Five Property Management Industry Trends for 2022

We have all been rocked by the ongoing challenge of living through the COVID pandemic. But there are still opportunities and profits for investors, owners, and property managers who can recognize and adapt to the top five property management industry trends for 2022.

Trend #1: The Ongoing Risk of More Government Regulation

The specter of more government regulation tops our list of the most important property management industry trends for 2022. 

We can see how this trend emerged by taking a high-level look at the pandemic. In the Big Shut-Down of 2020, millions of workers faced reduced hours or, when their employer closed, they lost their jobs entirely. In 2021, millions more voluntarily left their jobs, in what some have called the Great Resignation. Even when workers had a chance to return to work, they refused. A major factor was the fear of returning to “essential” but low pay jobs that increased their exposure to the public and the risk of catching COVID. 

The unfortunate consequence was that millions could not pay their rent and were at risk of eviction.

Faced with the prospect of widespread homelessness, the Federal government funded emergency rent relief programs that paid the rent for qualified tenants and blocked evictions. 

While this measure took the pressure off unemployed tenants, it greatly alarmed property owners and the entire property management industry. 

New Financial Pressures for Property Owners

The emergency rent relief program put an enormous amount of pressure on property owners and investors. Unable to pay their mortgages, many “mom and pop” property owners gave up and sold their properties to investors. Investors, in turn, hired property managers to protect their profits. 

Increased Pressure to Document Compliance 

The prospect of more government regulations has increased the pressure to document compliance with existing laws and regulations. Compliance is especially important in the affordable housing industry. 

More Competition for Affordable Housing Units

As the Pandemic wore on, the country’s historic shortage of affordable housing units has increased. Ongoing competition for affordable housing created long waitlists and, ironically, increased rents, further reducing the number of affordable rental properties. 

New Opportunities Amid the Changes

Despite the apparent chaos, property owners and investors have many opportunities for maintaining and even increasing their profits. Their secret weapon is the professional property manager who has the knowledge and expertise to keep tenants happy while they increase efficiency, safety, and profits. 

Trend #2: New Standards for Identifying Desirable Locations 

The three most important words in real estate are still “location, location, location.” But prospective tenants are using new criteria to decide where they want to live. This rethinking of a “good location” is one of the most revolutionary property management industry trends for 2022. At least three factors are at work here. 

Remote workers Are Not Tied to a Specific Location 

Workers who rely on technology have kept on working remotely throughout the pandemic. Most work from home, and their office is just a few steps from the bedroom. No more nightmare commutes and traffic jams that meant missing ball games and dance recitals. As the pandemic wore on, many workers realized they could keep their high salaries and move to cities and towns with lower living expenses. 

COVID Leads Workers to Reconsider their Lifestyles

The waves of COVID deaths led many people to evaluate their values and their lifestyles. Maybe remote work meant they could move closer to aging parents who needed their help and protection. Or maybe they could trade urban stress for a simpler way of living with closer ties to nature and outdoor recreation.

Workers Flee Urban Dwellings

Amid the recurring waves of COVID infections, urban, multi-family apartment buildings lost their appeal. Researchers still don’t understand how the COVID virus spreads. The only certainty is that social distancing works. Suddenly, more tenants wanted to move to the suburbs where single-family houses offered more space, more privacy, and more security. 

New Opportunities Amid the Changes

Rethinking the meaning of a “right” location has created two huge opportunities for the property management industry:

The Growth of Built-to-Rent Properties. A growing opportunity is the property management of built-to-rent (BTR) homes, clustered in the suburbs and supplying all the amenities of a luxury urban complex. These amenities include built-in technologies and efficient construction technologies that appeal to many tenants. 

The Restoration of Urban Living. A second, greater challenge is maintaining occupancy rates in central urban locations. During the “Big Shut-Down” of 2020, bustling urban centers turned into ghost towns. Restaurants and service businesses closed. Urban office buildings stood empty. Urban dwellers faced “food deserts” and worried about their exposure to COVID. Even when employers tried to re-open their offices or offered “hybrid schedules,” employees were unmoved. They were used to remote work and had no interest in returning to the office. Private investors and property owners have an opportunity to work with governments to reclaim the profits built into urban properties. 

Trend #3: Technology Is Essential to Attract High-Quality Tenants 

Technology, once a nice-to-have, is now an essential tool for attracting high-quality tenants. A static, old-fashioned website and a few random posts to social media are not enough. In fact, the sophisticated use of technology is number three in our list of property management industry trends for 2022. 

Today’s tech-savvy prospects rely on technology to save time and simplify their lives. They expect no less from a property’s websites. And, as the pandemic wears on, both property managers and prospects relied on technology to avoid the risks of face-to-face showings and applications. 

Use Content Marketing and Social Media to Attract High-Quality Applicants. Word of mouth and a few ads aren’t enough to attract high-quality applicants. Instead, a property’s site needs to provide helpful evergreen content about rental life, and frequent, charming posts to social media that illustrate the appeal of a rental community.

Create Mobile-Friendly Sites that Can Be Viewed on the Go. The search for a new rental home doesn’t stop when a prospect steps away from a desktop computer. For millions of people, their mobile device is their only computer, so a site needs to be usable from a mobile device.

Offer Virtual Tours that Allow Prospects to Move Through a Unit. According to the American Apartment Owners Association, virtual tours became a necessity during the Pandemic, to protect both prospects and property managers from the risk of COVID. In fact, many prospects prefer virtual tours because they aren’t rushed, can be repeated as needed, and provide tools for physically measuring spaces. 

Provide Online Applications. In the old days, a property manager might help a tenant complete a paper application. Or the tenant would have to pause to look up financial numbers. Today, an online application can be filled out neatly and quickly by the tenant. This self-serve approach adapts to any schedule. 

Adopt Property Management Software that Provides a Tenant Portal. Tenants who are already used to online banking and bill payment expect the same self-serve options for their rental homes. Property managers can meet these expectations by adopting property management software that provides online payments and maintenance requests. 

Trend #4: Tenant Screening Remains Important 

Some things never change. Take the importance of tenant screening. It is essential to use credit and background checks to avoid the risk and expense of evicting low-quality tenants. But COVID has added a new twist. Given widespread unemployment, the Great Resignation, and the increase in rent rates, many prospects are priced out of available units. This is a problem for prospects. It is also a problem for owners, investors, and property managers who need to protect their profit margins. For this reason, tenant screen ranks as number four in our list of property management industry trends for 2022. To succeed, property managers need to find fast, reliable, and cost-efficient ways to screen every tenant. 

Trend 5: The Importance of Using Property Management Software

The property manager’s job for a small rental property can be overwhelming. Add the challenge of managing a large high-rise with hundreds of units and manual management processes becomes impossible. That is why a growing number of property managers rely on property management software, which can coordinate marketing efforts to find high-quality prospects, document compliance with existing government regulations, and increase profits by saving time and money across all management tasks. Heading into 2022 with the ongoing challenges wrought by Covid, smart property owners are taking the lead in finding and adopting property management software that is fast, easy to use, and simple to customize. That is why adopting robust property management software is number 5 in our list of property management industry trends for 2022.

Despite the challenges and the chaos of COVID, there are still profit opportunities for investors, owners, and property managers who can recognize and adapt to the property management industry trends for 2022. Are you up to the challenge?

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