Personalize Your Real Estate Data Experience

In today’s age of data-centricity, professionals across different sectors often face hurdles in persuading their peers to embrace novel tools designed for data handling. Consequently, despite the considerable resources poured into them, well-designed dashboards and reports remain overlooked. If these analytical insights remain untapped, can they be considered valuable?

These could encompass metrics such as property valuation, appreciation rates, rental yields, occupancy statistics, and the effectiveness of property marketing strategies. Despite having this comprehensive data at their fingertips, interpreting it and utilizing it for strategic investment decisions can be daunting. The sobering truth is that not all of these ventures have achieved their anticipated results. At the heart of the problem is often a glaring oversight – a misalignment between the meticulously planned management strategies and the genuine needs and expectations of the property investors and tenants.

Yet, in these challenges lie opportunities for growth and improvement. We must identify the reasons behind these disconnections and take steps to bridge the gap effectively. The key to success is fostering curiosity and gaining profound insights by studying your target audience. This, in turn, empowers you to create data experiences that not only meet but exceed expectations, catching the attention of management, elevating business value, and sparking valuable conversations.

What hinders asset managers from personalizing data experiences?

  1. Assessing data requirements: Even with their expertise, asset managers might not always grasp the nuances of every aspect of real estate asset management. Misjudging the specific data needs of various roles can hinder the delivery of actionable asset insights.
  2. Language barrier: Many professionals know what they aim to achieve but may find it challenging to express it in the precise vocabulary of asset management. Conversely, some may be so occupied in their routine tasks that they overlook the transformative potential of data in enhancing their asset strategies.
  3. Fear of change: Venturing into new methodologies, especially in asset management, can be daunting. The allure of tried-and-tested methods often overshadows the long-term advantages of innovation, such as optimized asset performance and increased returns.
  4. Learning from the past: Reflecting on past strategies and interactions within the asset management team and with stakeholders is crucial. Historical experiences can shape present strategies and perceptions, and harnessing these lessons to inform future decisions is vital.

This is why we must not overlook the crucial role played by data designers. They bridge the gap between data and user experience, ensuring that data remains accessible, understandable, and exciting.

Here are four straightforward yet highly effective strategies to create data tools that genuinely resonate with your team:

  1. Use Common Insights: Most of the daily touchpoints you interact with are designed to present data in an easy-to-understand format. For instance, news apps use graphs, colors, and formatting to make their content more user-centric and effective. Drawing inspiration from these touchpoints allows you to create more intuitive and user-friendly tools.
  2. Understand Team’s Perspective: Allocate time to understand how your team incorporates data into their strategic decisions. Observe their preferences and understand when and how they engage with the data. As such insights will be a game-changer while developing the tools that fit their everyday processes and needs
  3. Engage in Tool Development: Involve your team members to participate in the tool development process actively. Understand their preferences in data personalization and visualization. However, it is crucial to maintain a unified approach that aligns the broader style and goals of the firm with individual preferences.
  4. Start simple and improve: Rather than aiming for perfection from the outset, adopt a strategy of starting with the basics and improving as time goes on. Collaborating with your team to identify the most critical data insights required for decision-making. Prioritize these, tackling them systematically so that it is in alignment with the team’s needs. This approach ensures a smoother adoption process and avoids disruption.

By fully embracing these strategies, you can overcome the challenges of adopting data tools and create a culture that values data for organizational success. It will help boost operational efficiency, ensuring the management of diverse portfolios – a challenge that would traditionally be overwhelming.

As you navigate the complexities of data-driven decision-making in property management, it’s essential to recognize that solutions are readily available to streamline this process. The utilization of smart data solutions can significantly enhance efficiency, making it possible to manage multiple user experience scenarios simultaneously—a task that would otherwise be daunting.

RealSage Analytics is a cutting-edge solution that has the potential to revolutionize real estate operations and take decision-making to new heights of sophistication. By adopting these strategies and exploring innovative solutions, you can effectively tackle the challenges of adopting data tools and embark on a journey toward a more efficient, data-driven future in property management.

Multifamily Risk Management

Risk management is an essential aspect of the multifamily industry. With rental owners managing multiple units across various geographies, properties and tenant demographics, it is crucial to identify and mitigate potential risks.

The risk management process can be segmented into four categories – each of which RealSage offers solutions to give clients peace of mind regarding internal or external challenges they may be facing. The risk management process can be divided – into risk identification, risk assessment, risk response planning, and risk monitoring.

Identifying Risks

Historical data is often used to identify potential risks, elicit trends and anticipate areas of concern. However, the use of retrospective data paired with human oversight to make decisions can negatively impact the future of a company. To address this concern, RealSage’s dashboards paired with AI provides companies with real-time data regarding all business-related metrics and tie it with actionable, predictive insights.

With this feature, users can monitor every dollar moving within their company and track performance while understanding its effects on their bottom line. For instance, if a marketing channel is not performing as anticipated, the system proactively suggests reallocating funds to more promising platforms based on their performance. It tracks expenses and identifies patterns for cost improvements across all management-related functions.

Assessing Risk and the Effects

After identifying potential risks, the next step is to assess the likelihood of each risk occurring and the potential impact it could have on the organization. RealSage’s analytics software acts as a comprehensive risk assessment tool always on the lookout for the best interest of the business.

For example, if an unexpected increase in utility costs is identified on a particular property, RealSage’s software not only alerts property managers but also highlights aspects that warrant a deep dive.

Risk Response Planning

Using RealSage’s risk assessment tool, property managers can make decisions about allocating resources to ensure the long-term success of their properties. RealSage’s analytics software makes it easy to track the success of building portfolios by tracking conversion, occupancy, and renewal rates on units. Once the system has identified a method to cut costs or increase revenue, actionable insights that address issues like cost overruns, increasing NOI, improving the tenant acquisition process..etc, are given.

Risk Monitoring

RealSage Analytics’ use of predictive AI, makes monitoring risk seamless. The software tracks and analyzes key performance metrics in real-time, identifying trends and potential issues before they become significant problems.

For example, if there is a sudden increase in tenant turnover, RealSage Analytics can help managers identify the root cause and develop a plan to address the issue. The software can also provide insights into potential risks, such as upcoming expirations of lease agreements or changes in local housing regulations.

Conclusion

RealSage Analytics assists property managers in taking proactive measures to address potential problems and guarantee the long-term prosperity of their properties. With RealSage Analytics’ predictive AI capabilities, it has become simpler than ever before to remain ahead of risks and make informed decisions based on data, ensuring the success of your multifamily properties.

Commitment Bias in Software Investments

Large multifamily organizations often invest significant amounts of money into property management technology hoping to improve efficiency, increase profits, and gain a competitive edge in the market. However, despite the potential benefits, there is a significant risk of commitment bias – a tendency to stick with an original decision, even when it’s no longer the best option or even a viable one.

Many organizations have recognized the costs and inefficiencies associated with their existing software investments and ongoing maintenance. Despite these considerations, they have made the decision to explore new property and asset management technologies, demonstrating their ability to overcome commitment bias.

The Trap of Existing Investments

One of the most significant contributors to commitment bias is the sunk cost fallacy. This is the idea that once a company has invested a significant amount of resources into a particular technology, it’s difficult to abandon it, even if more efficient options are available.

This can be particularly problematic when implementing new technologies, as older systems may be deeply ingrained in a company’s infrastructure. Employees may have been trained on older systems, and it can be difficult to justify the expense of retraining them on new ones. In some cases, new technology may require a complete overhaul of existing systems, which can be daunting, expensive, and time-consuming.

Recognizing that multifamily operators have made previous investments in various software systems, developing new software that can seamlessly integrate with their existing software stack has been our focus. By collaborating with prop-tech companies that can integrate with the current tech stack, rather than starting from scratch, new investments are considered sustainable and the overall risk of a new purchase is reduced.

The Fear of Failure

Another factor contributing to commitment bias is the fear of failure. Investing a significant amount of money into new technology can be daunting when it fails to deliver the expected results. This fear can lead companies to stick with older systems, even if they’re no longer the best option. Unfortunately, this can be a self-fulfilling prophecy – by avoiding new technology, companies may be missing out on opportunities to innovate and improve their bottom line.

To overcome commitment bias, it can be helpful to collaborate with a company that values continuous improvement. At RealSage, we prioritize close partnerships with our clients, allowing us to gain deep insights into their specific needs and challenges. Our commitment to evolving our product ensures that we can effectively address the multifamily industry’s pressing issues. By providing a curated dashboard and actionable insights, we help multifamily property owners track their progress toward goals and measure ROI, offering valuable metrics and projections.

The Importance of Flexibility

To avoid commitment bias, companies must remain flexible and open to new ideas. This means being willing to upgrade older systems, even if it means admitting that the original investment was a mistake. It also means being willing to take calculated risks and invest in new technology, even if it’s not a sure thing. Companies that are willing to take these risks are more likely to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge.

Although the idea of replacing a trusted system with something new may seem daunting, our unique offerings tailored to the multifamily industry are precisely why our clients have felt confident in doing so. With our user-friendly tools, clients can easily price rental units based on current market data, access comprehensive dashboards to analyze trends over time and automate the tenant acquisition process. These client-oriented features empower our clients to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and achieve their goals more effectively.

Conclusion

Commitment bias is a significant problem for many large companies, particularly when it comes to investing in new technology. By being aware of the sunk cost fallacy, the fear of failure, and the importance of flexibility, companies can avoid this trap and remain competitive in a rapidly changing business landscape. Ultimately, our commitment to constant evolution and improvement is what sets us apart from other property and asset management technology providers. We understand the importance of flexibility and the willingness to take risks, and we’re dedicated to helping our clients overcome commitment bias and stay ahead of the curve.

How to find the best leasing CRM for your property management firm?

There’s no dull day as a leasing manager. You’re not only dealing with countless inquiries but also making sure you keep up with prospects who show interest and maximize applications without compromising on the rental prices or the quality of tenants. 

Leasing managers at larger firms, in particular, have variables like market shifts, competitor tactics, marketing strategies and systems and processes in place to consider.  You need to be sure you’re operating as effectively as possible, while still bracing yourself for the unexpected.

That’s where a leasing CRM comes in as an ally to make every part of your daily operations easier and more profitable. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to vet the right solution for your business, the key features to look out for, and potential pitfalls to avoid.

What makes leasing at scale so difficult?

Leasing is like any other sales process on steroids. The sheer volume of activity coupled with the loss of revenue to property owners in cases where a unit is not rented on time puts tremendous pressure on this business function to run efficiently throughout the year. 

First, the size of the operation is much larger with many moving parts which means there are multiple components that ought to be managed. The impact of a small oversight in such instances has big implications. 

Regular tracking of all KPIs is a must in order to quickly identify kinks in one’s armour. For example, a team that tracks their property viewing numbers daily will learn about a broken scheduling link much sooner than a team that doesn’t. 

There are also unique coordination challenges that need to be solved. Leasing managers must be aware of not only the properties under their management but also those operated by fellow team members nearby.  Lastly, tracking leasing activities across multiple channels and teams is so complex that it can’t be done with a spreadsheet. The scale of managing leasing for a large portfolio requires a specific solution that’s built for the job and can automate communication, lead management and marketing channel and leasing team performance.

Why Won’t Generic Software Work?

With these leasing operations issues, generic sales software features that may look good on the surface, may not be applicable or work the way you want them to manage your portfolio on the platform. Generic sales software:

  • Requires too many workarounds and customization for specific tasks.
  • Needs a way to integrate with all the other software you’re using to be effective.
  • Can be difficult to scale as your business grows.

What does the best leasing software entail?

Leasing managers today need to be efficient, quick, flexible, and reliable—and the software you choose should be the same.

The main traits of top-of-the-line leasing software include:

Industry-specific features: that seamlessly integrate with your day-to-day workflow to ultimately save you time and money

Professionalism: the software is reliable and easy to understand,—you’re fully supported as a customer, and people that access the software feel fully comfortable using the solution too

Security and Accuracy: data is stored safely and reliably and prospect information/rental applications are accurately recorded.

What Leasing Software Features Should You Look For?

In a sea of never-ending options, how do you choose the best commercial leasing software? Start by understanding your biggest needs and prioritize them by how much time and resources they’re costing your business. Identifying your biggest priorities can help you shop and discern the best features that move your business forward.

Vacancy in a property is an expensive and inevitable occurrence. The loss of rental income is just one component of the equation. Other expenses such as utilities, taxes, insurance, and advertising costs must also be taken into account.

Building a streamlined process from receiving an inquiry to signing a lease is the fastest way to minimize your vacancies and start generating rental income. There are five key steps to the lead-to-lease journey, let’s break down each step and go through how an ideal platform can help accelerate the process.

Step 1: Consolidate your leads

Getting leads from multiple sources by email or phone is the easy part. Ensuring that these inquiries are effectively consolidated and channelled to the right leasing manager’s dashboard ensures that you minimize missouts. 

Step 2: Automate Responses and instantly schedule showings

The right software can let potential tenants book their showings online. Tools that automate follow-up reminders via email and text can help ensure they show up on time.

Step 3: Accept, Deny, and Manage Applications

Once you’ve showcased your property, it’s essential to simplify the application process by offering an online option. A top-notch leasing software allows you to customize application forms by adding, removing, or rearranging fields to meet your needs. With the right software, you’ll have a comprehensive view of all your applicants in a single dashboard, where you can accept, deny, or manage each one. Additionally, the software securely stores applicant information and streamlines the signing process, eliminating the need for repeated data entry.

Step 4: Track key metrics

An ideal solution would allow you to create custom reports, define KPIs, and track what matters most to your business. An intelligent system that delivers critical insights and trends directly to your inbox is what you are after so that your teams don’t have to wait on business reports to make decisions.

Get Started with the Best Leasing Software for your business. RealSage Convert is a powerful yet simple CRM with the tools you need to convert prospects to lease better.

Unlocking The Potential Of AI In Commercial Real Estate: A Guide For Real Estate Professionals

Discovering the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in commercial real estate can feel overwhelming, especially for those new to the industry or those who are a little less technologically savvy. However, AI is a powerful tool that offers even greater efficiency and accuracy for property managers, landlords, tenants, and anyone else operating in the real estate sector. From automated tenant screening to usage-based insurance policies powered by sensors, AI has a host of applications now available on the market that can greatly benefit you and your business!

This article explores how property managers across Canada are successfully utilizing AI technology to revolutionize their operations — from drastically simplifying due diligence processes when onboarding clients or tenants all the way through to maximizing energy conservation efforts with predictive data analytics — so read on if you want an insider’s look at what AI can do for you!

What is AI and Why Should Real Estate Professionals Care?

AI is the acronym for artificial intelligence, which can be described as machines that are able to duplicate or exceed the cognitive functions of humans. This sounds incredibly complicated, but current software programs have been designed with the average user in mind. AI has been around for a long time, but it’s only recently that computers have become powerful enough to handle the complex tasks associated with it.

Why Care About AI?

Real estate professionals should care about AI because it has the potential to revolutionize the industry. Here are just a few of the ways to utilize AI as a real estate agency:

  • AI has the ability to automate the process of finding and buying a home. By analyzing data from thousands of listings to find the best options for you, making timely offers on your behalf. All of this, astoundingly, in a matter of seconds.
  • Similarly, AI could be used to manage your property portfolio. It could monitor rental prices in your area, identify new investment opportunities, and recommend renovations that would increase your property value.

The possibilities are endless, and it’s important for real estate professionals to start exploring them now. Failure to do so may leave them behind as AI becomes more and more prevalent in the industry.

AI currently being used in Real Estate Marketing Platforms?

From online search engines to customer relationship management tools. CRM tools are becoming more and more popular, as they are a simple way to convert prospects to leases. As it turns out, AI can be unbelievably helpful yet surprisingly user-friendly all at once.

These powerful real estate marketing platforms can be customized to fit the specific needs of your business. They also integrate easily with other real estate software programs, which makes them an ideal choice for companies that want to use artificial intelligence to streamline their operations.

What Are Some Benefits Of Using AI in Real Estate?

The use of AI in the real estate industry is vast and the benefits are numerous. Some of the most notable benefits include increased efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.

Increase Efficiency

  • This technology can help automate routine tasks such as data entry and analysis.
  • This can save time and improve accuracy, as human error is often eliminated.
  • AI can also help speed up the search for potential properties by analyzing a large number of listings quickly and identifying the best matches for the buyer’s needs.

Accuracy

  • AI can help identify potential property issues that may not be readily apparent to the human eye.
  • These real estate software programs can also help calculate more accurate estimates for how much a property will sell for or how much it will rent for.
  • AI can take into account a greater number of factors than a human could possibly consider.

Transparency

  • Finally, AI is also incredibly helpful with transparency in the real estate market.
  • It can make relevant data about a property (including past sales data, rental data, etc.) publicly available online. This allows buyers and sellers to make more informed decisions and helps to create a more fair and transparent market overall.

How Can Real Estate Professionals Prepare For the Future Of AI in Their Field?

In the real estate industry, AI technology is already being used to great effect to help professionals prepare for the future. A few Real estate software programs offer a unique take on digital marketing and the utilization of AI technology. The platforms offer data-driven AI generated insights that help real estate professionals excel in their field of work.

Make Use Of Real Estate Software to Better Your Business

The use of AI in real estate can help professionals become more efficient and knowledgeable about the market. By analyzing data and trends, agents can more easily identify opportunities and target potential buyers. The use of online engagement tools can also help agents connect with buyers in a more personal way, building trust and credibility.

Ultimately, the use of AI in real estate can help agents become more successful in their field by improving their marketing skills and connecting with more potential buyers.

The Bottom Line

The future is here and it’s time to get on board. Artificial intelligence is being used more frequently in the real estate industry and will only become more commonplace as time goes on. As a real estate professional, you need to be prepared for this changing landscape — and this can understandably be a most daunting task. But have no fear! There are many benefits to using AI in your business, from increased efficiency to better customer service. Streamline your digital presence and efficiency today by implementing some of these artificial intelligence tools into your repertoire.

RealSage is an enterprise SaaS platform that enables multifamily asset owners and operators to make better decisions and optimize returns across their portfolios using advanced data intelligence and AI. To learn more visit — https://www.realsage.com/