The amenity renters’ want

And the one that will change the renting experience.

Offering new amenities. It’s one of the best ways for property managers to improve the management-resident relationship. The question is what amenities do residents actually want? The best way to discover that, of course, is seeing which amenities they’ll pay for.

More importantly, however, which amenities actually positively impact their daily living?

Multifamily Executive surveyed 84,000 renters nationwide. They asked what amenities renters would be willing to pay extra for from a set list. Data was gathered on the three amenities respondents found most desirable: fitness instruction classes, steam rooms, and walking paths. An average of 44% of respondents were willing to pay extra for these amenities in varying amounts.

Fitness classes, steam rooms, and walking paths. They’re all nice amenities. Kind gestures. Except, none of these greatly impacts the life of residents. Sure. Providing these may improve the renting experience. But, is anyone really gaining?

PowerSage conducted a survey in July 2015 asking renters if they would pay extra for a device that would produce utility savings. And, we asked how much they would pay. The survey reached 407 participants. 62% of respondents reported that they would be willing to pay extra monthly for this amenity.

It’s no wonder that energy information technology is desirable to renters. After all, millennials, the biggest renting crowd, want value for price. And, they care about the quality of their living space. Helping residents track and save on energy is a great value and improves the renting experience. Plus, there is an already great demand for energy tech.

A lot of this push is due to the influence of those same millennials and their want for more control in their lives. They are far more willing to engage with their energy than other generations. They expect personalized experiences, and more information.

Energy Information Systems (EIS) provide benefits to residents, and engage them productively. They track and report energy use along with efficiency suggestions. And, with an EIS like PowerSage, residents and management benefit. Both parties receive energy tracking and actionable data. The appliances send the maintenance reports, so residents don’t have to. Now, management can fix malfunctions before they become disasters.

Some amenities are nice to have. Others are necessary. Energy monitoring technology positively impacts apartment communities by giving everyone more control.

Everyone can win.