The pandemic has been the catalyst for a bevy of changes in realestate. While there have been a lot of predictions as to how longthe pandemic will last and the long-term impact, some changes arecertainly here to stay. Property managers are busy weighing thelong-term changes, and a recent survey fromAppfolio shows that many are prepared for thesenew norms to be permanent.

"The changes property management is facing due to the pandemicare both temporary and permanent," Stacy Holden,industry principal and director at AppFolio, tells GlobeSt.com."While it is impossible to predict which technologies will beadopted long-term, our survey respondents did have some thoughts onthat topic. For example, 62% of respondents think virtual showingsare here to stay. Eighty-seven percent of respondents think bulkemail/text messaging is here for the long term, and 84% think thisis true for mobile data access."

The pandemic has also highlighted inefficiencies that existedbefore, and forced some property managers that had staved offtechnology adoption to make the transition. Those changes willalmost certainly be permanent. "Property managers that previouslyhad gaps in accessing their data and business performance insights,communications and virtual leasing experiences, are now feelingthose gaps even more because of the rapid pivot to remote work,"says Holden. "There now exists a new and lasting urgency aroundsolving these gaps with modern technologies. Technology is notgoing away—once property management sees the value of differenttechnologies in action, why would they revert to not using it?Digital transformation is going to continue to filter into everyaspect of property management."