‘What our platform is built for’: Texasbased company offers first-of-its-kind centralized leasing software

BY BRANDI SMITH

Just before 2022 wrapped up, Texas celebrated a huge milestone. Its population officially surpassed 30 million, bolstered by about 470,000 new residents since July 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Now only Texas and California can claim populations beyond 30 million.

“Growth in Texas last year was fueled by gains from all three components: net domestic migration (230,961), net international migration (118,614), and natural increase (118,159),” the Census Bureau explained in a statement announcing the threshold reached by the Lone Star State.

No matter where these new Texans came from, they need a place to call home and many are opting for apartments in the state’s metro areas. Dallas is leading the way with an occupancy rate of 92.4 percent, according to December 2022 numbers from ApartmentData.com. Houston (90.6 percent), San Antonio (90.4 percent), and Austin (90.8 percent) aren’t far behind.

Though those numbers are predicted to hold due to economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, the multifamily industry is in the midst of an evolution, which was started before, but certainly accelerated by, the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The adoption of pandemic-era safety precautions has enabled property managers to move leasing operations from in-person to digital and for staff to operate remotely," said Ethan Lacey, founder and CEO of Union, a multifamily property technology company. “That's what our platform is built for.”

The company recently announced the first comprehensive centralized leasing software and support solution to enable sophisticated remote management of multifamily communities. Union transforms the traditional leasing operational model to solve for staffing shortages, a consumer shift to self-service, and a need for specialized operations.

“Property management companies and ownership groups are facing historic challenges with hiring and employee retention, and they are looking for software to support smaller, more efficient leasing operations via centralization,” Lacey said.

The Austin-based company allows partners to choose between adopting a fully remote model, where all lead management functions are offproperty, or a hybrid model, where an on-property presence is maintained. For all operational models, Union enables specialization at every step of the lead-to-lease journey, including applications, renewals, and move-in.

“In some instances, this can be a same-day turnaround, done incredibly fast and solely by the potential tenant,” said Lacey. “They can choose whether they engage with somebody else or handle the process on their own.”

That’s an important detail based on the changing demographics of tenants. As millennials and Gen-Xers seek out apartments, they want to do it the same way they’ve done everything else: entirely online.

“People in these generations arrive at every major buying decision educated. They value self-education and self-service,” Lacey added. “I think the big story for this industry – and probably the biggest opportunity for the next decade – is how it satisfies that need.”

Doing so doesn’t just help bring in new tenants; it also offers significant benefits to workers. With reduced costs, property managers can offer leasing agents higher pay and perks such as working from home.

“With Union, we are evolving traditional operations to meet shifting marketplace realities, to support our internal teams, and to serve our clients. Through innovation, we eliminate obstacles and create a seamless experience throughout the prospect and resident lifecycle,” said John Carlson, President of Mark-Taylor Companies, the leading luxury property management company and developer in Arizona and the first organization to implement Union’s software at owned and operated communities.

While companies offer professional services that cobble together point solutions to achieve some level of centralized leasing, only Union, which was founded by technologists from Amazon, can fully answer that demand.

You can learn more about Union by visiting www.gounion.com or emailing hello@gounion.com.