Virtual lease up in a COVID-19 world. I read a quote by Robert Herjacvec (Skark Tank / Tech Entrepreneur) that I believe sums up the business environment right now really well. He said: “We are living the future right now”.
Leading up to COVID times over the past number of years we along with some other landlords/property managers have been experimenting and using technology to show and lease up apartments.
Let’s take a journey back to when I was a renter, over 30 years ago, I had to rely on tiny ads in the newspaper, where the landlord would barely put a description, no text, no email, no FaceTime, just a phone number. I would call the number and if they answered they would typically sound rude, and when you asked for details, they would just say, come and see it. When you went for the viewing, they would act as though they were in a hurry, then stand in the doorway and have you look around (no selling). The standards back then, especially in the student areas were quite low (no granite counter tops and multiple bathrooms back then). We did not even think about window egress, or mold. We would just look for mouse / rat droppings, and ask if heat was included (that was important, because buildings were not efficient). The experience was similar for most people I knew, for some it was much worse. The ads did not have many words, so an apartment shopper would not find out if their human rights were going to be violated until they showed up (that’s a post for another day).
Ok, fast forward to today. It might be just our client base or area, but the tenant base is much more international. Which means we are pretty used to using technology for long distance viewings. We live in a university town, so people come here from all over the world, and many need to line up a place before they arrive. For Shelly and I it started with making a short YouTube video to place in our ads.
My first piece of advice is to embrace technology. Just try it, it may change your life. Three personal examples for me are as follows:
Example #1 Back in 2009 I had purchased a property. One of the tenants I was inheriting asked if I accepted email money transfers for payments. Up until that point we had been collecting rent by post dated cheques or in larger projects, direct deposit and of course the occasional cash client (which we strongly discouraged by 2009). I was familiar with online banking, but had not done an email money transfer. I asked the tenant how to do it, she explained, and the rest is history.
Example #2 We have a rental that is primarily international students. I had a student who was coming to town for school. I like to meet my tenants before they arrive, so I asked if he had FaceTime or Skype. He asked if we could use Whatsapp. I had never used it before, but downloaded the app and it was seamless.
Example #3 YouTube link for a viewing. Not only do we get students, we get people from all over the world looking to rent flats from us. We procrastinated a long time on the YouTube video idea, then one day we did it. Our first video was made with our Ipad.
This all leads us to today. An international pandemic has changed the world in a few short months. Property managers and landlords have had to adapt quickly or they face vacancy and financial hardship. I mean it is bad enough that the pandemic has caused massive job loss, so some are not able to pay the rent. Some sectors such as tourism and restaurants are devastated. Along with the commercial real estate market. This has made it acceptable practice to do viewings 100% virtually. In the world before COVID we would start viewings with a well written ad, great pictures, a video link and maybe a FaceTime (or similar meeting). Then if the potential tenant lived in the city, we would arrange a viewing.
During this international pandemic, physical viewings are being limited or cancelled. That means that the landlords and property managers that can pivot or have already been using technology have a major advantage.
Although you will still need to check identification and do a proper screening, most documents such as leases and applications can be signed electronically (please be cautious, sometimes fraud can increase during crisis).
If you are not tech savvy, that is ok. We live in a Google and YouTube world where explanations to do anything are at your finger tips. The difference between success and failure is in execution.
Until next time,
Design your landlord experience,
Michael P Currie
Landlord by Design
Great blog post Mike!
Thank you Jenna, I appreciate it,