How apartment amenities can directly improve leasing efficiency
At Spaceflow, we’ve talked a lot about how building amenities are important for landlords of all types of properties, but there's a strong case to be made that apartments have the most to gain from a strong, well-planned amenity effort on-site. This is for several reasons. For one thing, it makes sense that renters would be even more interested in great amenities at their homes than their workplaces, since they spend more of their rest and relaxation time there. And for another, the fact that apartment leases tend to be a lot shorter than office leases means that landlords in the field have to be particularly proactive to prevent resident turnover.
The benefits of apartment amenities
Apartment amenities are useful for a variety of reasons. For landlords, as just mentioned, they boost resident retention. And while adding something like a pool or upgraded unit interiors might be costly or altogether impossible, adding new services and modern amenities like tech platforms, remote access, and other perks after construction is a perfectly reasonable goal to achieve.
For residents, they keep people having a great time and can reduce friction, depending on the type of amenities involved. For instance, things like access control and other digital amenities and dog walking areas can be very helpful to reduce hassles for residents.
Another critical benefit of apartment amenities is the ability of these perks to improve leasing efficiency. Sure, a big part of this is simply being able to advertise that a given property actually has a great amenity mix, but this benefit stretches beyond just listing features.
"One of the reasons why amenities can be so helpful in boosting leasing is that many of these systems can be directly used for leasing activities such as tours."
Directly support marketing
One of the reasons why building amenities, and digital amenities specifically, can be so helpful in boosting leasing is that many of these systems can be directly used for leasing activities such as tours. Access control solutions, which typically employ some variety of touchless system to allow entry into a property or specific rooms within the property, can facilitate touring by helping potential residents get into the building without friction.
Another prime example of an amenity that both boosts the resident experience and helps with leasing is the world of visitor management tools, which can extend provisional or one-time access to individual guests and reduce or eliminate the need to staff a front lobby desk or concierge. This can be useful for friends and family visiting your residents, and it can also help potential residents when they visit, as well, by delivering a smoother experience.
"These systems allow managers to keep track of tour-takers while eliminating the need for them to personally lead tours, a highly time-consuming activity."
Some of these systems even allow for entirely self-guided tours, where prospective renters can gain access to a set series of rooms, such as a lobby, gym, and a specific demo unit, with coordinated digital marketing materials provided to the tourer. These systems allow managers to keep track of tour-takers while eliminating the need for them to personally lead tours, a highly time-consuming activity.
How about newsfeed?
Does your community have a newsfeed? A hub for sharing updates about your property, that allows residents and management to communicate in a more casual way than a phone call or text?
Newsfeeds can be very valuable for apartment buildings because they centralize building communication and allow for a range of interactivity like polling, event planning (and RSVPing!), and discussing news from around the property.
But newsfeeds can be also useful in the leasing context as well. Depending on the system you use to power your newsfeed, why not add prospective renters as viewers for your building newsfeed? This will allow them to gain a window of perspective into the type of personality your property has, and will allow them to see some of the interactions and events your property features.
Sharing is caring
Just like people share photos of their fancy dinners or swanky parties, apartment communities also provide a fertile ground for shareable moments. The yoga class, the pool party, the summer barbecue, even the gorgeous lobby space–each of these is an opportunity for a resident to share a photo on Instagram or add to their Snapchat story.
Make no mistake, this is a great thing for landlords. Each shared photo or tweeted message is another chance for new eyes to see how impressive their buildings are. What’s more, pictures that highlight events and groups of people having a lot of fun also have an aspirational effect. “Wow, I sure would like to be a part of that,” your residents’ friends might say, when they see a clip of your multifamily residents at a wine tasting event in your building’s beautiful modern kitchen.
The social groups of your residents are likely at a similar economic and age demographic to your residents themselves, and so these people stand a good chance of being qualified to rent at your property, as well. Once that desire, to be part of your community, is out there, actually closing the deal with a lease will be a lot easier than otherwise possible.
Many multifamily markets today have been forced to offer huge concessions to fill units, but a better idea in some cases might to be add additional building amenities that benefit both current residents and potential ones. Before extending your free rent period an extra month, why not take advantage of this mutually-beneficial marketing tactic to its greatest extent?
Learn about Spaceflow's newsfeed and visitor management functionality, and access control integration.
