Multifamily industry leader RealPage has partnered exclusively with Airbnb to launch Migo, an apartment home-sharing solution that aims to make it easier for residents and owners to share their spaces on Airbnb and reap the financial benefits.
“RealPage is very pleased to partner with Airbnb on this groundbreaking software and service,” says CEO Steve Winn. “The business of owning and managing apartment communities is changing rapidly as residents now expect the freedom to live, work, and travel on their own schedules and share their space when they are away. The industry has long sought a home-sharing model that allows both owners and residents to participate and financially benefit without impacting existing residents or burdening management with extra work. Our exclusive partnership with Airbnb will make it easier for everyone to benefit from home sharing.”
According to RealPage, it developed the Migo technology to provide a range of services, including access control and screening to noise monitors and cleaning, which have been cumbersome in the past. Multifamily owners will be able to use the Migo app to gain insights into the home-sharing activity, optimize underutilized units, and better serve their residents. Residents will be able to use the app to link their Airbnb listing to their community, grant remote access, schedule cleaning, communicate with support, and monitor home-sharing performance.
“Working with Airbnb, we can usher in a new sentiment around resident-based home sharing in multifamily. Between RealPage and Airbnb, that partnership will give owners that peace of mind and stability,” says Todd Butler, vice president at Migo, a RealPage company.
Butler compares the multifamily industry’s concerns around home sharing with the fear of allowing pets a decade ago. “Being pet-friendly was taboo. There were fears of costs, liability, and noise. People thought if you allowed pets, it would destroy the fabric of the community. Fast-forward 10 years, and every apartment building in the country is nearly pet-friendly,” he says, adding that technologies emerged to help monitor activity as well as to monetize on pets.
“If you look at home sharing in multifamily, you have the same presumptive fear curve—too noisy, liability, and it’s going to cost more money to operate. It’s the same three objects of fear or concern that any new thing in multifamily has,” he says. “We want to be that service and that tool that provides the level of comfort for the owners and managers that it can be done in a monitored and managed way without the disruption that many presume it would have.”
Migo will offer self-service and full-service home-sharing options. With the self-service option, residents and owners can list their units or guest suites on Airbnb and self-manage all aspects of their listing. With the full-service option, the Migo host team manages all aspects of the listing for an additional fee. Residents will be able to home share for the number of days authorized by the property manager and in accordance with local regulations. Managers also can designate which units are eligible for home sharing, and RealPage’s new AI Revenue Management system will adjust base rents based on demand for the service.
“When we’re going out to get people enrolled in Migo, it’s going to come from the owner or property manager down and not organic from the resident up,” Butler says. “This platform was developed for owners and managers to have transparency in home sharing at their properties.”
He adds that it’s a win-win for both owners and residents. For owners, having this resident-based amenity offers a chance to differentiate their multifamily assets from the competition as well as boost their net operating income. For residents, it’s an opportunity to recoup a portion of their monthly rent depending on how frequently they home share, especially in a time when many are working remotely and have flexibility to travel.
“This provides residents with the financial flexibility and financial well-being that they crave right now,” says Butler. “In terms of the right home-sharing demographic, it’s going to be young professionals in an urban environment in [newer] buildings with a high WalkScore. Those people use Airbnb. To partner with anyone else would be missing the mark.”
Migo will be available industrywide in the third quarter and will be compatible with property management software companies RealPage, Entrata, MRI, and Yardi.
