Apartment Professionals are Most Worried About These Issues

Human resource, staffing and recruitment is the No. 1 concern of apartment management professionals, according to a recent survey by National Apartment Association and ndp | analytics, with 74% of respondents selected it as one of their top three challenges.

Operational efficiencies and maximizing revenue were the second and third most common challenges with nearly 63% and 48% selecting them as a top challenge, respectively.

The survey, conducted in July and August, received a total of 1,048 responses.

The results overwhelmingly reflected respondents’ desire for the pandemic to end and for continued strong economic growth. It also conveyed the sentiment that an end to eviction moratoriums, more efficient and faster distribution of rental assistance funds and improvements in the labor market will go a long way in alleviating many of the challenges rental housing providers face today.

Wrote one anonymous survey participant, “If you are not contacting applicants immediately, they have already moved onto something else before you have a chance to meet with them. Costs for hiring new team members are increasing with hourly wages impacting budgets.”

These issues have been top concerns for rental housing providers for quite some time, NAA reported, and the impacts of COVID-19 have heightened these challenges for owners and operators.

When asked to rate a set of activities within each of those topics, attracting new team members, training new hires and reducing turnover were rated as the most difficult activities. 

Employers are struggling to keep their on-site offices fully staffed as a result of high salary demands, low morale, concerns surrounding COVID-19 and labor shortages.

Inside the issue of operational efficiencies, finding high quality vendors, reducing labor-intensive processes and reducing costs were rated as the most difficult challenges. Changes brought on by the pandemic have led owners and operators to rethink their operational strategies in order to improve their bottom lines and employee productivity.

Maximizing revenue, increasing net operating income (NOI), mitigating bad debt loss and returning performance to pre-pandemic levels were rated as the most difficult challenges. Rental housing providers are struggling with escalating expenses due to COVID-19 and rental income losses.

Respondents were asked to elaborate on their top challenge, including how they are currently solving their problems today and what they need to help solve the challenge moving forward.

The survey responses also illustrated the continued bifurcation in the industry with some owners concerned about whether or not they will be able to stay afloat and others reporting strong rent growth and high occupancy rates, NAA reported.