From the back office to residents’ front doors, here’s how technology can transform property management.
“I’ve always been a big technology person,” says Brian May, chief financial officer of A.C. Lewis Management, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. May considered a software career before turning to accounting and finance. But now, after two decades in multifamily property management, he says, “I’d be bored with any other job. Here I get to do everything from insurance to raising capital to sales.”
The job also puts his technology background to good use. May shares four key areas where A.C. Lewis has focused its tech investments—enabling the firm to increase revenue, reduce vacancies, operate more efficiently, and give renters a great experience from day one.
1. Revenue Management
Gone are the days of guessing what price will get a lease signed. Revenue management software optimizes rent pricing using market trend and supply-and-demand analytics.
“You don’t want leases expiring in late fall; units might sit for two or three months since nobody moves at that time,” May says. The software-set pricing rewards fall move-ins, incentivizes leases ending in summer, and charges more per month for leases that will expire in low-demand periods.
As a result, A.C. Lewis doesn’t need to offer upfront incentives to move units. “It takes a year or two for revenue management software to perfect your exposure control,” May says. “But now during October and November, when other companies can’t lease anything, we actually see an uptick in our occupancy rates.”
2. Centralized Leasing
A.C. Lewis has also centralized the leasing and management process for over 1,500 units in Baton Rouge. “This technology allows us to efficiently assign work orders and handle our maintenance, from make-ready to HVAC, from a central place and give better quality service to our residents,” May says.
It also lets residents submit rental applications, make monthly payments, initiate work orders, and communicate with property managers. “They can do everything from their phone, if they want to,” he adds.
3. Smart-Home Technology
Features like instant Wi-Fi connectivity, smart thermostats, and keyless entry are becoming standard. “Renters expect it now,” May says. “With Cox’s quick-connect feature, we make it easy to get internet the day they move in.”
Smart-home technology doesn’t only benefit renters. “When a unit’s vacant, energy costs can get out of control. Workers turn down the temperature and leave, and you may not go back in that unit for another week. Now we can set automatic thermostat parameters and keep our vacant electric costs in check,” he notes.
And this technology’s not just for new builds, with May adding: “Cox enables us to take an older property and retrofit it without much work. You’re just changing out a door lock or a thermostat.”
4. AI-Powered Operational Support
A new frontier for A.C. Lewis is artificial intelligence (AI)-powered support for on-site staff. “If something happens on a property and our employee doesn’t know what to do, they can ask our app. We uploaded all our policies—operation and safety manuals, HR policies—and AI uses it to advise them who to contact and the procedures that they need to follow,” May notes.
It'll help with maintenance issues, too. “Say an air conditioner’s not working, and they don’t know how to fix it. We’re creating troubleshooting steps that include videos. It’s a lot of granular detail that takes a while to build out, but it’s going to help us with quality control,” he says.
Demonstrating ROI
The key to high-tech transformation is leadership buy-in. “All they see is the cost, so you have to show the savings and revenue benefits,” May says. “Say they’re focused on the cost of smart-home technology. What will you save on vacant electric costs? With property management, what’s it costing today to operate? Freeing up time by making processes more efficient saves on human capital, and that’s one of the biggest expenses on any property.”
It takes time to get people trained, and the benefits are sometimes hard to see on the front end, May says. “But it’ll happen. I get calls from peers saying their sales are dropping, and mine are going up. That’s the end goal. When investors and owners see it, they love it.”
Cox Communities is proud to partner with forward-thinking companies like A.C. Lewis Management. Our tailored technology solutions empower both staff and residents with superior connectivity and seamless experiences. Learn more.
