Benefits of Real-Time Submarket Performance Data During COVID

DALLAS—The pandemic has catapulted the multifamily industry into uncharted waters. Almost overnight, communities have had to embrace technologies, virtual tours and remote leasing like never before.

According to John Hull, director of performance management for Pinnacle, operators should also be immersing themselves in real-time data about their own communities and comps. In this exclusive, Hull discusses how such information is helping his company steer through the pandemic and the coronavirus’ impact on other aspects of Pinnacle’s portfolio.

GlobeSt.com: What are you and your teams seeing in the Texas multifamily markets?

Hull: We manage properties in all of the four major Texas markets: Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. We’re seeing similar trends. On the operational side, we’re seeing owners focus on maintaining economic occupancy. We’re seeing a lot of renewals as opposed to new leases. I think residents are reluctant to go out there and really do due diligence to search for a new home due to coronavirus fears, especially when you have ownership entities in the market that aren’t really pushing rents on renewals. In some instances, we are seeing competitors actually reducing rents.

GlobeSt.com: How has the pandemic changed Pinnacle’s reliance on comp and market performance data?

Hull: One of the things we’ve been focusing on is the collecting and storing of daily data so that if anything happens like this again, we’ll have a very clear reference point. And because of the pandemic, our owner clients are suddenly no longer asking for macro trends. It’s has been a trend towards micro trends.

Through our supplier partner Radix, we’re able to access real-time information about our properties and their comps on the submarket level. We can see how trends are unfolding day-over-day and week-over-week. And, if all of a sudden, we’ve got a comp across the street that decides to drop rents by 10%, we can react as quickly as we need to. Depending on what the owner client may have in mind–whether it’s economic occupancy or physical occupancy–you can really see where you’re faltering and where your separation is between your assets and comps. You can pick the metric you want to look at. You can react and pivot based off of those.

GlobeSt.com: How has the pandemic–and even the time before the pandemic–changed the role and prominence of community and portfolio data for operators?

Hull: I think people are starting to realize that data is king, and data is key to survival. We’re getting more savvy asset managers and ownership groups that rely on data, and operators have to be able to explain the trendlines they’re seeing. You need to provide data that proves your point and illuminates. You can’t just necessarily state an opinion. We’re starting to see a lot of asset managers and ownership groups be able to speak the language of data a lot better.

In this super-fast-paced world that we continue to move towards, having the ability to log into one screen and instantly see where every property and portfolio stands is key. So that’s where we really put a large focus on the last year and a half.

GlobeSt.com: What is the value of weekly market reports versus real-time data for your communities and comps?

Hull: You’ve got different organization levels. You’re going to have a VP who may not be looking at each of their properties every day just because of the basic time consumption of tracking 50 properties or 30 properties or however many they have. They are relying on business intelligence solutions that highlight and drive operators focus to struggling data points. They’re relying on their regional managers who are going in every day and looking at their five, seven, nine properties to further correct.

The VP is going to rely more on that aggregate overall conversation that a weekly report detailing MSA and national trends provides. That’s the kind of report that for instance will help a VP talk about the Dallas market with a potential owner client who’s predominantly been on the West Coast or in the Northeast.

GlobeSt.com: You’ve outlined how COVID-19 has changed your business intelligence practices. How has technology in general made navigating this pandemic a little bit easier?

Hull: It’s been great in several ways. We’ve seen use of our online application process drastically increase. Online tours, 3D tours, self-guided tours–people are utilizing these technologies.

Likewise, we’ve seen a huge increase in online payments, which makes things a lot easier on our leasing associates because it takes time to scan a check, apply the amount to an account, etc. All of our properties are set up with online payments.

Depending on the demographic within a property, you may have had residents who were not tech savvy enough to do the online payments or maybe they didn’t trust the online payments for whatever reason. But now with the reduced office hours, the need for social distance, you’re starting to see a lot more people force themselves to learn these sorts of technologies. These developments are huge for us because they lighten the workload on our onsite associates and it gives them more time to focus on the operations of the property.

GlobeSt.com: What do you feel will be the most lasting impact of the pandemic on multifamily operations?

Hull: I think, number one, people will continue to utilize technology. The advancement of technology is very positive for the industry as a whole, for renters, ownership and managers all alike. I think we’re going to continue to see high usage of online payments as well as self-guided and online tours.

I think, for a while at least, residents will be hesitant to move and we’re seeing some adjustments with work-order policies because people don’t want staff in their house, so we’ve got to maintain social distancing and proper procedures. The units with the den/office space and built-in office suite type amenities may come back into demand.

Texas MSA Data from 9/14-9/20 Sourced from Radix: