Accessible living. Clean, spacious units. Community spaces such as parks, pools, gyms and clubhouses.
For years, those were some of the most important factors tenants would weigh when choosing an apartment, condo or townhome.
Today, those factors — as well as basics such as price, square footage and other amenities — have all been surpassed by one essential component for every multi-family property: Internet connectivity.
While connectivity is certainly nothing new, tenants of multi-family properties today not only expect to have outstanding service, they need it.
The ever-connected, advanced technological world we live in, combined with groundbreaking changes to work and learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, have made internet connectivity an essential service, rather than just an add-on.
“Owners of multi-family properties must recognize that when they are marketing properties to prospective tenants, internet connectivity is one of their major potential pain points,” says Barry Rubens, chief executive of Elauwit, a boutique national telecom service provider.
Connectivity: The Most Important Amenity The National Multifamily Housing Council recently conducted a survey to discover what amenities were most important to tenants of apartment buildings. The survey revealed a number of eye-opening statistics …
· More than one-third of all renters (35%) have between five and nine devices connected to the internet.
· Most renters (64%) stream video content through an internet-connected device.
· Almost every renter surveyed (91%) said that having high-speed internet was important.
· Nearly three-quarters of renters (74%) said that having Wifi pre-installed in their apartment was important to them.
· A little more than two-thirds (69%) also said that having free Wifi in community spaces was important.
What these statistics show is that internet connectivity is, frankly, the most important amenity for tenants of multi-family properties. While internet connectivity is not in the typical repertoire of property owners, they can partner with companies such as Elauwit to provide tenants with best-in-class service.
“At Elauwit, we partner with multi-family property owners to provide their tenants with the reliable, fast internet service they expect,” Rubens said.
Connectivity That’s Seamless Commercial real estate companies partnering with telecommunication companies is nothing new. Telecom providers have set up bulk deals in the past for owners of multi-family properties to offer tenants baseline video, phone and internet services. These bundled packages came pre-installed in each unit, taking the onus off residents to set them up themselves, and providing property owners with a nice incentive to offer tenants.
While this model is still alive and well, it doesn’t always offer the best solution. In many cases, these bundled offerings are built on old technology that provides poor internet service.
Multi-tenant property owners who signed up for these deals were locked in for long periods of time, with no way to offer their tenants a choice as technological needs expanded. Now, with the FCC releasing a new rule that prohibits many of these arrangements, property owners again have a choice.
This provides an enormous opportunity for property owners to provide their tenants with seamless connectivity.
Tenants demand strong internet connectivity in their dwellings, of course, but they also expect that to continue as they move throughout the property. Whether they’re doing laundry, throwing out the trash, taking the dog for a walk, sitting by the pool or hitting the gym, they expect the connectivity to stay strong.
A smart, well-designed connectivity model, like the ones Elauwit provides for its customers, offer seamless internet connectivity as tenants move throughout the property.
They can work as easily from their unit as they can poolside. They can stream videos and music from their smartphone in the laundry room as easily as they can when they’re out for a walk.
“People today expect the internet to work at all times,” Rubens explained, “and it’s incumbent on property owners to provide this seamless connectivity to them. Without it, property owners are missing out on a huge opportunity to not only attract new tenants but retain current ones in this extremely competitive real estate market.”