Paving the Way for Streamlined Tour Booking
Phadnis and his team are driven by two major areas of focus. The first is seeing the multifamily industry catch up with other industries, specifically related to tour booking. “I think about the advancements that online reservations have made in hotels and restaurants. You can quickly identify schedules and easily see that a hotel room is available or that a restaurant has a table open at this time. You can book with a click,” he says. In the multifamily industry, the process for renting an apartment online is catching up, and there is still room to make booking a tour more streamlined for renters, he says. Doing so can mean the difference between converting a lead to a lease or not.
Enhancing the Renter Experience through Real-Time Comprehensive Listings
Besides ease of booking, the other area where technology can improve the renter experience is in the comprehensiveness of information available online. Thinking about online listings, “The more you offer about fees, availability, pricing and amenities, the more robust the listing is,” Phadnis says. “The information can enrich the renter experience.” As a result, renters come away with fewer questions and better understand what it will be like to live in a certain building and unit. Phadnis advises the freshness of content is critical. “For example, if a property has photos dating back to 2017 but has done some renovations or completely overhauled the look and feel of the community—simply updating your channels with new, fresh photos provides potential renters with a more realistic perspective of the community they are considering.”
Rent. and Google's Partnership Creates Immersive Experiences
To continue evolving solutions and improving the renter experience, Rent. recently partnered with Google’s engineering team and became the first multifamily website to host Aerial View, a service that creates and displays photorealistic 3D aerial videos of any physical address in the country. Renters now have a more immersive perspective on multifamily listings on The Rent. Marketplace. overnight.
How Rent. Prioritizes Both Sides of the Marketplace for Optimal Solutions
Rent. keeps working to stay abreast of industry needs as they change. The research team conducts research on both the renters' side of the business as well as the owner and operator side of the business. It is important to understand each of their experiences for a simple reason. “If you ignore one side of the marketplace, you’re only solving one problem,” he says. Products need to be built to alleviate everyone’s needs.
At times, surprise findings emerge. For example: the continued importance of in-person tours despite the rise in virtual tours during peak pandemic years. So many thought that online touring would eliminate in-person visits. Instead, many continue to prioritize in-person visits, so teams adjusted, and now offer a hybrid of both exceptional online and on-site experiences.
Phadnis knows that more solutions are to come and he can’t wait to see how the industry evolves and develops new technology to make renting even easier.