Summer season is on its way, meaning increased residential mobility as families take the opportunity to relocate before school starts! After two long years of restrictions, we’ll likely see more movement than usual. So, if occupancy levels are low, now is the perfect time to focus on appealing to new residents.
We’ve entered a ‘new normal’. Health and safety awareness has reached new levels and we’ve once again adopted a busier lifestyle. Headlines such as, ‘Millennials are workaholics’ and ‘Gen Z has the worst work-life balance’, reflect this shift.
These trends can put up roadblocks in the leasing process. For example, 4 in 10 prospective residents stop pursuing a rental when they can’t find time to tour the property. Driving away interested parties is unavoidable when tours are only offered during standard working hours. And since you can’t always be available for in-person showings, a solution is needed.
5 reasons why your multifamily rental needs Self-Guided Tours
1. Convenience
With less coordination required between a prospective resident and a property manager, Self-Guided Tours allow quick arrangement of viewings. Schedules no longer have to align making it easier to fit a tour around busy work or family commitments.
Without the need for a property manager to be present, evenings and weekends when most people have flexibility become widely available, allowing prospective residents to book the most convenient time for them. These increased showing hours inevitably shorten the leasing process and therefore vacancy period, as prospective residents are able to tour the property sooner.
Reducing the time between an interested party seeing a listing and viewing the property means they’re less likely to have their heads turned by other options, decreases opportunities to view different properties, and gives instant gratification as they’ll be able to view the rental as soon as possible.
2. Opportunities
Self-Guided Tours open your business to more prospective residents through the use of advanced innovations like smart locks, for direct keyless entry. When connected to a platform through IoT, this technology automatically generates and sends viewers a temporary code to gain access and resets once the rental is vacated. Plus you’ll be kept in the loop with notifications!
So, you can rest assured your property is safe even in your absence. Smart locks are more secure than lockboxes for unattended showings, as there’s no risk of keys being copied, lost, or stolen.
For non-walk-up multifamily units, a single temporary code enables access to multiple areas of the property including the front door and common spaces when using a Community Access solution.
Our Property Management Insights Report found that 84% of vacation renters think smart home devices are very important in comparison to other rental features or amenities, and over two-thirds deemed this highly important! The demand for tech-enabled rental features suggests that Self-Guided Tour technology also has the potential to impress and convert prospective residents.
3. Safety
Health awareness is higher than ever leading many to avoid unnecessary interactions with strangers. This is a driving force behind the rising adoption rate of contactless tech solutions in hospitality. Keep everyone safe by adopting Self-Guided Tour solutions.
Smart locks provide an extra level of security and keep all access to your properties accountable. Some platforms go the extra mile and have integrated tech such as image sensors, which allow property managers to keep an eye on Self-Guided Tours.
4. Efficiency
This solution streamlines the process of finding occupants for empty rentals. Set up and control the process in the same platform you already rely on for efficient property management. Stop wasting time showing prospective residents around properties, who may have little interest or don’t show up.
Instead, guests can show themselves around the property at their own pace, so you can resource your invaluable time into bettering your business. And since time = money, you’ll also benefit from cost savings.
Property automation tech makes the post-tour process quicker too, immediately following up with prospective residents and moving them further along the funnel.
5. Occupancy
Mid-restriction statistics show that 80% of US residents would embrace a Self-Guided Tour when in search of a new home because, despite the new ‘normal’, in-person showings are still in higher demand than virtual tours.
As humans, we seek quick gratification. This may be why conversion rates decrease when a web page takes too long to load, information is unclear, or the booking process is too difficult.
Simplifying the process will likely lead to more people viewing your properties and, in turn, higher requests to rent the accommodation.
Key takeaways
Make the most of residential mobility this summer season and attract more prospective residents to your multifamily properties with increased showing hours and the latest tech innovations. At the same time boost your business’s operational efficiency, save money, and shorten vacancy periods.
To find out more about how PointCentral’s Self-Guided Tour option is set up in five easy steps click here.
