Multifamily Industry News and Trends

Leasing has become more competitive than ever, and apartment operators have been rethinking the types of amenities they’re offering. Residents, like operators, have new apartment needs. With a greater number of residents working from home, there is increasing demand for high-speed internet and community-wide WiFi. High-speed internet and community WiFi is very important to residents and it powers other highly desired amenities, like co-working spaces and interactive fitness programs. Ubiquitous WiFi provides seamless connectivity throughout the entire apartment community, from common spaces to inside individual homes. Residents have constant access and reliable coverage and the service eliminates “dead zones” in certain areas of the community. Community-wide WiFi has become an essential part of enhancing the resident experience. Here are three considerations as to why operators need to make this a priority amenity:   WiFi for WorkCommunity-wide WiFi and faster internet service have become a necessity for modern renters, especially if they work from home. Many companies are continuing to support remote work or at least implement a hybrid work schedule. There is also a growing gig economy and increasing number of U.S. workers shifting to independent contract work. These residents will typically work from home or in a business center. Operators have started to switch gears to cater to these residents by offering more co-working space or offering two-bedroom apartments as one-bedrooms with an office.  High-speed internet and WiFi mean a lot to residents and typically factor into their search for an apartment home. A 2020 survey by the National Multifamily Housing Counc......

The nationwide eviction moratorium had prevented families from being removed from their homes, helping families face pandemic-related financial hardships while mitigating the risks of further spreading the virus when people were forced to move out. People who took advantage of the measure will still have to pay their landlords the total amount accrued during the moratorium. Since the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act was introduced on March 27, 2020, the eviction moratorium deadline has been extended multiple times. The extension from June 30, 2021, to July 31, 2021, was the third time it was extended. On August. 26, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a moratorium on evictions ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) targeting areas with high transmission rates. In a 6-3 vote by the Supreme Court, the moratorium will no longer be extended. With the moratorium ended and the pandemic still ongoing, landlords worry that their tenants may still not keep up with their contractual obligations. Tens of billions of dollars of rental relief were made available to struggling tenants; however, as of August 2021, only $3 billion of the allocated $46 billion rental relief fund has made it out. Each state has its own process for disbursing the relief funds. Helping Tenants Apply for Rental Relief Unfortunately, gaps remain in the program as many citizens either don’t know how to apply for it or don’t know if they are eligible. One of the main challenges, particularly low-income tenants with no internet acc......

Sellers, you want to develop a reputation with every buyer in the marketplace that buying from you is first class. You want them to talk about you in a good way at dinner that night with their spouse. There are a number of things that go into developing an awesome reputation as a seller. A very simple one that’s easy to do and goes a long way is how you care for your property during the marketing and contract period. Are you the seller that spends as little money as humanly possible during this time because you feel like you’re throwing money away at something you won’t own in 90 days or are you the seller that understands the power of going above and beyond to care for an asset because the reputational benefits will spread throughout the multifamily world and handsomely reward you long term? Remember, buyers of your assets will be sellers of other assets in the future. If they remember you to be the seller that cut corners and did just enough, they will be far less likely to select you as a winning bidder on their next sale. And the brokers involved in your transactions will be less likely to recommend you as a buyer. There are some easy things I’ve recognized sellers can do to build a killer reputation during the marketing and contract period. The cost of making repairs, replacements, and beautification during this time is so minimal as a percentage of the deal but the pay......

The rent-to-income ratio, one of the primary underwriting measures of a renter's ability to succeed in a home, is being challenged. Modern renters’ income is dynamic and volatile. As a renter’s income evolves, so must our tools that enable property managers to best understand, work with and empower renters to succeed in the home. Today’s income reality consists of renters with income volatility split across multiple types: Income volatility - Most renters (53%) live paycheck to paycheck. Oftentimes, their paychecks have 20% monthly variability to them due to hourly jobs, bonuses or overtime, and sometimes renters will change jobs during their lease.  Gig & creator economy - Gig workers earn around 58% of what full-time employees earn. According to research from Statista, more than 59 million Americans freelanced in the U.S. in 2020. Gig-economy workers typically get paid daily or weekly and use their freelance jobs to supplement income or replace income in between jobs. Gig work is powerful because any consumer can begin earning income immediately and it can save renters from eviction when they lose their jobs.    W2 changes - Fewer workers are using W-2 tax forms for tracking employee wages and withholding. More companies have classified remote workers as independent contractors. The IRS projected about 37.2 million fewer employee-classified jobs in 2021, and W-2 filings are expected to continue dropping through 2027.  Peer-to-peer cash transfers - Many people use peer-to-peer cash transfers on apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App. Some leverage these apps for independent contract work,......

  Housing for over 100 million American citizens who live in apartments, care homes, moderate housing, as well as other rental units has never been as simple as some outsiders may believe. Compliance with housing regulations, municipal codes, preventive maintenance, and entire risk management systems have long been potential landmines for returns on investments.  However, as a result of Covid-19, property management companies now have a whole new set of duties and obligations. They must protect not just the safety and health of its inhabitants, but rather the safety and health of the site's workers. The apparent requirement to more carefully monitor and record cleaning procedures, staff temperature checks, and possible onsite outbreaks is part of this new high-stakes job of creating and complying with Covid-19 safety measures.  Landlords must also manage packages and facilities, as well as display apartments in contactless settings, all of which increase the strain for landlords who are often unable to collect rent. Residents want high-speed internet and, in certain instances, a socially distant co-working area on-premise but outside of their own residences as the work-from-home trend grows. Multifamily real estate must now be more than simply a place to live and making investment in multifamily property should be an easy choice; it must also be a proven sanctuary from the outside world while also supporting full-time employees in unprecedented ways. Proptech Can Be Used in a Variety of Ways by Real Estate Executives Many proptech companies have come forward to fill the void and fulfil......

Hiring the right lawyer in multifamily real estate can make or break deals and can increase or decrease your future deal flow from brokers and other investors. ELITE INVESTORS ALSO CHOOSE LAWYERS WHO SHARE THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT DEAL MAKING AND EMPATHY. This is huge! Every Elite Investor I know is represented by a lawyer with whom I thoroughly enjoy working. They show empathy in transactions, and they truly thrive on doing deals rather than suspiciously searching for ways the other party is trying to get the upper hand. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Some investors choose attorneys who thrive on redlining as many words as they can so their client thinks they are really good. When they find a clause they don’t like, instead of thinking about solutions, they build up the issue to be more important than it is. Attorneys are used to seeing redlining, so it is no big deal to them. But when investors open a document like that, they are completely deflated, angry, and aggravated. Even if most of the redlines are grammatical, it still sours the review process. Elite Attorneys have an encouraging tone that a deal can get done; they give realistic probabilities on issues, never raise their voice, and never start building up the other side as villains. These attorneys know that the more deals they can help their clients do, while still keeping them safe, the more those clients will use them and help them grow their own law practice. Also, Elite A......

Workforce housing is not to be confused with affordable housing. The best definition for workforce housing is “housing that is affordable to households earning 60 to 120 percent of the area median income.” However, that median may vary by state. Unfortunately, major metros still struggle with filling the gaps with workforce housing programs. Recently, housing prices have outpaced income in many major metros around the U.S., causing a housing shortage for those trying to find affordable housing close to their work. The housing crisis has been discussed extensively by politicians and economists alike. From connecting investors with developers to partnerships between building owners and tenants, creative programs can help combat the workforce housing shortage in major metros. Let's look at some of the solutions that experts feel can help keep the workforce housing shortage under control. 1. Leverage technology that helps developers build faster for less New construction technologies and structural frames may be the answer to building better and faster. Innovative materials may also prove to be more affordable without sacrificing durability and quality. 2. Remove administrative and regulatory barriers that make it challenging to build more homes and apartments cost-effectively A good place to start would be automating the local, state, and federal systems that analyze the planning and zoning codes and reducing processing time. If the processing of legal analysis could be shortened from months to weeks or days, less time and money would be wasted waiting on whether housing can be built on a particular property. 3. Pro......

Don't let the boring title of this video fool you. There are 5 main reasons the most elite multifamily investors in the world hire a real estate agent to sell their assets and you're not gonna want to miss # 5 on the list.

As an overall answer to the question "Why hire a real estate agent to sell your assets," they make you more money. That's a fact. Read on. Yes, real estate investors could just get an appraisal done and stick the listing on LoopNet, Crexi, apartmentbuildings.com, or Ten-X. And yes it will probably sell.

A real estate investor could even get a bunch of real estate agent BOVs (Broker Opinion of Value) to ensure they list their own property for the right price, not hire any real estate agent, and sell themselves. But make no mistake only real estate agents can create an environment that earns a seller the most the market will pay.

Here's reason #1:  No investor can ever create the vast database a real estate agent can because it isn’t natural for real estate investors to call dozens of other real estate investors a week and build rapport. An investor’s database of buyers will pale in comparison to a real estate agent's. The more real estate investors known the greater the chance of bringing a higher offer.

It’s safe to say the tenants you’re targeting have scrolled through social media channels as they woke up this morning, then again at lunch time, traffic stops, drive-thru lines, and more. They’ll continue to shift their attention back to social platforms while taking a break from work, standing in line at the grocery store, watching the news, or brushing their teeth as they prepare for bedtime. For multifamily property managers, social media channels present a can’t-miss opportunity to attract and sway your ideal tenants — if you get the tone and content mix right.   Below you’ll find six ways to make prospects feel seen, educated, inspired or entertained by your social media presence. Mix and match them often to see engagement rise.   1. Humanize your property   You may have heard the adage that people prefer to do business with people, not faceless corporations. When marketing your property, putting a human face and personality on your brick and mortar is an instant rapport builder that helps you stand out from competing properties.   Balance sterile snapshots of empty kitchens or pristine landscapes with warm faces and personal stories, featuring residents, local staff, and more.   A few ideas: Featuring a pet of the month. Resident stories or testimonials, conveying their experiences in their own words. Staff spotlight including personal quirks that make them relatable to readers (e.g., hobbies, favorite spots in the neighborhood, favorite part of their job). Light-hearted content borrowed with permission from tenants (e.g., TikToks, videos or photos shot......

The multifamily and single-family rental industries have their share of differences, from disparity in scale to NOI growth and market presence. But some considerable overlap exists between the two asset classes in terms of investment opportunities.  An increasing number of multifamily owners and operators are looking to expand in build-to-rent single-family housing because the single-family asset class is on track to outperform other real estate sectors over the next decade. Suburban Sun Belt markets, specifically, present the most overlap -- and competition -- between multifamily and single family. While operations and expenses vary between the two asset classes, drivers of demand and rent growth are very similar:  Similar rent growth driversData from Markerr found the key rent growth indicators for both asset classes are job, income and population growth. Considering multifamily and single family share the same rent drivers and demand indicators, leveraging alternative, granular data with real-time updates is immensely valuable to both asset classes as the investment space gets more competitive. Looking at unique, granular data can identify attractive opportunities at the market and submarket levels that may not be apparent to investors, owners and operators relying on traditional data.  Overlap in resident profiles Suburban Sun Belt markets have been outperforming all other markets in terms of revenue growth, and single-family rentals in these markets pose the biggest competition to multifamily communities, according to a single-family investment report from Markerr. A recent report on single-family markets note that exurban and suburban areas have massively outperformed all other geographic densities since......