Pub. 1 2016 Issue 4

16 www.ctaahq.org 䌀吀䄀䄀 吀䠀䔀䌀伀一一䔀䌀吀䤀䌀唀吀䄀倀䄀刀吀䴀䔀一吀䄀匀匀伀䌀䤀䄀吀䤀伀一  ON L I N E R E S I D T oday’s tenants have gotten accustomed to an on-demand economy, and it has a ected what they expect from their apartment managers. Since most people have mobile de- vices, they want to use their devices to conduct transactions and interact with other people and organizations. A major survey about this shift was conducted recently by a research rm named Penn Schoen Berland (PSB). e survey itself was developed by three organizations: Burson-Marstellar, which is a public relations and global strategic communications organization; e Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative; and TIME magazine. • ere were 3,000 online interviews conducted during the survey, which is considered to be representative of the gen- eral population because the demographics were matched to the last U.S. census. • emargin of error was plus orminus 1.79 percent for the gen- eral population, but is larger for subgroups within the survey. • Results were released at CES 2016, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 6, 2016. (CES stands for Con- sumer Electronics Show and is owned by the Consumer Technology Association.) What Are Some of The Survey Results? • Approximately 22 percent of the adult population has either o ered services in or worked in the on-demand economy. at is about 45 million people. Most are casual participants, but about a third (14.4 million people) of those surveyed said they rely deeply on this economy for their income. How deeply do they rely on it? ey are getting more than 40 percent of their income from it. • Approximately 42 percent of all adults have used at least one service from the on-demand economy. at is about 86.5 million people. According to TIME magazine, most of those who o er something online also use online services. Most people (75 percent) say they had a positive experience. Only one percent had a negative experience. In general, 80 percent of those who use it think they saved money. Some 79 percent think that the on-demand econ- omy gives them access to experiences and things that they would not have as much access to otherwise. What are the characteristics of the on-demand economy? Es- sentially, it consists of people or organizations that use online platforms or applications to o er goods or services. Getting the service or the product can usually be done on a smart phone. Does the on-demand economy, which is also called the sharing economy, extend to the multifamily housing industry? Yes. is is true for a couple of reasons: • Multifamily rentals have more competition than they used to have. People are using online websites to nd places to stay. Sometimes those websites compete directly with apartment communities, especially when someone only wants to live in a particular place for a fairly short period of time. You should be looking at these websites and thinking about how to be more competitive. Do you o er shorter leases? Are you showcasing your apartment community online in such a way as to take advantage of internet tra c? • Once people have signed leases and moved into units, are you making use of the internet to communicate with them and to make their lives easier within your community? ere are many ways in which you can manage units more e ectively if you do have a good portal available for your tenants to use.