As recently as two years ago, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation were buzzwords in the rental housing world. Properties that implemented these tools were considered early adopters and regarded as bold for taking a cutting-edge approach.
Now they are a necessity.
AI and automation are critical tools to fuel process improvements that lead to significant cost reductions and enable teams to focus on high-value activities. Utilized in tandem, AI and automation are spearheading the next revolution in multifamily housing—autonomous property management.
Autonomous property management represents a paradigm shift in how properties are currently managed. It utilizes workflow optimization, data analytics, and seamless integration to drive operational cost efficiencies from the property level to the corporate level. Deployed effectively, it has the potential to create a significant net operating income (NOI) boost.
Here are some of the multitude of ways autonomous property management can make an impact:
Timesaving
Autonomous property management involves the optimization of almost every daily workflow—including initial prospect outreach, lease-signing, renewals, and additional resident communications, all of which can be streamlined by tech. Essentially, the more AI can streamline the mundane, the more associates can focus on what truly differentiates properties and satisfies residents.
By automating processes such as prospect follow-ups, community-related resident communication, and renewals, on-site teams can allocate their time toward strategic resident-facing initiatives, while AI handles repetitive day-to-day tasks. For instance, delinquency notices often consume a significant chunk of time, but much of the process can be automated through AI. Ultimately, AI and automation should simplify processes through every department, including marketing, leasing, resident services, maintenance and even accounting.
Lead Nurturing
A primary challenge for on-site teams is the volume of prospect inquiries at a property, and the ensuing need for timely responses. Many inquiries occur outside business hours, and, if you don’t respond nearly instantly, you risk losing that lead. While chatbots and autoresponders were great stopgap solutions in the past, they were limited in their ability to answer nuanced questions. By contrast, AI-powered support can answer more complex inquiries 24/7, like having a year-round leasing agent who never gets tired.
High-level AI support solves issues by engaging prospects and nurturing them through the lead-to-lease process, maintaining a level of quality through customized responses rather than cut-and-paste replies. Any effective model must be omnichannel, in that it responds within the medium desired by the particular prospect.
Prompt Resident Communications
A leasing agent fields a few complaints about pet waste within a few hours. She’s eager to write a communitywide email reminding residents to be responsible and pick up after their pets, but prospects continue to arrive. She’s also having difficulties striking the proper tone in the email. Fortunately, some solutions offer generative AI to write an effective email, similar to ChatGPT, but without the need to use an external source and cut-and-paste. While this is a mere example, AI solutions can create blogs, emails, event summaries, and more, which is incredibly valuable to teams short on time or without a strong writer on staff.
Screening and Fraud Deterrence
AI tools can identify fake paystubs and verify other financial documents, such as real-time bank account information. They can also assist with identity verification and risk assessment, helping to short-circuit fraud before a scammer can get too far along in the application process. Rather than a one-size-fits-all solution, properties can customize the tool to their individual property parameters, leading to a faster, more efficient screening process.
Secure More Renewals
Widespread research indicates the top two factors cited by renters when deciding whether to renew are cost, naturally, and maintenance. Outstanding service requests, after all, don’t serve as a motivator to stay. With maintenance so critical, AI-powered tools can help assign techs to pressing service requests, procure necessary parts and even schedule appointments without the site team having to intervene. This leads to minimal frustrations for office teams and residents alike.
Properties can take this one step further through the use of predictive maintenance, which utilizes smart sensors within appliances and HVAC systems to alert teams about breakdowns before a malfunction occurs. The proactive approach helps prevent bad maintenance experiences, which can sway a renewal.
Keeping in mind the renewal process starts the moment a lease is signed, teams can lean on AI to assist throughout the journey, including automatically generated lease renewals. This includes the option to generate an offer but refrain from sending it until the team approves it. AI can also create a targeted list of residents most likely to renew. Of note, one operator reported an 80% decrease in time spent on renewals after adopting an AI-powered platform.
Reduce Delinquencies
Late rent payments are a perennial problem in the rental housing industry. According to research by the National Multifamily Housing Council, an estimated 20% of residents are expected to make late payments. That bad debt, naturally, negatively impacts NOI.
An AI-powered payment agent automates tedious resident communication at key dates, engages in humanlike conversation, and takes the onus off on-site teams from being the bad guy—while having the ability to escalate to a human when needed. It also saves the interaction to serve as an audit trail, when needed. One apartment operator reported a 40% improvement in collections across the portfolio by implementing an AI rent collection process.
In addition to the items above, AI-powered models produce invaluable data that can aid in strategic decision-making. By pulling detailed metrics from any onsite process (leasing velocity, occupancy rates, revenue growth, and much more), teams can use predictive analytics to forecast resident needs, optimize rental rates and exhibit a proactive—rather than reactive—approach.
Perhaps just as crucial as a high-powered platform for autonomous property management is its ability to integrate into a property management system. Seamless integration ensures the platform is helping rather than creating problems. An ideal platform is flexible and designed to assist no matter where a property is within its AI journey.
The time to adopt is now. Some hesitation is understandable with organizations at different stages of their AI and automation journey, perhaps somewhat spooked by media stories about robots coming for jobs or concerned about data privacy. But as rental housing operators learn about AI and its potential property impact, they understand many of those concerns can be resolved.
Implementation certainly doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach and shouldn’t be. It can be a measured, step-by-step buildup. Start small and define the next steps. When AI begins to touch every aspect of the organization, that’s when autonomous property management can truly occur.
The end result is an elevated resident experience, because you’re offering personalized and efficient living through AI-powered services. Properties will have the benefits of cost-reducing process improvements, a boost to NOI, and a continual form of futureproofing.