The Multifamily Proptech Session at the CREW Network Convention brought together three who have integrated technology into their business.

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ORLANDO, FL—Three women at the CREW Network Convention breakout proptech session talked about taking that leap and integrating technology into their business, the risks they took, and how it paid off. First up was Joanna Zabriskie, president and CEO of BH Management, who started the session by talking about lessons learned investing in proptech. "Initially, we did a direct equity investment in a company," she said, pointing out that there are many more choices in the space today than when BH Management invested. "There is an explosion of opportunities of new companies. There are the startups and the established big companies. What's important is to evaluate integration, staying power and capitalization," she said. "There is a lot out there and it is overwhelming."

Her firm also invested in a proptech fund called the RET Ventures Fund that was formed to spur innovation in the multifamily industry. "There were 12 LPs and owner/operator/mangers representing more than 1 million units in the $110-million Fund I," she said.

The final way her firm has evolved in its investment into the proptech space was to develop the technology in house. Through BH Fusion, BH Balance, and BH Project Pro, the firm's evolution is that it now controls its own data. "You have to own and understand your data. We didn't back in 2014 and 2015, but we realized that with the capital flooding into this business, we had to know what was happening on our assets yesterday, and we need to be able to understand the trends and understand yesterday to make decisions on tomorrow."

BH has spent the last two to three years developing its data and realized that if you aggregate 10 years of data from various platforms and products into one database, you will come across some issues. "In doing all this, we had to define what our key performance indicators are. Weekly and monthly KPI reports with benchmarks give objective scoring on operational service and financial initiatives identified as important to achieving individual site success."

Now, all of the company's reports are now visualized on one dashboard. "We are trying to streamline operations so problems are quickly noted and reporting efficiencies can be found."

She wants to watch out for messy data and stresses that benchmarks need to be clear and measurable and that training is of the utmost importance.

Up next was speaker Georgianna Oliver, founder of Tour24, who said the company was created not to do a virtual tour, but instead, to take you through a property on your own, without a leasing agent. "We have already found that 75% of our self-guided tours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Most of the tours are between 4-9 pm."

Tour24 is a mobile app that streamlines the rental touring process for consumers and property managers. The company's technology integrates with the access systems at today's buildings and serves as an extension to leasing teams to deliver more tours with maximum simplicity, flexibility and convenience.

She points out that from her research, 40% pass on an apartment because they couldn't find time to see it, about 27% prefer to take a self-guided tour with no leasing agent, and that 57% would download a free mobile app that would allow for an in-person self-guided tour of the community.

"Millennials are looking at their phone the entire time they are walking through a community anyway. They are all about self-serve. They don't want to speak with anyone."

One of the difficulties she encountered in creating the app is property marketing. "We have to really focus on signs, call service scripts and internet listing activity to get the word out. It is a slow process to learn how to reach the consumer."

Up next was moderator Kristy Simonette, an SVP at Camden Residential Properties, who mentioned that her company is always strategically looking for someone to partner with to better solve their problems. If you are thinking about integrating proptech, "Ask yourself what you are trying to solve," she said. "We are trying to solve access. It is a problem. Whatever the situation, there is a lot of people coming and going."

She said that while there is lots of technology out there, most of it was for hotels or single-family homes, but not for apartment property managers, which is where the company, CHIRP, came along. They started the company to provide mobile access for residents and staff with automatic credentialing, and for making common entries smart.

"Your phone can now act like a fob or you can swipe to unlock using the lock screen widget," she said. "Residents and management can grant access to a guest. You know who is coming or going in your apartment."

GlobeSt.com also caught up with Senior Manager at Altus Group, Pauline Hale, who told us that she is honored to serve as a member of the CREW Network Industry Research Committee and on the CREW-Orange County Board of Directors. "One area I'm passionate about is the lack of Opportunity Zone investment in certain communities. Although many areas have benefited from the 'urban revival' of the 2010s, there is caution from the investment community that the regulations may change."

From an investment standpoint, she says, "there is still the opinion that the tax benefits only make a good deal great, so philanthropic organizations may be key to achieving the intent of the legislation."

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Natalie Dolce

Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.

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