, you can round out this process in as little as two weeks.

Once installed, smart home tech simplifies work for onsite staff. For instance, these devices catch maintenance issues – water leaks, carbon monoxide, smoke, etc. instantly. Smart locks also enable self-guided touring by sending prospective renters a one-time passcode so they can view your property on their own time.

These automations decrease operational strain and reduce the need to hire more employees, which cuts payroll expenses and boosts revenue.

Finally, when investing in a smart device package, make sure the provider won’t abandon the company they sold to. Both the apartment operator and the resident will need support whenever technical issues arise, so choose a provider equipped to handle any troubleshooting claims that come their way.

Who Should You Pick?

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The right pricing, technology, partnership, and devices are important. Yet the #1 issue we hear most often is that owners and managers don’t want more work or stress. Technology isn’t very helpful if it only creates more work. Find a provider that will be your partner, and will help guide your smart apartment portfolio so that it’s easy and useful for everyone involved.

Our client, Arize, is a multifamily smart apartment technology provider that takes the time to understand your property management business and the challenges you face, then pairs you with the solutions that will streamline your operations and maximize your revenue and occupancy/retention rates.

They’re a business built for multifamily that adapts to owner and property needs. Arize uses quality Zigbee connections that make it easy to manage your devices, and they work within your budget. Finally, Arize handles device installation for you, and they even pair you with a dedicated service representative to contact whenever you need technical assistance.

Multifamily owners need the right smart apartment technology for their properties. However, it's not just about the sustainability of your assets or about optimizing your portfolio's short-term returns.

The secret to long-term success is finding a strategic partner, like Arize, who will address your challenges with fitting smart solutions -- both today and tomorrow, as your needs change and your portfolio continues to scale.

Ready to bring smart tech to your property?

Talk to Arize
Multifamily Innovation

What to do About the Data Behind the Multifamily Staffing Shortage

by ArticleSponsored
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Note: This article is written to accompany the How to Tackle Multifamily Labor Shortages event. It is available to watch for free with the rest of our on-demand multifamily events on our Events page. This article reveals the data we collected as part of our research leading up to the event.

In March alone, 3% of the workforce quit. That’s 4.5 million people walking away from their jobs.

Finding high quality employees has always been a struggle, and it’s gotten even harder in the last two years. Employees that have stayed for years are leaving. It’s often referred to as “The Great Resignation.”

Most employers weren’t ready for this. The work environment changed with COVID moving workers to their homes. Now these companies aren’t fully prepared to handle their workers quitting.

Our research revealed that only 50% of multifamily properties expect to be able to handle all their incoming calls, and 65% think they would benefit from having another leasing agent. 

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There are not enough leasing agents on staff for many properties. What’s going to happen when no leasing agents are available and a prospect comes looking?

They will go to another property.

Most large properties are spending tens of thousands of dollars on marketing. Every prospective resident turned away is marketing dollars being wasted.

Yet even hiring more leasing agents (if they can find them) might not be enough. A majority expect that prospects prefer to interact with the property after office hours. We found that 32% use a call center to allow for more after-hours interactions, but it can’t cover the rest of the leasing journey. 

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The multifamily leasing environment is changing. Everyone wants instant access and convenience. If a future resident can’t get it from one property, they’ll get it from the next.

In the past several years, we’ve seen a shift towards technology-enabled leasing. Tech can fill holes effectively where hiring wouldn’t be able to.

Websites with basic information aren’t enough anymore. The future of leasing is technology, and properties need to take advantage of the opportunities it provides. 

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Those opportunities are already here. Properties need to adopt them. Ease of access is critical in today’s world, and more staff won’t always achieve it.

Properties need to enable touring in convenient ways. Online 3D tours that can be experienced in virtual reality (VR), letting leasing agents Facetime or Zoom with prospects to show them the apartment, or self-guided tours after hours with smart locks.

Although in-person tours are still an option, there are now more ways to tour. Properties need to take advantage of that.

But touring is only half of the equation. What is the process of getting a future resident to the point of touring?

We found that right now, 93.3% of multifamily executives expect technology to change the way we lease apartments. Over half picked artificial intelligence (AI), guided conversation, or voice assistants to make a change to how we lease apartments.

It makes sense. Staffing is a massive issue for all industries right now, not just multifamily. Artificial intelligence can do the same work that properties would need to hire more workers to complete.

A prospective resident can get the same information from an AI as it could from a leasing agent. Instead of them coming to see a leasing agent, the leasing agent comes to them.

Our data found that only 72% of apartments have a way for prospects to find availability, ask questions, schedule a tour, or lease, without talking to a person. Well over half think an apartment can be leased without a leasing agent.

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Automation is growing, but it’s not finished. The entire leasing process has been automated in pieces, and properties need to make the jump, or they will continue to lose leads through the cracks.

There’s an obvious solution to staffing problems, and it’s not hiring more people.

Our client, LeaseHawk, helps multifamily properties lease faster by using an AI leasing assistant that handles phone calls, text messages, and online chats, at the same time. Prospects can ask questions and get information just like a normal conversation. This supplements employees and allows them to focus on more important tasks.

Don’t let staffing problems hurt your business. Let AI pick up the work.

Your Guide to AI and the Apartment Industry

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Multifamily Innovation

The New Standard for Multifamily Underwriting is Turning 4 Hours into 4 Minutes

by ArticleSponsored
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Underwriting is all about assessing risks. That means a lot of paperwork.

Companies hire MBAs and other professionals to do multifamily underwriting. It’s expensive. It’s slow. And it’s worked for decades. 

Technology is getting more powerful, and jobs that have always been done by humans are being done by computers. More and more companies are realizing that these innovative technologies can take hours of work and finish it in minutes. 

Ten years ago, no one would have thought you could underwrite a deal in four minutes. Entire companies exist to help with underwriting so employees can focus on more important work. 

One of our clients, Parag Goswami led a company with dozens of analysts doing the same basic tasks every day. He realized that more analysts was the wrong answer.

The industry is changing, and billions of dollars of real estate deals are underwritten by artificial intelligence every year. Companies are starting to recognize that.

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Clik.ai was an early software company that did the underwriting for deals. Parag Goswami, the owner of Clik.ai, had to teach companies what AI could do for them. It was new. No one was used to it.

That was five years ago. The environment has changed. When he talks with clients, they are often already aware of the benefits of the technology. 

Finishing deals faster and getting onto the next one. Enabling workers to focus on more important work. Being fast enough to get that one breakthrough deal.

Automatic underwriting is becoming the industry standard. Seventy years ago, “computers” were people who did simple math for a living. (They “computed” math.) It was basic labor. Computers were the standard then and are the standard now, but instead of a person it’s a device. A calculator.

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Are your underwriters people, or an AI? The people doing your underwriting are professionals with degrees. They are spending their time doing work a computer could be doing instead. 

“Computers” did math by hand for decades. It worked. Businesses did underwriting by hand for decades. It worked. Now the industry is changing. AI is able to assess deals faster. Fewer deals are slipping through the cracks.

Clik.ai automates over $50 billion in real estate underwriting every year. That number is growing. The industry is changing. Are you?

Underwriting is Being Completed by AI

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Multifamily Innovation

Apartments Are Not Just a Place to Live Anymore, But a Place to Work

by ArticleSponsored
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Apartments aren’t just a living space, not just a home. They’re a place to entertain guests, a place to relax, and more recently they are becoming a place to work.

58.6% of the American workforce works remote, and 41% are fully remote. Just three years ago, only 17% of the workforce was fully remote.

Working from home requires a notable increase in space in multifamily apartments. A small home office space at a bare minimum takes 20 square feet and can go up to 40+ easily.

Any work-from-home employee in an apartment, particularly a smaller apartment like a studio, is already making the most of the space that they have. They won’t have those extra square feet in their apartment without making sacrifices.

With 65% of at-home workers working from the bedroom and 31% saying they work in the bedroom more than anywhere else, it makes sense that the best place to add room would be in the bedroom or sleeping area.

Our client, Inova, is making working from home a painless experience even in small, 250 sq.ft. studio apartments. Those apartments don’t need to be 16% bigger to accommodate an office, they need to use their space 16% more efficiently.

With an Inova TableBed, an apartment is able to reclaim 40 square feet of space. The desk for a home office is right there, waiting for the bed to be put up to be accessible.

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It’s difficult to have a professional space in small apartments. A bed does not make for the most professional setting, so a remote worker will often go to a coffee shop to meet with someone. It also discourages inviting guests over spontaneously.

Now there is a way to remove this problem. There is no bed in an Inova-enabled apartment during the day. This makes the most of apartment space, while keeping it more professional than ever before possible.

It’s hard to imagine an apartment without a bed. Often, it takes seeing the apartment in person to realize what this really means.

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“It feels as spacious as if there was an attached bedroom somewhere. Then you pull down the bed, and it’s made, people's jaws drop. They get it.” -Richard Hawkins, Development & Strategy for New Land Enterprises.

The average cost per square foot in a studio apartment is $3.19 in monthly rent. To add a 40 square foot space to allow for a home office increases the value of a studio apartment by $128 monthly or more, without accounting for the bed, table, or the untold value that not having a bed in the way makes for a resident. It makes for a larger, more premium apartment without taking any additional space. This can increase occupancy and NOI.

Multifamily operators need to stay up with the new innovations and technologies available. Once, the dishwasher was considered a luxury for an apartment. Now, it’s expected. Space for an at-home office is becoming just as necessary. 

Multifamily Developers are Making Smaller Spaces Feel Bigger

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Multifamily Innovation

Why Property Management Teams Need to Stop Depending on Emails

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Recently, our client BetterBot put forth a bold statement: “Property management teams need to stop depending on emails.” The company released an explanation for their challenge, but we wanted to learn more about the thesis. 

BetterBot is a Marketing and Leasing Automation Software that replicates your best leasing agent and allows customers to inquire about apartments and homes and receive an instant answer at any time of day or night. There are over 200 property management companies already signed on with the company. The business says its BetterBot for Web solution helps find prospective renters who are more qualified, increases the time it takes to secure a lease and frees up team members to focus on other work.

We set out to learn why improving this may benefit the multifamily industry. We spoke with Trevor Park, the Head of Marketing at BetterBot. He says emails are, put simply, failing.

“Ultimately, it comes down to response time and staying top of mind,” explained Park. “Response time instantly drops for communities after-hours, and most of them do not have any sort of nurture campaign to ensure they stay top of mind. Even with a nurture campaign or quick response times, it can be challenging for property management companies to stand out in a sea of crowded inboxes. Not to mention the work involved for the leasing teams to maintain and track follow-ups if they don’t have a solution that can help with both of these.”

There are some obvious ways the days of the multifamily chatbot have been reigning supreme. With people browsing on their phones looking for new places to live, they expect answers quickly. Office hours only cover a specific portion of the day, and with today’s technology, people just don’t want to wait. If they send an email late at night and the property doesn’t answer until the following day, they could lose interest. Automation helps accommodate the immediacy of the modern era. 

But BetterBot presents some other compelling arguments, too. For instance, promotional and branded emails are often filtered out and automatically sent to the spam folder, defeating the purpose of creating it in the first place. BetterBot has worked to ensure their emails make it to their inboxes by working directly with the major email providers. Email boxes can also get over-crowded, and the vast majority of people tend to delete marketing emails without ever opening them. It can also be challenging to categorize leads well enough to pay proper attention when property management teams are flooded with emails each day. 

“The problem isn’t necessarily with how Property Management teams handle emails; it is the volume of emails and leads that come in for them,” explained Park. “Take any specific property and look at the average number of inquiries that come in. How can one leasing agent tell the difference between those ready to convert and those just shopping around?”

He says many of those emails are simple questions that automation can quickly answer through lead nurturing or the use of a chatbot. That’s not only better for the client; it clears out the property management teams’ inboxes of tedious work so they can more aptly focus their efforts. On average, leasing automation saves between 56 - 60 hours per month for a single property.

“These menial tasks take away from the qualified and engaged prospects that the property management teams can be engaging with to build a strong relationship and ultimately convert them to a resident faster than the window lookers,” said Park. 

BetterBot recently launched their newest product, BetterBot for Leads, geared towards leads coming in through a community’s marketing sources, such as Apartments.com, Apartment List, or Zillow. 

The leads are the element property management teams are most likely to lose as they get bogged down in small, simple tasks that add up to take a significant chunk of their day. Rather than having a person send a quick question and lose interest as they wait for a response, BetterBot’s instant-response AI gets the preliminary steps out of the way. Then, prospects are more ready to move forward and talk with the leasing team more meaningfully. As BetterBot puts it, by giving them time back in their day to do what they do best, be human.

“BetterBot for Leads can then help nurture those leads and sort through the prospects to provide the leasing teams with the ones that have the highest likelihood of converting so they can focus on engaging with those prospects first for easier wins,” said Park. 

Park says it’s all about identifying the pain points and bottlenecks that sap efficiency when it comes to leasing. Here, he says, pairing automation with human touch solutions can save the day. It’s not a one or the other solution but rather a partnership that can help improve efficiencies and drive more substantial ROI.

“BetterBot for Leasing replicates your best leasing agent and gives your leasing team time back in their day by responding to and nurturing the leads at the top of the funnel. When automation nurtures a lead effectively, team members can focus on high-value tasks, such as tours, move-ins, and resident retention.”

Automation for marketing and leasing, it seems, is the future of multifamily. BetterBot says 56% of website traffic happens after property management offices have closed up for the night. It’s impossible to compete with companies whose customers have 24/7 access to answers and communication. The final argument would be simply for the loss of human touch a chatbot may have. There, again, BetterBot has a solution. Since property management teams are no longer overwhelmed with the low value, menial tasks, they can be more engaged with the prospects that have scheduled a tour, are ready to convert, and ultimately build the relationship with the resident. It’s a chance, the company says, to “infuse authenticity into customer interactions.” 

Although emails likely aren’t going anywhere, software like BetterBot’s can help make old tech function better. If your email inbox is less crowded, you’ll be able to focus more on what’s in there. The logic is tough to argue with. So at Multifamily Leadership, we concede BetterBot may be right: property management teams need to stop depending on emails.

Ready to Increase Prospect Engagement? Download the FREE report.

Did you know that 300 billion emails are sent each day, but only 18% are opened? Most property management teams today are too dependent on email. Usually, they see how much time and energy email takes, but don't know how to break the cycle.

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A Technology That Helps Identify Quality Leads and Convert More Rentals

by FeaturedTechnologyLeadershipMultifamily InvestingPodcast
Today’s renter wants control over the leasing process and access to information wherever, whenever, but today’s leasing team simply can’t keep up. On this episode, Patrick Antrim and Robert Turnbull explore Multifamily’s most adopted digital leasing solution providing renters the information they want 24/7/365 anywhere on the Internet.