Last modified on April 29th, 2024
By Rae Parker

Today’s renters expect a seamless leasing process and look for property management companies that deliver stand-out experiences. Effectively marketing and leasing your properties to fill vacancies is the most critical aspect of owning and managing rental properties. But what happens when your efforts aren’t producing the desired results? It could be that you have limited time or resources — or you could have the wrong technology in place. Leveraging time-saving technology can help streamline and automate operations.

We surveyed over 2,300 property management employees in the 2023 Hiring and Retention Report and asked: “In a typical week, approximately how many hours do you spend on tasks that you believe could be optimized or streamlined through the use of technology?” The employees surveyed answered that 38% of a 40-hour work week — or roughly 15 hours — could be optimized or streamlined through technology. When you think of your own marketing and leasing processes, are there any aspects that can be enhanced or utilized through automated workflows?

Incorporating digital and automated tools can enhance your leasing procedures, freeing up time for you and your team to prioritize excellent customer service. Keep reading to learn about common challenges within your marketing and leasing operations and the opportunities they provide to use automation to make your teams more efficient.

Note: While this article contains helpful information, we aren’t providing legal advice. 

1. Challenge: Your Website Isn’t Mobile-Friendly or Integrated With Your Property Management Software

With many people spending their time glued to their phones, your mobile website is likely to be potential renters’ first impression of your property and what you have to offer. In fact, according to a 2023 Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report, 74% of renters shared that when searching for rental properties, they use a mobile website on their smartphone or tablet device. 

With these facts in mind, how does your website hold up? Aspects to look for when auditing your website are making sure it is accessible for all, is quick to load, and contains content that search engines can recognize. When choosing a website provider, look for one that offers integration with your current property management software so that updates and reports are seamless.

Consider implementing AppFolio Sites to enhance your brand, engage prospects, and fit the needs of your business. Fully integrated with AppFolio Property Manager, our professional service creates customizable websites for your business, equipped with ​​competitive SEO keywords based on popular industry terms and your geographic location so that more customers can find you. Additionally, all AppFolio Sites include AudioEye’s accessibility platform, ​​which assists you in making your website digitally accessible and in line with commonly accepted accessibility standards.

2. Challenge: Prospective Renters Don’t Receive a Response in a Timely Manner

Your leasing team has one of the most important jobs in the business, which results in signed leases that keep your occupancy up. But when you consider how many calls or emails your team receives in a week, for many leasing agents, it’s difficult to handle the volume on top of their day-to-day tasks. On average, it can take up to 39 hours for property managers to respond to new leads, and in this competitive market, response times really matter.

If your leasing team has challenges with their response rate, it may be time to consider using artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more efficient leasing experience. 

With the help of AI, you can utilize a virtual assistant to provide faster response times. An AI assistant can respond at any hour of the day, including nights, weekends, and holidays — even after your team has left for the day. 

An example of how AI can take the burden of an instant follow-up off your team so they can focus on more meaningful work is our AI Leasing Assistant, Lisa. By employing natural language processing to converse with renters, Lisa* can help fill vacancies faster, is available 24/7, and continually learns how to improve responses to questions to maximize conversions.
*Lisa is available for AppFolio Property Manager customers who manage 300 multifamily units or more.

3. Challenge: Potential Renters Are Screened Manually

Although tenant screening can be a time-consuming process, it’s crucial to have a standardized process in place so your business can stay compliant, mitigate potential risks, and streamline your leasing operations. According to a survey conducted by The National Multifamily Housing Council, 93% of property management professionals have experienced fraud in the past 12 months. When asked which types of fraud they’ve experienced, 84% of respondents listed falsified or fabricated pay stubs, employment references, or other income documentation. 

Verifying documents and analyzing information to make decisions can take up a lot of your team’s time and lead to inaccuracies. By adopting property management software that allows you to automate important steps in your tenant screening process, you can feel confident that your screening criteria is helping you stay compliant with fair housing and local legislation, enabling your team to make more informed decisions and removing the chance of bias or human error so that your business can minimize risk. Solutions such as AppFolio Property Manager Tenant Screening can check an applicant’s credit score, criminal history, and eviction history; verify their income and rental history; and provide you with an easy-to-read report. 

4. Challenge: Residents Expect More Convenience and Flexibility 

In this on-demand environment, renters are looking for convenience and speed in all aspects of their lives. To understand certain renter expectations, we conducted a survey in our 2023 AppFolio Property Manager Renter Preferences Report and found that 54% of renters who pay rent online say offering digital tools is important to them.

Knowing that renters prefer the convenience of digital experiences, providing them with a way to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and communicate online can go a long way. Look for a property management software that also offers a mobile app and online portal solution. An online portal can be a one-stop shop for your residents to access all the information and tools they need. The online portal in AppFolio Property Manager provides renters with convenience at their fingertips, allowing them to easily make payments, submit maintenance requests, and access shared documents from any mobile device. 

5. Challenge: You Have Trouble Managing the Renewal Process

With lease renewals happening throughout the year, it’s easy to overlook important steps that can help you maximize your renewal rate. Having a straightforward, repeatable process helps to prevent important tasks from falling through the cracks. Because we know that residents prefer to carry out most of their tasks online, renewing their lease should also be included.

The greatest opportunity to reduce friction in the renewal process is to use comprehensive software that automates the task as much as possible. Make sure your property management software ‌allows you to track, monitor, and analyze your entire leasing renewal process. Using tools such as renewal automation within AppFolio allows you to streamline your renewals by setting a default offer to automatically update lease dates, rental amounts, and statuses upon expiration of the current lease. This article provides some helpful tips for creating your lease renewal strategy.

Download this free guide for more ways to optimize your leasing process to attract more leads.