Artificial Intelligence, Apartment Leasing, and The Top Trends

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 14:30:49 -0500

The property management industry has been slow to adapt to new technology. But with remote working being a necessity, the industry underwent some notable changes. Artificial intelligence changed the way the industry functioned. It has revolutionized property management by automating data analysis, apartment leasing and many other processes.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on The Leasing Process

The real estate industry has utilized artificial intelligence in various stages of apartment leasing. It has eliminated one of the biggest challenges faced by both property managers and clients alike--communication.

On one hand, property managers can’t attend to all calls by prospects. On the other hand, an interested lead hasn’t heard back from the company. AI can reduce this gap and improve lead retention for property management companies. It can hold full-length human-like conversations. It is also capable of handling the entire process, whether it is tenant onboarding or exiting.

AI-assisted apartment leasing processes

AI can be used to automate almost everything. It is designed to replace humans by doing human-like interactions. Here are the 4 processes you can automate using AI:

Maintenance

Property management includes a lot of maintenance activities. Artificial intelligence can simplify it by detecting cues early on. It can also monitor maintenance requests and tenant responses.

Energy efficient

AI can analyze human presence and control lights and appliances accordingly. It can save energy by regulating unnecessary power consumption.

For example, by analyzing the surrounding temperature and detecting the number of people in a room, AI can adjust the air conditioner temperature accordingly.

Property management functions

You can handle several processes like filling forms and even tenant verification. AI automates all activities with minimal human interference.

Advertising and marketing

Artificial intelligence can analyze the interests and requirements of people before placing ads. In traditional marketing a single ad would be viewed by a large audience. AI-based advertising targets a more specific group, increasing engagement.

How AI benefits property management

AI is a fast-growing technology. As a property manager, you can reap several benefits such as:

Less human error

Artificial intelligence takes actions through previously programmed information. It can handle data and calculations better than humans. Even with the utmost care, humans can make mistakes. According to Steadfast, human error is the leading cause of data loss in businesses. By using artificial intelligence, you can keep your data and analysis more accurate.

24x7 availability

The most important benefit of AI is its availability. Ensuring 24x7 availability of staff requires more human resources and increases workload. If you use AI chatbots, it can instantly reply to any messages from prospects. This shows that your lead is important to you, and creates a better impression on them.

Efficiency

AI can handle multiple tasks at once. While humans are poor at multitasking, AI can simultaneously complete many tasks. This improves efficiency and productivity for your team.

Apartment leasing trends for 2021 and beyond:

Automated email and call answering

Leasing offices miss around 49% of calls. These unanswered calls lead you to miss out on several clients. Through automated email and call answering, AI bot handles every call even when an agent is not around. In the past years, these tools have improved a lot on mimicking human behavior. Through machine learning, they generate natural responses, so your client does not feel like they are talking to a bot.

AI can similarly answer lead emails. It can also send reminders to staff to follow up on a lead.

Chatbots

Chatbots are the quickest way to answer a lead when your staff isn’t around. According to Real Estate Trainer, 78% of buyers go with the agent who answers them first. AI-based chatbots can interact with the lead, answer queries and collect the necessary information. It can also forward any queries which need human interaction. These bots are getting smarter over time and give human-like responses to users.

Self-guided tours

Many property managers are utilizing AI to give self-guided tours to prospects. This has two goals: to reduce the workload of staff and to improve the touring experience. Prospects can sign up for these tours through the company website.

There are several ways you can automate the tours. You can utilize smart entry by sending a code in exchange for keys. The AI can assist the prospect through details of the apartment. It can also answer common questions and take note of other queries. According to NMHC’s OpTech Conference & Exposition, leasing increased by 86% when using a self-guided tour. Such tours help the prospects judge the apartment according to their own needs.

Social media advertising

Social media is ideal for real estate advertising. Facebook and Linkedin are popular platforms for real estate agents. Social media ads can address a wide audience. But with the right analysis, you can also use them to target specific groups. For example, Facebook has users of different interests whereas LinkedIn has a professional user base.

Apartment listings

Your client’s first exposure to the apartment is through a listing. AI can design attractive listings as well as manage several advertisements on listing services. It can add and update details so your advertisements are up-to-date.

Interactive content

Interactive content is the top trend for social media ads. You can choose from different content types such as polls, quizzes, and infographics. They cost more but have better ROI. Virtual tours are one of the most popular interactive content ideas for apartment leasing.

Predictive analysis

The industry is moving from intuition-based predictions to data-backed predictions. As big data is influencing real estate investments, property managers are relying on accurate predictive analysis. AI can use data from your ad campaigns, sales, and profits to predict ROI and future trends. It can give you insights into well-performing assets, good advertising strategies, and the right marketing channels.

For example, your marketing tool can track the lead origin and identify which advertisement did well. You can place more ads on the same platform to increase lead generation.

QR Codes

Though QR codes existed for a long time, they became popular during the pandemic. Property managers used these codes in several ways. Employees were given QR codes for identity verification. Prospects had to scan these codes to access the self-guided tour. QR codes provide endless possibilities during a time when contactless technology is a necessity.

Smart homes

AI is the backbone of smart homes. Intelligent buildings focus on easy maintenance, better security, and improved energy efficiency. AI can help in several ways. It can control lights and other electric appliances. It can also increase security by detecting unusual movements. As more people are trying to automate their homes, smart buildings are becoming a popular trend.

Tenant screening

Manual tenant screening requires you to hire different agencies for each check. AI bots can collect data, verify documents, and screen tenants more efficiently. Whether it is credit checks or criminal background verification, AI can do it all.

Use of cloud

Cloud-based software helps us work remotely. For real estate investments, data is invaluable. Over the years, property managers have chosen the cloud to store and backup their data.

Cloud storage gives several advantages. You don’t need to be close to a physical server to access data from it. During the pandemic, cloud storage made remote work possible. Even as the pandemic weakens, the popularity of cloud storage isn’t going away anytime soon.

Virtual and augmented reality

Virtual and augmented reality has brought revolutionary changes in the industry. Through these technologies, clients can view an apartment in the comfort of their homes. Many companies provide 360-degree virtual tours and 3D brochures. Others provide interactive floor plans and space assessments. All these are possible through VR and AR.

Progressive web apps

As technology advances, people prefer browsing through different devices. Whether it is an apartment listing or your business website, AI can help in optimizing the site for each device.

Future of apartment leasing through AI

Though AI is still entering the real estate business, it will grow fast. As technology improves, artificial intelligence can handle the complete leasing process.

With a major role in data analysis and forecasting, it will improve investments and give better ROI.

For property managers, it will organize data, improve marketing and maintain better customer relationships.

For tenants, it will provide the features of smart homes. You can turn off lights, secure houses, and much more with a single command.

A robust AI leasing software can help property managers reduce the number of staff. Soon, we can see artificial intelligence replacing all human activities in property management.

Implement artificial intelligence through Assetsoft

Artificial intelligence is the next big thing in the real estate industry. At Assetsoft, we help you start with AI automation. Whether it is forecasting or budgeting, we provide AI implementation for all your needs.

This is not our only scope of work. We can also provide technical advice, implement the latest technology and integrate various tools. Our platforms include Yardi, MRI, UiPath, and other state-of-art software. For all software, we provide implementation, data conversion, recovery, and training. We also check the health of pre-installed tools.

For all your software requirements, book an appointment with Assetsoft!

Assetsoft - Blog #apartment