As a new generation enters adulthood and dives into renting their first homes, one question should be percolating for landlords and property managers across the U.S.
“Am I ready?”
Generation Z — the generation following millennials that were born between the mid-1990s to mid-2000s — are not only tech-savvy but carry expectations of businesses to be similarly sophisticated.
If you’re a real estate investor today, you’ve no doubt heard of the plethora of benefits that technology can afford your operation.
From platforms to manage tenant interactions to sites that will automatically market your properties weeks before leases expire, a variety of new tools will not only make life easier, but they’ll make your properties and processes more attractive to prospective renters.
For the sake of this article, and offering you insight into some of the types of tech tools we recommend at My Landlord Helper, a property management services provider with over a decade years of experience, let’s run over some of the specific platforms and tools at the disposal of real estate investors.
Smart locks
Roughly 86% of millennials are willing to pay more for a smart apartment — defined as including automated or remotely controlled devices, such as a smart lock or thermostat — according to a survey conducted by lock manufacturer Schlage and Wakefield Research. There are a lot of options for smart locks too.
Kwikset‘s Kevo Convert can transform existing deadbolts into smart locks. Installed on the inside of a door, the Convert connects with Bluetooth on your smartphone to lock or unlock the door.
Another option is the August Home Smart Lock Kit. This nifty kit converts mortise-style locks into smart locks that renters and managers can control from their smartphone.
Cozy.co
Cozy is an online service for landlords that want to digitize the renting process and their interactions with tenants.
From collecting rent online and screening tenants to market listings and tracking maintenance requests, the company’s mission is to make renting simple, secure and intuitive for landlords and renters.
Perhaps most remarkable about the platform is its cost: free. Instead of a monthly or annual fee, Cozy generates revenue through background checks, credit reports, credit card processing fees, its rental insurance and additional premium services for landlords.
TurboTenant
TurboTenant enables landlords and property managers to quickly advertise rental properties on dozens of listing websites. With just one listing, TurboTenant will send your property out to rental sites like Rent.com, Apartments.com and others.
Landlords that use TurboTenant average 22 leads per property, the company said.
Buildium
More than 12,000 property management companies currently use Boston-based Buildium’s mobile- and web-based platform.
Offering accounting, payments, marketing and communication tools for landlords and property managers, Buildium also offers a variety of resources for clients aimed at improving their competency of real estate. Such educational tools include news, informative video tutorials, guides, and a cost-saving calculator.
Appfolio Property Manager
Appfolio offers a Software as a Service (SaaS) for property managers who want an automated system to manage their portfolio. The tool enables apartment, residential, commercial, student housing and community association property managers to administer their business.
The mobile and web-based platform allows managers to handle accounting, payments, rental applications, communication with tenants, marketing, maintenance requests and more. Pricing varies according to how many units and the types of units you want to be managed on the platform.
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