It is no secret that smart home technology is becoming more of a necessity to modern living as opposed to a luxury. It can help us live more efficient lives and it just feels cool to be able to be able to lock doors, control thermostats, or turn off lights from anywhere.
Not only is this beneficial for homeowners or tenants but it can be extremely lucrative for multi-family investors when smart home technology is deployed across their communities giving you the opportunity to advertise your “Smart Apartments.”
Let’s dive into 7 different ways, just the tip of the iceberg, how smart home technology can increase revenue, decrease expense, and drive NOI for your investments.
Increased Rent
With 86% of Millennial tenants and 65% of Baby Boomer tenants saying they would be willing to pay 20% more for rent it is easy to see how Smart Apartments could increase your top-line revenue. Having Smart Apartments can help you to increase rental rates by 10% to 20% while costing on average $40 to $75 per month per Smart Apartment.
Increased Tenant Retention
Going back to the previous stat about our Millennials and Baby Boomers it shows the desire that they have for smart home technology to be deployed in their apartment. Often times they will settle for a system half of their desires by adding some basic devices on their own. When the systems are custom to their apartment it will be difficult for them to move to another community that doesn’t offer the same amenities. This also a major selling point for prospective tenants. According to an article published May 11th, 2021 from Apartments.com Smart Home Features rank in the “Top 10 Amenities Renters Can’t Resist.”
Decreases The Cost of Flood Damage
With flood damage causing an average of $7,000 in damage in the US, it can be quite a costly restoration. With a few water/flood sensors paired with a Smart Water Valve that will turn off quarter-turn water valves it can keep the flood damage to a minimum. Often this can reduce the “flood” down to a quick cleanup with some towels and fixing the main cause of the issue.
Lower Costs and Decrease Risks of Floating Keys
With smart locks tenants are able to use a 4-digit PIN code to access their homes. There are a lot of benefits to this but the main is reducing the need for a lock to be rekeyed reducing tenant turnover costs by around $150. This also helps to increase tenant retention due to smart locks being one of the most desirable pieces of smart home technology.
Lower Liability With Activity Reports
You and I know that the people you hire to keep your property running smoothly are the backbone of your business. You hire trustworthy leasing agents, maintenance people, and others who help operations to go smoothly. Unfortunately some tenants have a hard time trusting these people and when something goes missing in their apartment they want to start pointing fingers. With Activity Reports you can decrease your liability in situations like this because the Activity Report for each Smart Apartment will show who has accessed the unit using their personal PIN code.
Reduce Energy Expenses in Vacant Units
With a smart thermostat you can easily manage the temperature remotely and set rules to keep the Smart Apartment at the most efficient temperatures. Energy.gov reports that turning your thermostat down by 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours each day can reduce energy usage by 5% to 15%.
Reduce Unit Turnaround Time
Being able to unlock and lock a Smart Apartment saves your staff time by being able to let contractors in and lock up when they are done. This can reduce unit turnaround time by keeping the contractors moving through the unit quickly and saving 1-2 hours of your staffs time to show up and unlock the unit and then lock it back up at the end of the day. If your policy is to have contractors pick up keys from your leasing office this can reduce keys from going missing and having to make new copies.
Some of the main concerns of multi-family investors when it comes to deploying Smart Apartments in their communities are costs of implementation, compatible technology, and future proofing. If you want to know we overcome those concerns click here.