There are certain technologies that apartment operators simply shouldn’t build on their own – like property management and revenue management systems, business intelligence platforms and even customer relationship management programs.

With the growing demand for resident-facing technology from renters, many apartment operators are left with this question: should we build the tech ourselves, or should we buy it from a proven supplier?

There’s a reason you wouldn’t ask a fisherman to cut your hair – you end up paying for it in the long run, and the same can be true when trying to build a technology someone else has already developed.

Translation: an apartment operator serves itself and its residents best when it hires a company that specializes in the design and implementation of new technologies to do the work.

The True Costs of Building a Technology Yourself
In theory, it may make sense to tackle building a new technology in-house – I mean, you may already have an IT team. But in reality, building the technology that will deliver the results and success you are looking for can be costly, both in terms of actual expenses and the extent to which an operator has to draw valuable resources away from its core mission.

Let’s take building a custom, white-label mobile app for an apartment community as an example. White-labeled apps are those used by residents to communicate with management, pay rent online, make service requests, for example. They are created with both the resident experience and onsite process top-of-mind and are different from apps for a property management system, which are designed to only streamline operations and help onsite teams better manage a property.

According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a single app developer with about five years of experience is around $75,000. Also, the time needed to build an advanced consumer-facing app is roughly 28 weeks alone; that doesn’t include the time needed to ensure the app integrates with your current IT infrastructure. Let’s not forget that your app will require ongoing development dollars to stay relevant by adding new features, providing user training and help desk support, and general maintenance and hosting; figure a minimum of 20% of your initial investment each year.

Ask yourself: do you want to pay such a significant salary for someone who isn’t actively contributing to your IT department on a daily basis? Isn't it more effective to spend that salary on someone who can maintain, update and troubleshoot your existing platforms?

One of the main benefits of plug-and-play technologies are that they are built by developers who focus exclusively on consumer technologies and how those technologies impact the user experience.

A Better Resident Experience
Yes, multifamily is a business, and we should be dedicated to streamlining our business processes. However, we are also in the world of customer service, and resident satisfaction should be our number-one priority.

When apartment companies hire a supplier partner that specializes in the creation of mobile apps, they get access to true expertise and can place the development process in the hands of someone who’s been there before. Supplier partners are steeped in best practices and use their experience to anticipate and prepare for any possible problems or snags. This ensures the best resident experience. And when you nail the resident experience, it delivers greater retention potential and enhances overall business processes.

This blog is part of a series on technology written on behalf of one of my clients, Mobile Doorman.