CREJ

October 2020 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 19 www.crej.com Multifamily Management T o say COVID-19 has affected how we do things in almost any industry is the under- statement of the year but its impact on the property man- agement industry is particularly felt. Property management is a people- oriented business that relies almost exclusively on personal relationships and interactions to establish and maintain a successful long-term landlord-tenant partnership. And nowhere is that more evident than in multifamily property manage- ment, especially in the early part of an occupancy cycle. In the traditional way of doing things, a potential resident calls the leasing office and thus starts the whole “sales” process after a vacancy occurs in an apartment building and marketing commences. Successful leasing agents are thoroughly trained in telephone and personal greeting skills. Once they have the potential resident in the door for their tour, talented leasing staff will view that encounter as their best chance to close the deal and convert that pros- pect into a rent-paying resident. And once the prospect agrees to become a resident, the leasing agent or site manager knows that a thorough lease orientation is the most critical step in ensuring that the new resi- dent understands his responsibilities under the lease. This can decrease the likelihood of misunderstandings during tenancy while increasing the chances of long-term satisfaction. But … then came March, COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders; and out went tradition. Adapting to examin- ing new ways to handle the leasing process was the focus of a couple of recent online conferences. At the Multifamily Prop- erty Management Conference hosted by the Colorado Real Estate Journal in July, panelists repeatedly talked about the need to adopt contactless leasing and mar- keting delivery sys- tems such as self-guided tours. At the virtual summit sponsored by AppFolio and the Institute of Real Estate Management in August, Lisa Trosien of The Apartment Expert sounded the bell for going forward with her comment that, “We are not going to go back to the way it was and that is a good thing.” She pointed out that renters haven’t stopped looking – in fact, Apartments.com, a leading online marketing publication of available rentals, said that traffic to its site has increased significantly since April. Trosien recommends that property management organizations adopt the following specific techniques for the leasing process: contactless tours, eliminating handshakes, and installing plexiglass and hand sani- tizer stations in the leasing/manage- ment office. In other words, severely limit personal contacts when pos- sible and, when impractical, facilitate safe practices. In fact, several speakers at the AppFolio/IREM conference stressed contactless processes. They also pointed out that there still needs to be real “live” personnel behind those virtual tours who close the deal, even if that also is done virtually. Artificial intelligence technology is gaining rapid ground during these times. Andrew Mutz, chief technol- ogy officer of AppFolio, stated, “AI’s impact will be automation, primar- ily automating steps in a workflow.” Although AI’s automation reduces the need for some steps in the leas- ing process for safety benefits, it also has the long-term post-COVID-19 advantage of simply being more effi- cient in certain areas. AppFolio’s AI assistant, for example, can rapidly respond to potential renters in a thoughtful, intelligent manner with consistent information. Donald Davidoff, president of D2 Demand Solutions, went a step fur- ther and said at the same summit, “AI will grow in influence … expect fully automated leasing within three years.” A local Colorado company also is using consistent information wrapped in an efficient automated delivery system to make the end part of the leasing cycle a snap these days. Anyone who has done leasing orientations knows these are highly repetitive time gobblers that are not particularly enjoyed by either the person giving the orientation nor the person receiving it. Moveinsuccess.com, a product of Ignite Video Productions, hopes to change that outlook by delivering customized detailed leasing orienta- tions on video to multifamily proper- ties. “In this new world, the reduc- tion of in-person one-to-one time can be an emotional and physical benefit to both your staff and your residents,” said Bob Jones, president of MIS. A likely additional benefit of video orientations is avoiding the potential fair housing violation that can occur when the staff person giving the orientation inadvertently gives dif- fering information to new residents that can be construed as a disparate impact on a protected class. We’ve all given lip service to change in the industry over the years. But as Davidoff said at the virtual summit, “If there’s any silver lining to COVID, it’s that things that we would have spent a year or more to accept changed overnight.” And it seems that is the way it likely will be going forward. s Leasing considerations for multifamily managers Paul Malinowski CEO, Prism Property Solutions LLC In other words, severely limit personal contacts when possible and, when impractical, facilitate safe practices.