45As "the guy" who led the development of the first pricing and revenue management system for multifamily housing (LRO) and was the industry's first-ever VP of Pricing and Revenue Management (PRM) back in 2001, I've watched with great interest the past 23 years as adoption evolved.What started out as a practice highly questioned for its relevance to rental housing has become de rigeur for the NMHC Top 50 and at least a few hundred other companies ...

 To those paying attention, there is a growing list of states (and even the US Senate) who appear to be attempting to outlaw algorithmic pricing in rental housing thus rendering the software used by virtually all of the NMHC Top 50 and hundreds of other operators illegal.As the industry contemplates being forced to go back to the manual pricing processes of the 1990s, there's a lot of understandable teeth-gnashing…not to mention an immediate ...

It's no secret that 2024 will be a year of anemic revenue growth for multifamily rental operators and owners. On the one hand, we are still benefiting from the once-in-a-lifetime rental growth in the early post-pandemic years; however, on the other hand, growth is very much a "what have you done for me lately" proposition. And the challenges of slow rent growth play out in a variety of ways from deferrals in tech investments to increased pressure ...

(This blog recaps a portion of the podcast interview Matt Knight of the Property Tech Angels Group conducted with Donald Davidoff, CEO and co-founder of Real Estate Business Analytics.)The effective integration of disparate data sources stands as a cornerstone for informed decision-making and strategic planning across industries. However, the path to seamless integration is riddled with complexities unique to the multifamily housing sector. Donal ...

Navigating the multifaceted realm of multifamily real estate has traditionally relied on occupancy as a compass—a lagging indicator that reveals the current state with limited foresight. However, a recent webinar sparked a paradigm shift, highlighting the predictive strength of leading indicators, particularly focusing on availability.While occupancy directs today's cash flow and influences profit and loss, the real narrative unfolds in availabil ...

In the fast-paced world of multifamily real estate, staying ahead of the curve is essential for success. To ensure your multifamily revenue management strategy is not only relevant but also resilient to changing market conditions and evolving regulations, it's time to embrace the systems of the future.Understanding the Multifamily LandscapeMultifamily executives and leaders are well aware that the market can be unpredictable, and regulations can ...

 Legacy pricing & revenue management systems changed the multifamily industry. Now, with almost 25 years of learning, it's time for more contemporary approaches that reduce the total cost of ownership, improve acceptance and are more flexible in adapting to recent and future changes in the multifamily pricing arena.Here are 10 questions you should ask when evaluating pricing & revenue management software. To get our comprehensive PRM ...

Intelligent pricing inputs ensure we're reacting to the right things. After two decades of legacy system use, the industry has learned lessons about what should and should not be part of any contemporary PRM system. For example:1. Comp DataUsers should have the option of whether, and how much, comp data is included in their pricing algorithm. Where they can collect accurate data and, as a matter of corporate strategy, want to include that data th ...

With more pricing & revenue management (PRM) experience than anyone else in the multifamily industry, we have defined what a great contemporary PRM solution would look like that leads not only to a more efficient and more effective PRM strategy but also one that more naturally and intuitively builds trust with operators and asset managers. Massively improved workflows reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)A good PRM should make it easy for reve ...

 Ever since pricing & revenue management systems became "standard" among the NMHC Top 50 (and beyond), the multifamily industry has seen higher occupancies and more stable and predictable rental growth than at any time in the history of rental housing. So, let's start by saying that legacy systems work. Despite this success, there have always been concerns with these systems.Little black boxes…for you and me The leading systems have ...

One of my favorite questions to ask leaders in this industry is one thing their "today" self would like to teach their "then" self when they first got into the industry that they know now but didn't know then. It both sheds light on a key lesson successful executives have learned and provides insight into the industry and its evolution.Many (most?) readers already know that I got into the industry back in 1999-2000 when I had the honor of leading ...

There’s no doubt that multifamily operators and owners are getting more serious about their data and reporting. It’s equally obvious that an industry not traditionally known to be cutting-edge in technology is both 1) catching up and 2) sometimes missing opportunities by aiming a bit too low. Nowhere is that more evident than in the complex world of business intelligence (BI). There are so many different components to a true BI platform, and it’ ...

Last week I was listening to the Walker webcast’s quarterly update with Dr. Peter Linneman. Born of the pandemic lockdown, this series by Willie Walker is “must watch” streaming, particularly whenever Dr. Linneman is the guest (I confess to registering just to get the email link to the recording. I can then watch at double speed thus squeezing an hour-long video into 30 minutes). This last session was particularly provocative and typically insig ...