Learn how AI is reshaping processes in the multifamily industry, from resident interactions to maintenance, and how it could impact your communities.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is so much more than just a buzzword—it’s an emerging technology that promises to reshape how we live and work. In the multifamily sector, AI is streamlining property management processes, changing how everyone from onsite teams to property owners conduct their day-to-day operations.
In this post, we’ll delve into how AI is advancing the multifamily industry today and what’s coming up on the multifamily technology horizon.
What is AI?
Before we delve into its applications, let's briefly define AI—computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. One particular facet of AI, known as generative AI, can create new content, such as text, images, or even music, by learning patterns from existing datasets.
While ChatGPT, Google Bard, and DALL-E are making headlines today, generative AI has been around since the 1980s, when innovators started using deep learning to experiment with artificial neural networks. So, why should multifamily professionals care about AI?
Because it can help you become a superhero—saving valuable time while still providing an industry-leading resident experience. Want to know how? Let’s dive in!
4 Ways AI is Reshaping Multifamily Today
1. Enhancing the Resident Experiences with Chatbots
AI-driven chatbots have emerged as valuable tools for property managers, significantly enhancing the resident experience from initial inquiries to service requests. These chatbots efficiently answer common questions, provide around-the-clock assistance, and handle numerous inquiries simultaneously. They expedite the leasing process and give prospective residents exactly what they want—a near-instantaneous response. As an added bonus, chatbots collect and analyze data to provide valuable insights that aid property managers and executives in making more informed decisions.
2. Lead Scoring and Nurturing for Efficient Resident Acquisition
AI's impact extends to lead generation and nurturing. Property management companies can now generate leads more efficiently and prioritize those most likely to become residents. AI-based lead scoring tools analyze lead behaviors, such as email interactions, to identify the most qualified prospects. Personalized emails, text messages, and phone calls keep these leads engaged with your property, ultimately boosting conversion rates (and making you look really good, too!).
3. Streamlining Maintenance with Workforce Management
Imagine a world where your maintenance team works like a well-oiled machine and your technicians spend most of their time working on the specialty they’re best at. With workforce management solutions, that world can be a reality.
AI technology can auto-route a work order to the maintenance technician who’s most qualified and readily available to tackle it at that very moment. This not only saves substantial time for technicians and residents alike, it also ensures the highest quality of work possible. Additionally, the system can manage property-wide maintenance needs, prioritizing tasks based on urgency and ensuring timely completion.
HappyCo + AI
HappyCo + AI
Happy Property: Maintenance uses AI and machine learning to optimize work order efficiency and aid teams in their journey to maintenance centralization. From auto-categorizing tickets as they come in to matching work orders with the right staff, Happy Property: Maintenance uses AI to supercharge teams by optimizing ticket throughput, all the while keeping residents consistently informed of progress.
4. Predictive Analytics and Sentiment Analysis
Other AI-driven tools, such as predictive analytics and sentiment analysis, are revolutionizing the multifamily industry. Predictive analytics leverage historical data to identify patterns and forecast future events like occupancy rates or preventative maintenance issues. This empowers property managers to make data-driven decisions regarding maintenance schedules, resource allocation, and revenue projections. Sentiment analysis, on the other hand, examines online reviews and social media posts to gauge resident experiences and feedback, enabling property managers to respond proactively and enhance resident satisfaction.
Looking Ahead: AI Applications in Multifamily’s Future
Beyond today’s applications of AI, it’s likely that AI will play a key role in acquisition decisions in the future. AI-enabled tools can analyze location intelligence data and foot traffic insights to provide robust recommendations for which properties to acquire and why. Additionally, we can see AI being used to automate aspects of unit turns—using a combination of market data, vendor information, and property photos to determine the most cost-effective and value-add renovations for a particular unit.
While we (and many others) believe personal service and human interaction will always be essential in multifamily, AI is going to be even more integrated into everyday property operations going forward. Multifamily owners and operators who embrace AI will undoubtedly reap the rewards of more streamlined, efficient, and profitable communities filled with happy residents.
Ever since she was a kid, Ebby has always loved reading, writing, and storytelling. After graduating from College of Charleston in 2018, Ebby started a career in marketing for start-ups and scale-ups and never looked back. She's thrilled that she now gets to share HappyCo's stories across formats and channels for a living.
