As 2023 comes to a close, and a new year is on the horizon, it’s critical to reflect on what has happened over the past few years and look at the emerging and ongoing trends that will impact the property management industry in 2024 and beyond. In this week’s blog post, we are going to explore the first half of our Top 10 trends in this two-part series.
1. Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizes Property Management
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the property management landscape, automating tasks, and enhancing overall efficiency through machine learning algorithms. The use of AI in property management is quickly emerging as a game-changer for the industry. These include reducing costs, automating repetitive or routine tasks and increasing lease conversions.
By adding an AI component to your property tech stack, you can improve both operations and customer service. For example, chatbots, a form of AI, are becoming integral in providing personalized interactions, answering queries, and aiding in tenant conversion, aligning with the broader trend of personalization in marketing. (Our LeadManaging marketing tool integrates both AI chatbots as well as AI call scoring.)
2. Remote Work Flexibility Endures
The paradigm shift towards remote and distributed work, accelerated by the pandemic, continues to influence property management. The focus is not merely surviving but adapting to flexible work arrangements, valuing employee time, and leveraging a global workforce. Job postings featuring "remote" or "hybrid" locations remain prominent, emphasizing the ongoing importance of flexibility.
This means the industry will have to adapt as well, by embracing tools and technologies that allow for collaborative, accurate work, no matter where employees are working. Tools like communication portals are no longer optional; they are a business necessity that enables property professionals to collaborate in real time another. These portals also act as a centralized communication hub, keeping property professionals aligned.
3. Marketing Automation Streamlines Operations
When ads are spread across multiple ILS, staying on top can be both challenging and time-consuming. In 2024, marketing automation will continue to gain prominence as property management firms seek efficiency.
Automation extends to responses for information requests and streamlining digital marketing efforts across various platforms. Centralized property management marketing software simplifies the process, ensuring up-to-date listings and enhancing turnover times.
4. Real-Time Data and Analytics Drive Decision-Making
In the fast-paced world of property management, a forward-looking approach is crucial, and a rear-view mirror approach to data just won’t cut it. As we move into 2024, a multitude of technological advancements is shaping the way property management businesses collect, interpret, and act on data. Companies are intensifying their data strategies to facilitate quicker decision-making. Data analytics proves instrumental in identifying effective marketing channels, predicting maintenance needs, and optimizing budgeting.
To get real-time data that can give you an immediate and actionable view to your property, you need to know your vacancy rates, arrears and legal cases, and open maintenance requests. These KPIs are crucial to understanding your cash flow situation and the physical condition of your property. Property Vista’s business performance module includes online KPI reporting and a dashboard that are specifically designed to help you make smart, informed decisions that will increase revenues across your portfolio.
5. Heightened Focus on Cybersecurity
As technologies advance and connectivity becomes ubiquitous, both organizations and individuals have grown increasingly vulnerable to dangerous and indiscriminate cyberattacks. Add to this the rise of sophisticated ransomware attacks, and it’s little wonder there has been a surge in emphasis on cybersecurity to safeguard resident and owner information. In the 2024 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey, 80% of CIOs reported that they plan to increase spending on cyber/information security in 2024.
Cloud-based property management software will continue to dominate the industry as it is designed to protect PM organizations from the most recent malware and hacking strategies with firewalls and by proactively protecting against future threats. Cloud-based property management solutions with robust encryption, user-permission settings, and automatic updates are increasingly adopted to enhance security and minimize vulnerabilities.
How Property Vista Helps
Property Vista is a cloud-based property management solution that helps real estate and property management firms to track property tasks and functions. From advertising rental properties to collecting rental payments and more, Property Vista handles it all. We offer users a vendor management module, accounting capabilities, a lease management system, portals for tenants and owners that help parties to communicate and much, much more. Check out our pricing.
