It’s a truism in property management. The Move-In/Move-Out (MIMO) process never gets easy, no matter how many times you do it. Especially if your property still uses traditional locks and physical keys. With these albatrosses, managers and staff can spend a considerable amount of resources (read: time, money and sanity) tracking down keys, handing them off and rekeying locks.
What’s more, the clock is literally ticking during a MIMO with every day of vacancy equating to lost revenue. According to the National Apartment Association’s Trends magazine, estimates range from $1,000-5,000 to turn an apartment. So one theory posits that if an apartment community reduces turnover by one per month, savings would be more than $20,000 in annual turnover expenses, and free up significant time, too.
Clearly, streamlining this process and getting new residents moved in as efficiently as possible can significantly impact a multifamily property’s bottom line. So, let’s explore how to get cleaners, repair or maintenance professionals, painters, prospects who are touring and leasing agents in and out with ultimate ease to help turn over vacant units more quickly.
Electronic Access Expedites MIMOs
When physical keys and traditional locks are replaced with smart locks enabled with cloud-based software from RemoteLock, property managers can accelerate every MIMO.
- Remote Control: Access codes for previous residents are easily revoked from an app on your smartphone or laptop. It’s that easy, and there’s cost- and times-savings from eliminating keys and rekeying costs. Plus, you gain peace of mind knowing that former residents can’t access units, amenities or the building itself.
- Custom Access Schedules: These are easily created with access control software. Property managers create temporary PINs for maintenance and cleaning crews that expire within three days or whenever you desire. You’ll see their entries from your dashboard to confirm the work was done. Then, do the same for the painters.
- Self-Touring: Electronic access ensures prospects can safely tour on their own time–after work or on weekends–without staff having to be on-site. Again, property managers can issue temporary PINs for model units. Or, the best access control solutions integrate with self-guided touring platforms saving even more time for property managers and leasing agents.
Once a new resident has completed all the paperwork and a deposit has been secured, you have only to issue a new access code—no keys required! In just minutes, you can set up a new user with a PIN that can be used at front entrances, amenity spaces and a residential unit.
Electronic Access Is Your Smartest Move
Clearly, electronic access with your choice of smart locks and RemoteLock access control software is critical to expediting the access-heavy process of MIMOs. And that’s just the start of what a robust access control solution can do for a multifamily property. Because it's ultra convenient, current and prospective residents have come to expect this technology and may even pay more for it when positioned as an amenity. Last, but not least, property managers gain a multitude of operational efficiencies with this advanced technology.