How tech amenities can elevate your multifamily property

With the proliferation of smart home devices from the biggest tech companies in business, multifamily tech amenities are becoming the best way to set your residential property apart from all the others.

On a recent episode of “Building Success: A Real Estate Podcast,” Jamie Wohlschlegel, CEO and Cofounder at ServusConnect, digs into what counts as an amenity in today’s society and how multifamily technology is changing the roles of residential property managers everywhere.

What’s considered an amenity?

What comes to mind when you think of apartment amenities? Do you think of a swimming pool? What about a dog park? With this rise in technology, however, companies like Amazon and Google are developing products that multifamily property managers would do well to pay attention to.

The whole idea of an amenity is that it should be something that your multifamily property has that no one else does. Amenities like pools, dog parks, and fitness centers have been big draws in the past, but at this point in the multifamily lifecycle, it’s more uncommon for an apartment complex to not have a fitness center than it is to have one. It’s not setting anyone apart anymore.

Amenities are also supposed to be desirable and useful. Because every apartment complex has a pool or fitness center, no one desires them anymore. Technology, on the other hand, is both desirable and useful. If property managers can integrate technology into their processes, then they also have a good chance of being able to engage with a resident on a new and convenient level.

“How can operators use technology to better engage residents?” This is a question that ServusConnect has focused on answering.

What does tech as an amenity look like in a multifamily property?

The key to answering that question lies in smart home technologies such as Amazon’s Echo and Google Home. In a world where a resident in a multifamily property can ask a smart device in their unit about the weather, traffic, and news, Jamie Wohlschlegel believes they should also be able to ask about their rent and community reminders.

Smart home devices currently reside in one out of six homes, and it’s expected to be in three fourths of our homes by 2020. Any property manager that can figure out how to leverage voice tech capabilities will have a significant advantage in the multifamily property market. Even though that particular market is strong now, like any market, it is expected to soften back up one day in the future. Voice technology can give multifamily properties a competitive edge in that market space as well.

Leveraging voice tech wouldn’t just be beneficial to daily briefings. ServusConnect is currently looking at solutions that would give multifamily property managers the chance to allow their residents to request unit maintenance and pay their rent through a device like Google Home. Since the tech industry has been pushing these devices so hard, consumers are going along with them, and it won’t be long before this type of integration takes hold and becomes the best way to engage with your residents.

Overall, the biggest takeaway is that whatever technology takes hold as the next great amenity, it will revolve around being open and connected. The technologies that meet customers where they are and allow them to interact with it as they see fit are going to succeed, and investing in them now as a multifamily property manager will put you and your community on a path to success.

To learn more about ServusConnect and how they’re pushing for greater integration, visit their website and tune into “Building Success: A Real Estate Podcast” for more information about the multifamily property market.