How Rently Smart Home Tech Enhances Student Housing Properties

Student life is hectic. Managing student housing doesn’t have to be. Students juggle classes, work, sports, and social events, so their living spaces need to be optimized for convenience. Managers juggle high-volume turnovers, all-hour maintenance requests, and younger tenants who are at greater security risk. Managers are also obligated to keep their properties operating smoothly and economically. Student housing managers are quickly learning that upgrading units with smart home tech improves students’ daily lives, while also improving overall property operations. Rently’s student housing solution fulfills resident expectations of comfort and convenience, streamlines unit turnovers, reduces energy costs, and ensures maximum security of residences and common areas.

The student housing market is a bright spot in today’s restrained real estate market. Yardi Matrix reports that, as of March 2023, pre-leasing rates for the Fall student semester were already at 69.7%. Thanks to that strong demand, rental rates increased by 7%. On the flip side, operating expenses rose between 12-15%.

In order to capture those growing revenue opportunities, student housing managers must find popular amenities that attract potential residents and simultaneously reduce property expenses.

Smart home devices, such as smart locks and smart thermostats, do just that. Adding smart home devices to a student housing tech stack creates a very positive experience for students and managers.

“Smart Home” residences are rapidly becoming the new standard for student housing. Rently offers property managers everything they need to quickly upgrade their properties and keep up with this trend.

With Rently’s smart devices and multifunctional software, managers enjoy a high degree of operational and cost control – all from a single dashboard.  

Rently’s smart student housing solution pleases everyone. It impresses students, enhances property management, maximizes property security, simplifies “turns” and reduces operational costs.

1.     Impress Students with Rently Smart Home Tech

Smart home technology is quickly becoming a standard amenity in student housing nationwide. Tech-savvy and eco-conscious students prefer residences with smart home devices, especially smart locks and smart thermostats.

In fact, Yardi notes that today’s student housing properties are equipped with modern amenities that put them on par with Class A multifamily properties. This often factors into elevating rental rates.

By offering smart home amenities, student housing operators are creating a modern living experience for students who have grown up with technology everywhere. Similarly, smart home devices are popular with students concerned about sustainability and the environment.

The Rently smart home technology solution is also ideal for today’s on-the-go students because it provides them with a convenient mobile app to control their living spaces. The “there’s an app for that” generations have grown accustomed to easy, on-demand experiences, including how they manage their homes.

Using Rently’s smart home app, students remotely control their smart thermostats from anywhere. They can access their units’ temperature settings, avoid unnecessary energy usage, and reduce their monthly energy bills up to 30%

Using Rently’s smart locks on their doors, students simply input a code for easy access. They no longer have to worry about losing or forgetting keys. Conversely, managers no longer need to answer distress calls (often at odd times of the night!) from students who misplaced their keys while out and about.

Rently’s smart property access solution also allows students to create durational entry codes for vendors. As a result, busy students don’t have to be onsite (and miss classes!) for maintenance appointments. Similarly, students can create property entry codes for their guests and roommates.

The same smart home devices that provide comfort and convenience to students also benefit student housing operators. Smart home devices optimize overall property protection and reduce building energy costs. For instance, smart locks reduce security threats by 60%, smart thermostats lower annual utility bills by up to 30%, and smart water leak sensors reduce damage expenses by thousands of dollars per instance.

Smart student housing definitely aligns with the lifestyles of today’s modern students. Managers who upgrade their properties with smart home technology ensure the greatest potential to attract a steady stream of rental prospects and to maintain high occupancy rates.

                                                             

2.      Maximize Security with Rently Smart Home Tech

Rently recently visited the University of California, Santa Barbara, to inquire about students’ top priorities regarding their housing. Security was first on their list. Students who were interviewed held realistic concerns about residential break-ins. They welcomed the prospect of adding smart locks and smart sensors to their living spaces.

As mentioned above, smart locks provide students with convenient access to their residences. More importantly, smart locks reduce security threats by 60%.

Furthermore, because the Rently smart locks are connected to a student’s smart home app and to a manager’s desktop system, both receive real-time notifications if units have been breached. Fast responses to property violations can prove critical to minimizing damage and loss.

In addition to responding to real-time security threats, the Rently student housing solution also provides ongoing property monitoring. Using our advanced security camera, access control systems, and alarms, both students and managers benefit from 24/7 property monitoring.

Overall, Rently’s student housing solution allows managers to maintain full control over access to student residences and common areas. It provides real-time visibility and monitoring of all activities which optimizes building safety.

3.      Simplify “Turns” with Rently Smart Home Tech

Rently’s smart access property technology is especially helpful to student housing operators when it comes to unit turnovers. A unique aspect of student housing is that move-in/out activity is predictable, high-volume, and synchronized. In general, students come and go each semester, twice a year. Entire buildings fill up or empty out within a short period of time, increasing pressure on a manager’s normal leasing workflow.

Managers do prepare for these busy turnovers. However, the actual events can be quite chaotic with so many people traversing buildings at the same time.

Rently’s smart property access solution empowers student housing managers to streamline resident move-ins using a combination of smart locks and software-generated entry codes. As a result, managers do not have to be onsite for each and every student move-in. Instead, they can interact with students on a per request basis.

Furthermore, smart locks eliminate the hassle (and cost!) of rekeying at every turn. Using Rently’s mobile app, student housing managers are able to activate/revoke building and unit access simply with the click of a button.

In addition, from Rently’s smart home dashboard, student housing managers can customize property access schedules, control access permissions, monitor access logs, and create durational entry codes for deliveries and maintenance visits.

By using Rently’s simple and secure automated property access solution, student housing managers can “turn” one of their most stressful leasing periods into a hassle-free experience.

                                                             

4.      Streamline Operations with Rently Smart Home Tech

In addition to convenience and security, Rently’s smart home student housing solution offers significant property management enhancements. 

For instance, Rently provides student housing managers with a desktop portal from which they can view and control all property access points and smart home devices. The portal (and its mobile app extension) empowers managers with the ability to exercise real-time remote property management and respond quickly to onsite events without having to travel onsite. 

With one login for one platform, managers oversee every aspect of property management for all student housing units. They can view all community data, including resident data, occupancy rates, unit availability, as well as the battery level and signal strength of all smart home devices.

In addition to providing student housing managers with a view of their operations, the Rently desktop portal also gives them operational flexibility. They can adjust operations, as necessary, and even manage their properties remotely. 

With the Rently smart home portal, student housing managers can quickly adjust to staffing needs, troubleshoot hardware, control utility usage, and monitor unit HVAC systems for timely replacements.

In addition, Rently provides managers and student residents with a mobile app that controls smart home devices in their units. The app can be used from anywhere in the world to control devices and manage maintenance issues. Rently’s smart home app consistently receives high ratings from users.

Not only is Rently’s student housing solution efficient and easy to use, it’s easy to install. It does not require a Wi-Fi connection.

Student housing operators can accelerate the deployment of Rently’s solution using our automated set-up tools, network of technicians, and world-class customer support. Rently’s student housing solution integrates smoothly with leading property management softwares, such as Yardi, RealPage, and Entrata. 

Operationally, Rently’s student housing solution is a busy manager’s dream come true! By streamlining key leasing functions, student housing property management becomes a much more enjoyable experience.