Smart Ideas

MODERNIZING YOUR APARTMENT COMMUNITY

In a post-COVID-19 world, tenant expectations aren’t what they used to be

As multi-residential operations open in a post-pandemic environment, building owners and managers are looking for ways to mitigate the spread of infection and reassure occupants that all the right steps are being taken to keep them safe. Tour24, a new mobile app that streamlines the rental touring process by creating self-guided apartment tours, offers the following top five tips for property managers entering the “new normal”:

1. Go virtual: In addition to offering self-guided tours, take the time to enhance the property’s website, highlighting the personality and features of your community through additional interactive content and videos. For smaller operators, there are many talented freelancers — perhaps even a resident in your apartment building — who would happily take on the project at this time.

2. Support the greater community: Publicize local events and initiatives, like curbside pick-up from neighbourhood restaurants or outdoor green markets that are back up and running and could use the boost. Share information about how to donate to a local food drive, enlist tutoring services or hire a resident accountant.

3. Make common areas touchless: As residents begin to move more freely around the property, find ways to minimize their contact with surfaces and each other. Create safe-distancing pathways around the reception desk and manager’s office. Spread out or could one day make getting around the building hands-free. 4. Adjust amenities: Set realistic expectations of what it will take to safely reopen your amenities. Change the gym configuration and increase sanitation procedures and supplies. When you reopen outside areas like the pool and the pool deck, consider changing occupancy limits and reducing the outdoor furniture.

5. Improve home delivery process: From groceries and retail, to the delivery of restaurant meals, people of all ages are turning to online ordering. Multifamily residents are likely to continue to use home delivery services even when businesses have fully reopened. It is imperative that property managers have an efficient strategy that remove the furniture from the lobby. Explore technologies that

minimizes the impact on building operations while responding to resident needs — including automated locker solutions and/or package rooms, which reduce contact and keep deliveries safe and secure.