4 Benefits of Using Property Management Automation in Multifamily

Multifamily property management runs smoother with automation. Property management software for multifamily has seen a lot of different faces throughout the years. Recently we’ve gone from multi-option tour schedulers to virtual leasing and now property management software has evolved again with leasing AI.

All of these different residential property management software solutions have come about during a time of absolute need. Consumer buying habits have changed and multifamily properties need to be able to keep up so they don’t look outdated in comparison to their competition.

Property management automation is needed to meet the demands of today’s renters. Millennials and Gen Z have grown up in a digital world. They are accustomed to having their questions answered 24/7 and the ability to speak to a human person when the internet or a website does not give the answers they are looking for.

A huge signal of consumer buying habits heading towards online automation is car buying. With the rise of Carvana.com, a big life purchase like buying and trading cars can now be done completely online. There’s no need to go to a dealership and finagle with a salesperson. Consumers can do every part of the buying process from the comfort of their own home.

In this article we are going to go deeper into what these buying habits mean for property management software and multifamily. In order to appeal to renters in today’s world, your multifamily property website needs to be engaging, interactive, and have the ability to collect consumer data for powerful, automated lead nurture. With leasing AI, property management automation has become easier and more efficient for onsite teams to execute. AI Leasing Assistants save multifamily teams hours of work by handling every lead and prospect and only handing off qualified leads that are ready to talk. Let’s get into why and how AI is helping transform property management software for multifamily.

#1 Property Management Automation Opens the Door to Streamlined and More Efficient Processes

Advancements in technology in the multifamily industry tend to happen at snail like speeds. The adoption of AI to help combat inefficiencies in property management has happened much quicker than the adaptation of other tech in the past. Multifamily renters have come to expect a more personalized and automated experience while property management businesses expect more efficient tasks and processes.

The multifamily industry has seen some early forms of automation in their communities already. Many properties have started using package lockers, like the Amazon Hub, for more efficient and convenient package handling. Other properties are leveraging technologies like AI to automate repetitive tasks like lease renewals, tenant screening/background checks, or maintenance requests. NHMC and Kinglsey conducted a survey in 2018 and found that onsite teams were spending anywhere between 1 to 4 hours a week handling packages.

During the holidays of the pandemic, this number only increased. Package lockers have helped by allowing for residents to pick up packages on their own time and keep them in a secure place. While some onsite team staff still put packages into the lockers, many are handled by the third party delivery drivers.

Another example of property management automation are self-guided tours. Many multifamily properties implemented self-guided touring technology so prospects could still tour even with social distancing and lockdown restrictions. According to a Multifamily Executive survey, 43% of respondents said they preferred a self-guided tour because they were able to tour after business hours and on the weekends. The process also allowed them to tour from their couch.

The pandemic showed how inefficiencies in property management has made it hard for multifamily to meet consumer demands. Demand for automating property management processes like leasing has gone through the roof. The normal, old way of doing business is outdated and many find it inconvenient.

#2 Adapting to Disrupting Technologies is Key to the Future of Property Management

Team sitting on a desk with a laptop. The image represents how they're considering property management automation for their PMC.

We’ve gone into where property management has been and the early days of automation in the multifamily industry but now it’s time to talk about the future of property management. Property management tech is heading into leasing AI.

Many of these leads aren’t qualified or even ready to lease anytime soon. With so many trash leads flooding onsite teams inboxes, they are having to spend more time filtering through them and figuring out which ones are worth pursuing and nurturing. Property management tech wasn’t able to handle this and because of that, multifamily properties aren’t working as efficiently as they could be.

The future of property management is automation. Leasing teams need to be able to focus on the leads that are close to signing a lease and keeping residents happy and satisfied. When package handling began to take more time, package lockers were introduced. Now that website traffic on multifamily websites have increased, onsite teams are spending too much time trying to find the leads worth talking to. Leasing AI saves onsite teams hours of time in the same way package lockers did, it isn’t replacing a person or job. It is a tool in your tech stack that will help make your property work more efficiently.

#3 AI is Transforming the Way You Automate Property Management Operations

Never before has the business world seen such a rapid evolution and widespread adoption of new digital technologies as it has since the pandemic began. Multifamily teams and prospective renters found themselves stuck at home for months. Multifamily property companies were trying to find ways to automate aspects of the leasing process they once believed that only a person could do onsite. AI in property management was needed in order for communities to be able to continue to tour and lease. Just because people were no longer allowed outside didn’t mean that renters stopped moving.

The impact of AI on property management was helping bring this industry into modern times and meet the demands of consumers who want automation. AI property management tech has transformed how many onsite teams are able to work. It lets leasing specialists focus on qualified leads while knowing that leads further down the pipeline are being nurtured and taken care of. They can spend more time on resident retention and keep their occupancy numbers high instead of wasting time talking to “leads” that are actually just casual shoppers.

Utilizing AI technology is the way forward in property management. Without out, your property will be outdated and your competitors will have an edge that is more attractive to today’s prospective renters and even some of your current residents. Let’s dive deeper into what an AI Leasing Assistant is.

#4 Robust Automation Tools Have Emerged in the Property Management Industry

Platforms like PERQ use AI technology to automate the human-driven leasing process while offering an interactive chatbot, lead conversion widgets, and personalized follow-up assistance while seamlessly integrating on your multifamily website. On top of being able to do all this, PERQ’s suite of technology including an AI Leasing Assistant improves operational efficiency and profitability by increasing lead conversion.

Leasing AI does this by collecting better data for the onsite team to use in conversations with prospects and by only handing off leads that are ready to talk, tour, or lease. PERQ’s leasing automation technology also uses personalized follow-up that is branded in your multifamily community’s colors and uses your brand voice to make the automated follow-up stand out in a prospect’s inbox.

illustration of PERQ bot

Along with better data and follow-up, PERQ can also combine multiple different marketing channels, like ILS, and streamline those leads in a more efficient way so your team never misses a lead. In the same way package lockers save onsite teams time, PERQ’s AI-powered technology saves onsite teams time by taking care of prospects in the leasing process that are not ready to talk to a specialist yet. Leasing AI is paving the way for more efficient automation in property management processes.

PERQ integrates with your existing website and lead sources to engage, nurture and convert every lead, improving the multifamily leasing journey for everyone.

Automate Your PMC with PERQ’s Solution