REAL ESTATE NEWS

Centralized apartment management operations have become almost commonplace among large owners and companies. Now, smaller companies are finding efficiency and value in using them.

Nicholas Lee manages three properties in San Francisco that total approximately 1,000 units and has operated them through a centralized platform since 2024.

Lee, director of multifamily operations at Align Real Estate Management, noted that proptech solutions for various aspects, including financials, resident communications, maintenance and compliance, are readily available. Still, not all of the technology integrates with a given software platform.

There could be a solution for resident communication, another for online reviews and inspections and one for financial transactions.

This creates additional training for on-site staff and may lead to potential conflicts within properties. Lee has 25 employees.

“Using centralized services helps us to do things that scale,” Lee said.

“Being a start-up property management company, I can move faster when it comes to technology, while larger companies have to dedicate more time and resources to pivot effectively. Our team members have bought into the system. There’s been very little training that’s been necessary.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) has helped property management technology improve by leaps and bounds, Lee added, making things more interactive for staff, residents and prospects.

Lee uses Elevate OS, which helps to escalate response times and meet the residents and prospects where they are, he noted. The platform also presents data analytics on the back-end.

“Our on-site team used to be stuck doing bulk administration in the office,” he said. “So, if a renter walked through the door to have a quick chat, they would find someone on our team working on 100 invoices, for example, and that’s a bad look.”

He said most routine tasks are now being completed in a fraction of the time.

“There are really only three or four main questions that renters ask, such as availability, the fees, and touring, and the platform allows for a remote team to handle the responses for them," Lee explained.

The Elevate OS app can also scan packages and manage parking valet services.

“This helps to empower our teams so they can focus more on the community and the renters,” Lee said.

The San Francisco market has been on an upswing, according to Lee, who previously worked as a national operations manager and in the corporate office for Brookfield Properties.

“We’ve had a comeback lately from the ‘doom loop’ we were in during and right after the pandemic,” he said. “Now, it’s reached pre-pandemic levels,” said Lee, a former New York real estate broker whose managed apartments rent from the high $3,000s to the low $5,000s per month for a one-bedroom in the Bay Area.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM