Technology as an amenity is a term that continues to receive more attention in the multifamily housing industry. According to HousingWire there is a 95 percent occupancy rate in apartments in the US. This means that property owners and management companies are facing some fierce competition for securing and retaining residents. For decades this meant having great amenities on your properties like fitness rooms, covered parking, swimming pools, game rooms, and more.

Today, the true competitive differentiator for a property is the use of technology as an amenity.

So what does this mean? At STRATIS we believe that it means investing in a technology platform capable of growing with your residents needs. Today, your residents may only want smart door locks and thermostats. But in a year (most likely less than that) they may start requesting that your property has a package place, smart lights, leak sensing, voice control, and whatever IoT solution comes next.

According to National Real Estate Investor, “technology that make new connections to equipment that residents already use may be among the next offerings multifamily residents expect.”

More than one-in-three American labor force participants (35 percent) are millennials, making them the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
According to research by Wakefield and Schlage, a large portion of this group (86 percent of millennials) say they are willing to pay one-fifth more for a smart apartment.

According to ReadWrite, Greystar, one of the largest property management companies in the world is seeing an increase in Smart Apartment technology. “Technologies like nest thermostats and ecosystems which are being developed by Google,” said Andrew Livingstone, Executive Managing Director at Greystar. “Where you have a nest thermostat and some of the additional features that can be controlled with your smartphone device within the unit. Whether it is the locks, camera or security feature, we are seeing a lot of interest in those.”

For more information about how your properties can benefit from IoT email me at jim@STRATISIoT.com