Posts Tagged ‘Justin Alanis’

Multifamily Renters Trend | How Today’s Moving Trends Will Affect Multifamily in 2014

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

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According to a press release that the U.S. Census Bureau shared late last month, 11.7% or 35.9 million U.S. residents moved their primary residence in the 2012-2013 year. This translates to a drop of about 12% compared to this same time period from the year prior.

When comparing the data found in the Geographical Mobility report published in 2013, these statistics show 2013’s numbers to be very similar to the 11.6% reported in 2011.

Researchers found that 48% of Americans claimed that the move was housing-related, 30.2% was a result of family, and 19.4% said their move was fueled by employment-related reasons.

What do these moving trends mean for multifamily?

We have three solid years in which moving trends have remained steady or improved nationally, with certain specific metropolitan areas seeing enough growth to maintain the averages for their whole region.

At 13.4%, the Western region of the United States has actually seen the highest percentage of all movers. This is followed by the South, who received 12.8% of our nation’s movers, and the Midwest who turned in an even 11%. The region with the lowest mover rate is the Northeast, who had 7.8% in the last year. According to these trends, industry professionals can expect to see at least these same percentages with a slight improvement being the most likely result of all the new activity planned for 2014.

Multifamily News identified that two-thirds of today’s movers are staying within their same county of origin. In addition, 40% of these movers are staying within 50 miles of their current home.

To the multifamily apartment owners or managers, this means that the bulk of their new renters are likely going to relocate from a relatively short distance. The method in which we’re planning to market our properties needs to hone in on this close-proximity trend.

When it comes to further segmenting this short distance market, it has been found that existing multifamily residents are more likely than current homeowners to move. Data for 2012-2013 reports that 24.9% of renters moved throughout the year, but only 5.1% of homeowners did the same during this time period.

Outside of regional differences, analyzing other areas of data gives property owners and managers a way of refocusing specific communities’ existing marketing plan so that it identifies patterns of the most likely renters in 2014. Job relocations, for example, which account for about 25% of our total movers, have a tendency to pay higher rents initially before settling into any community permanently. This should call for a differentiated marketing approach.

Is your multifamily real estate market already experiencing any of these trends?


JustinAlanis Justin Alanis | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |

Justin Alanis is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rentlytics Inc.  Rentlytics is based in San Francisco, CA providing deep analytics for apartment property owners and managers. View and analyze property operational and financial metrics more effectively and identify issues.

Multifamily Tech Trend | Property Management Companies Going Paperless in 2014

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

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After reports surfaced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was having logistical problems processing claims due to the literal piles of paperwork they had accumulated, it became apparent to the rest of the world who hadn’t begun the process of going paperless, that it was time to get serious.

For those in the multifamily industry, the idea of going paperless not only means a chance to reduce overall expenses, but once established, can mean both time saved and a boost in the overall quality of work produced.

From clearing of the office clutter to the fact that going paperless can be a great marketing message, we have some great tips for promoting a paper-free zone in your work-zone.

Why should management companies eliminate paper leases?

When it comes to the business of leasing, going paperless can present a whole new series of benefits. One of the foremost benefits is the ability to execute leases anywhere in the field. Since you’re digitally transmitting everything, only a wireless internet connection and connectable device are needed to present, sign, and distribute those documents to the tenants email and a virtual office file that your staff shares access to.

Agents will spend less time and money traveling and even less energy consuming detailed audits of all the properties in your portfolio when all the documents are electronically accessible.

Industry professionals estimate that up to 40% of the time in leasing offices is spent dealing with paper to make copies, set up files, to send faxes, or simply just searching through existing files to find need documents.

In the long run, it’s time that could be spent being proactive and accomplishing tasks that affect the bottom-line.

How can management companies get e-signatures on their leases when they are paperless?

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If you’re just looking to store and share documents online with your users/agents, then Google Docs is a simple, no-cost solution. If you need to take it a step further, Adobe EchoSign is a free e-signature app that allows you to both sign documents digitally and send those documents via email or Google Docs/Drive.

If you are looking to have that same power of Drive/Docs while also adding the ability to capture actual legal signatures on your leasing documents in an all-in-one environment, however, then you’ll need to enlist the services of a company like DocuSign, Lease Runner, SyndicIT Services, or On-Site.

DocuSign has been endorsed by NAR as their official electronic signature provider and boasts that over 115,000 real estate professionals are currently using the program to manage everything from residential and commercial real estate, property management, mortgage, escrow and more

LeaseRunner, like On-Site, is a 100% paperless, time saving application that maintains editable lease documents that comply with all 50 states and a variety of property types. The documents have the ability to capture electronic signatures and store everything digitally.

What do the statistics say about companies who go paperless?

When you look at the sheer impact the paper and ink industry has on the environment, paper consumption in America has generated approximately 85 million tons of paper waste. The pulp and paper industry in the United States is actually the 2nd largest consumer of energy.

According to the statistics gathered by GoPaperless.com, the average office worker prints around 10,000 pages per year. That’s equivalent to two-and-a-half fully grown trees and 56 gallons of oil per office worker, per year.

By going paperless, the study shows that the average multifamily real estate office can see benefits that extend into not only a reduction in the business costs associated with paper, printers, and ink and toner cartridges, but a reduction in physical filing cabinets and the time it takes associates to search for and retrieve documents.

Going paperless can also mean that a business can begin to employ services in a mobile environment that will promote a professional image and a more customer service oriented way of conducting day-to-day business.

The protocols set in place by a paperless office management system have been shown to have the added benefits of providing the company a secure way of backing up all documents, granting better access to real time updates and document delivery, as well as creating a marketing message that lets the business promote the fact that it is environmentally friendly.

As far as managing statements and paying bills goes, the more you do online the less time and energy you’ll spend managing this part of your business. When it comes to going paperless, it’s a trend that is not going away and one that makes the kind of good “sense” that can be seen in your bottom-line.


JustinAlanis Justin Alanis | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |Justin Alanis is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rentlytics Inc.  Rentlytics is based in San Francisco, CA providing deep analytics for apartment property owners and managers. View and analyze property operational and financial metrics more effectively and identify issues.

 

 

Resident Retention Trends | How to Hold on to Your Best Tenants

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

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The best renters, those with high credit scores and low maintenance needs, are highly sought after in the new rental market. Renters report that they don’t mind paying a premium for a home where they feel safe and comfortable, but keeping those tenants will take more than amenities. Adding bells and whistles is just as much a dead end game as lowering the rent and no property owner will survive long without a strategy to attract and hold onto the best tenants.

Great tenants are getting harder to find and the competition is heating up to find them, even if they are not in the market for a new apartment currently. Big data and aggressive marketing techniques are the hallmarks of the emerging rental market. At the recent Apartment Rental Management conference in Miami, Kelly Maguire, an executive director at SAS, clearly laid out the future of the rental market, where owners “need to be more strategically oriented, consumer focused and be more technologically advanced.”

The new renter is older and ready to settle down a bit, according to 2012 statistics from National Multi Housing Council . For those under 30, just over half, 57 percent, are renters. That percentage increases with age. From 30-44, almost two thirds are renting at 63 percent.  Those numbers jump up to 78 percent for baby boomers aged 45-64 and the really surprising number is 84 percent of seniors are now in the rental market. We can expect those to stay high or increase as the population bubble ages. The new renters are older, wiser and accustomed to being treated with respect. Here are three suggestions for making the ideal tenants feel at home for the long haul.

1. Make it personal

The rental market has moved from one of price sensitivity to value sensitivity. Renters say they want reasonable rents, but they are more concerned about how they are treated. They could easily get lower rent or more amenities elsewhere, but most stay for  the way they are treated by the staff.

The wise owners will retain these renters by personalizing the interactions, with things like thank you notes, flowers in the apartment when new tenants move in or an online presence that covers relevant activities in the neighborhood. Remember that the new renter cares about local, mobile and social information.

2. Be an early responder

The world outside is unpredictable enough. The new renter finds uncertainty about issues in their home extremely stressful. Respond quickly when they contact you and clearly communicate a policy about call back times.

Remember that tenants will be focused on results instead of explanations. Even if you only want to assure tenants that the circumstances that led to the problem won’t be repeated, don’t. Explanations tend to sound like excuses to the renter. All they really want to know is when it will be fixed.

3. Start now

Consider your lease renewals as new sales rather than administrative burdens. Good tenants are those who plan ahead, and they may well be planning for a new apartment six months before the end of their lease. Ask how they like living there and what would make their lives easier to begin discussions about renewal.

Remember that how you ask matters as much as what you say. Alex Jackiw, managing director of residential client services at McKinley, pointed out that 67 percent of clients in a recent survey chose email as their preferred method of contact from leasing offices.

Today’s advanced databases for rental management are able to handle a great deal of information about tenant preferences and interactions. Use the tools at your command to learn who your best tenants are and what they need to feel at home.


JustinAlanis Justin Alanis | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |

Justin Alanis is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rentlytics Inc.  Rentlytics is based in San Francisco, CA providing deep analytics for apartment property owners and managers. View and analyze property operational and financial metrics more effectively and identify issues.