Data Plays Versatile Role for Apartment Operators

CHICAGO—While raw data is primarily based on the past, what apartment operators do with those data in the future is what is now proving critical. Leading apartment executives discussed data’s emergence in decision-making and how it can steer property transactions and even convert leases during a session on Tuesday at National Apartment Association’s Apartmentalize Conference in Chicago.

Laurie Lyons, Vice President Client Services, Pegasus Residential, said that she expects more buying and selling decisions to be made with the buyer not even having set foot on the property, but instead relying on a deeper set of data to determine value.

Joe Coleman, COO, Decron Properties, agreed that data is playing a larger role in apartment business, including due diligence, but said that in today’s competitive environment, sometimes being that one bid that actually did visit the property can lead to a big advantage and wiser outcomes.

“I’d say we’re a ways away from buying properties sight unseen,” Coleman said.

In fact, in one property Coleman was exploring in an Arizona market, he said he had formulated a bid before visiting the community, budgeting for renovations to reposition it.

“We ended up adjusting it quite a bit after going to the property and speaking to the residents,” he said. “It turns out, the owner was running the property for occupancy’s sake, dropping rents if he had to. So, in that case, we saw it as a management issue,” and not one based on the property’s condition.

Hiring for Data Analysts

Hiring for data analytics is also on the upswing. Crystal Martin, Director of Operations, Leon Capital Group, said her company is seeking analysts who can come in and aggregate the data and present it in actionable ways on dashboards shared portfolio-wide with the team.

Its interpretation is key to high performance and it makes “everyone on the team better at what they do,” she said.

A merchant builder who leases up the property and looks to stretch rents as best she can before selling, Martin leans on the data afterward to learn operational lessons once the property is sold.

“We count our wins and losses and what we could have done better when it comes to rents,” she said.

Meet Your Virtual Leasing Agent

Data is helping bots assist leasing teams, saving them time, and helping to avoid follow-up on unqualified leads. Lyons said that approximately 60 percent of her leases are signed with no human contact. She said that the bots, when programmed to lead prospects properly, are setting appointments with 80 percent of prospects that engage with them compared to 60 percent when they worked through a team member.

Lyons said this type of performance has also led to the renaming of some job titles to reflect changing duties and reduced staff to save costs in areas where they became unnecessary.

Check back with GlobeSt.com for more from this event.