The Demand Solutions Blog

Pricing and Revenue Management (PRM) in multifamily turned 18 years old this year. For those interested, the first-ever deployment of a PRM system took place in February 2001 at the Hunters Run apartment complex in Austin, TX. When we sat down recently with 20 multifamily executives to discuss the industry outlook towards 2020 and beyond, we invited them to provide their perspectives on the current state of PRM.

We discuss the results of our research in greater detail in our 20 for '20 white paper. Below we have summarized the feedback that we received on possible future PRM advancements and areas of opportunity.  We found that PRM system-specific feedback fell into two broad categories: how to improve the current models; and more radical improvements and future direction.   

As we get near the Apartment Innovation and Marketing (AIM) conference, I wanted to take a moment to discuss an innovation from single-family rentals (SFR) that I believe should be getting more attention from multifamily housing (MFH) operators.

Since we published the findings of our 20 for ‘20 research, we have found a broad consensus that multifamily technology is at a technology inflection point, the like of which we have not seen since the 1999-2004 timeframe. During that period pricing and revenue management, web-based property management systems and resident and prospect portals all came to market at once. Dan Amedro was CIO at Archstone from 1997 through 2012. He not only had a front seat to all those changes but as often in the driver’s seat. We asked him to reflect on that time in the industry. As you read this, we think you’ll agree that the experience 15-20 years ago provides a great map to help navigate technology today.

As we were researching our new white paper, 20 for ‘20 - we learned about the multifamily technologies that are currently top of mind from the 20 senior executives who we interviewed. As we mention in the white paper, multifamily is at a technology tipping point, the like of which we have not seen since the late 1990s. This time, however, there seem to be some differences in the way that the industry is approaching new technologies.

Guest Blog by John Helm - Managing Director of Real Estate Technology Ventures

Real estate technology has significantly matured over the past few years, with seismic shifts in resident preferences changing the adoption of technology. Increasingly tech-savvy, digitally-native residents have the same expectations of their living experiences as they have for all other services they consume.

After a decade of unprecedented growth, the multifamily cycle is hard to predict, as each new year of growth moves us further beyond historical norms. Our industry has lately acquired the habit of starting each year wondering if this will be the one where the bull run comes to an end. When we interviewed 20 executives at the end of 2018 for our 20 for ’20 white paper, we were keen to understand they saw the next few years and how that impacted their priorities.

It’s easy to get caught up in industry hype – especially when new and exciting technologies come along.  Industry press, conferences and blogs like this one provide the platform to engage an audience in a conversation about the next big thing.  We recently took the opportunity to step away from the domain of thought leadership and ask a group of senior multifamily executives for their own perspectives about a range of issues – most notably, technology.

As we were researching our new white paper, 20 for ‘20 - we asked senior multifamily operators about a range of issues, including recruitment and retention of talent. 2018 was a challenging year, and leaders repeatedly cited culture as a lever in an increasingly competitive employment market. It reminded us of an organization that exists to address a social issue - homelessness - while simultaneously providing a source of new candidates to multifamily operators. Shelters to Shutters is an organization that partners with the multifamily industry to transition people out of homelessness.

Guest Blog By Andy Helmer, CEO of Shelters to Shutters.

In an unusually challenging market for talent, it makes sense to seek new sources of employees. At Shelters to Shutters we work with a network of partners to provide a private industry solution to a public social issue - homelessness. We find that many people are surprised at the difference multifamily companies can make to this problem and by the potential benefits of being part of the solution.

This week we released our much-anticipated white paper, 20 for '20: 20 Conversations with Senior Executives About the Outlook for 2020 and Beyond. For those of you who hadn’t heard about it, we interviewed 20 operations and technology executives at the end of 2018 to get their perspectives on the state of the industry and their own priorities.

We felt that by contrasting our 20 interviewees' current priorities with priorities for the next few years, we could gain and share insight into the outlook to 2020 and beyond. We’ll be discussing some of the findings in more detail on this blog over the coming weeks. But today, aside from making sure you know it’s now available for download, I thought I would share what motivated us to put in the many hours of research and to invest in writing this white paper.

Last week we were talking about the experience of leasing up big projects, and it reminded me of something that I’ve advised companies against doing for years.  It’s to do with the setup of pricing and revenue management systems (RMS) – a set of tasks that do not always receive the attention that they should.

When companies set up new properties on an RMS, one of the most frequent missteps, even for experienced revenue management departments, is the execution of floor plan groupings.  It’s an essential set-up step, as it determines the level at which the system will forecast and make pricing recommendations.

Last week I was in London – the city where I grew up and spent most of my formative years. I have never used trips home to view multifamily real estate, but this time was different. A couple of weeks ago at NMHC Annual, I attended the session that provided an overview of London’s Wembley Park project. With that presentation still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t leave my home town without taking a tour of the development.

For those unfamiliar with the project or its locale, Wembley is home to England’s national soccer stadium. It is familiar to most people as a concert venue, the home of the annual FA Cup final, and the iconic site where England won the World Cup (in 1966). Although it is not far from central London, all paths lead to the imposing stadium that dominates the whole area. Crowds arrive for the game or concert and then leave – or at least that’s the way things used to work. Today a revolution is underway that will change that forever.