AI Technology Is Attracting Younger Property Management Talent

Artificial intelligence technology is disrupting many aspects of commercial real estate, and property management is the latest sector to see the benefits of AI tools. Property management firms report that the biggest challenges are employee-related and inhibit the growth of the business, but new technologies and AI tools attract younger talent to the sector and give property managers time to focus on strategy and business growth.

“A big issue in the property management segment is that we’re dealing with a more mature workforce—the average age of a property manager is 50 years old,” Nat Kunes, VP of Product at AppFolio, tells GlobeSt.com. “That means there will likely be a huge segment of talent retiring in the next 10 to 15 years. Younger generations are clearly not as enticed by the profession as they were in the past, especially as they face the prospect of grueling hours and intense, administrative workloads.”

The integration of AI technology is now attracting younger professionals to the business, helping management firms to grow strategically. “Incorporating AI into the tech mix is a great way to entice newer, fresh talent as it completely alters the nature of the work of a property manager,” adds Kunes.

AI technology is still evolving, but it already has benefits for property managers, namely boosting efficiency. “The biggest value-add of AI for property managers today is that it gives them time back to focus on being more strategic with their businesses, literally shifting where people are allocating their work time,” says Kunes. “Mundane, administrative duties, can finally take a backseat to the more important functions like business strategy, shoring up revenue and inspiring more tenant engagement.”

The more mundane tasks AI can handle include digital leasing for prospective tenants and automating maintenance requests, two major time consumers for property managers. Digital leasing agents can help property managers communicate with potential tenants and automatically book tours. “AI enables property managers to give their prospective tenants human-like interactions during the very early steps of the “apartment hunt” process, leaving property managers with more time to attend the showings, which gives them a greater edge in securing a new tenant and a signed lease,” says Kunes.

In terms of maintenance, AI has significant benefits. “AI also automates initial stages of maintenance,” says Kunes. “This allows tenants to simply text a chatbot about an issue, and artificial intelligence not only creates the work order for the property management team but also keeps the tenant informed at all stages of the maintenance process. This lets property managers focus on getting the problem solved instead of spending time with back and forth communications with the tenant and drafting up a work orders, saving a tremendous amount of time.”

Of course, AI technology is still emerging and in the future, it can have significant benefits for property managers. For companies that adopt these tools early and higher talent that is fluent in these technologies, there is a major payoff. “AI will eventually serve to be a better communicator with tenants, moving away from one-note chatbots to more “human” augmentation, keeping tenants engaged and happy and giving property managers an opportunity to focus on acquiring more tenants or growing their business in other ways,” says Kunes. “Even maintenance will work differently, one day, with AI taking on more than just communications and work order forms.”