AI is revolutionizing how owners and managers approach multifamily space. From tenant retention to streamlining property management, one expert discusses this trend.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly become one of the hottest topics in business. Although AI may seem like it could replace human decision makers entirely, its implementation can provide many advantages to multifamily owners and managers alike.
Due to advanced pattern recognition and machine learning capabilities, computer science’s pattern recognition and machine learning branches can assist in both decision making and HR cost cutting. According to Daniel Berlind, CEO of Snappt (a data-driven fraud detection software company), this type of approach has proven particularly impactful for application authentication, property operations management and tenant retention.
Berlind acknowledges that applicant fraud is an increasing problem for multifamily managers and owners, but due to advances in photo editing technologies forgery is becoming more prevalent than ever. “Five or 10 years ago,” he notes, making an ideal fake document required professional photo editors; now anyone with basic computer skills can do it quickly and efficiently – nearly 8% of applicants evaluated this past year had submitted falsified materials!
Forgery can be an inherent danger when collecting self-reported data such as pay stubs or bank financial statements from applicants. Leasing managers depend on this kind of data to predict applicants’ behavior such as whether or not they’ll pay rent on time.
As Berlind outlines, applicants can commit fraud through two main routes.
Fraudsters use PDF editors to download and alter existing documents, or they use pixel perfect templates to create new ones. Fraudsters may commit fraud themselves (with help from online communities) or hire companies to handle the dirty work for them.
However, leasing managers attempting to compile and evaluate this data often use only “their human eyes or own forensic accounting skills”, says Berlind.
Tech products like Snappt are immensely helpful. Utilizing its fraud detection algorithm, Snappt can quickly and accurately assess applicants more quickly. “Through machine learning techniques it combines hundreds of thousands of data points to detect anomalies,” according to its creators.
Document forgery can be difficult to detect with human eyes alone; only AI allows teams and owners to take effective measures against fraudsters.” Fraudsters constantly adapt their techniques; due to this fact, Snappt’s in-house fraud forensic team regularly scans both the Internet and dark Web in search of advances made by fraudsters – like anti-virus software development it is “constant cat and mouse game”, according to Berlind.
Property Operations
Artificial intelligence helps property owners and managers reduce HR costs while more strategically employ their employees. Through AI technology, they can outsource lower-level tasks to machines – for instance: handling maintenance service requests and accounting processes, answering potential tenant enquiries, scheduling showings with interested tenants etc. Residents won’t expect human interaction when dealing with these basic functions; systems provide more efficient tracking of service tickets/enquiries/queries etc.
Staff Can Focus on Tenant Retention
By assigning employees to more high-level needs, property managers and owners can increase tenant engagement and retention. AI provides AI can remove friction while helping managers focus on human connections more easily – Berlind believes AI helps make life simpler when managing daily operations, helping managers focus more effectively on human interactions. By assigning employees towards these activities, property managers and owners can boost tenant engagement and retention rates.
Decision-Making
AI’s pattern-matching abilities enable property owners and managers to more accurately assess data. For instance, it can project future profitability of buildings, analyze thermostat patterns, or identify tenants geographical sources – leading to smarter decisions about purchasing an individual property, cutting energy costs or allocating advertising dollars.
