CHICAGO—The multifamily market has been soaring for years, and with all the new construction going on, developers have started to wonder how they can differentiate their product from the competition. Many add trendy amenities like dog walks to their newest properties, alongside a vast array of other perks, in the hopes of attracting millennials ready to pay high rents. But how can they be certain which amenities bring in new residents and ultimately generate returns? Chicago-based Enodo Score believes it can provide answers. This new predictive analytics platform was founded less than three months ago, and has a detailed database of 800,000 apartments across the US. It includes building and unit amenities, market demographics, competing developments, access to transit and retail availability, among many other factors. “This provides a way to quantify every change that can impact real estate values,” Marc Rutzen , co-founder and chief technology officer of Enodo Score, tells GlobeSt.com. “People are throwing every amenity they can think of into new developments, but they are not taking a scientific approach. It's all conjecture. How do those new granite countertops impact your rental income?” With this database, however, developers and landlords can “allocate capital as efficiently and wisely as possible.” Through the platform, an owner will be able to see how much adding granite countertops, or perhaps something like a rooftop deck, will change rental income and occupancy before deciding to allocate the necessary capital. And developers that wish to build similar complexes in several markets will be able to compare and contrast the differences in returns they can expect, and make appropriate plans for which amenities to include. The data sources include public records, real estate listings, Enodo's own proprietary database, and many other sources. Susan Tjarksen and Lee Kiser , co-founders of KIG Commercial Real Estate , a Chicago-based multifamily brokerage, also provided funds, expertise and data to get Enodo started, although the companies are completely separate entities. Rutzen was data analytics officer for KIG until founding Enodo. Right now Enodo is getting feedback from users and refining and testing their database. By the end of this year, Rutzen plans to launch the platform as a paid service in Chicago. “We will continue to refine the data, and by starting in Chicago we will be able to go out and walk through the properties just to make sure there are no discrepancies.” Enodo will keep refining the database and then expand the service to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and other top markets. Eventually, it will provide truly national coverage by expanding to the markets where it is a little more difficult to get the necessary data. “It's a massive undertaking.” Steady gains in the US economy have resulted in net positives for the multifamily sector—will this wave continue for the foreseeable future? What's driving development and capital flows? Join us at RealShare Apartments on October 19 & 20 for impactful information from the leaders in the National multifamily space. Learn more.

Instant Insights /

Enodo Brings Data Analysis to Multifamily “Amenities War”

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