Everyone wants a comfortable place to call home. So, what do renters really want when they’re apartment shopping? In the age of information and experience, people expect most things at their fingertips. If a person can click to order a meal and have it dropped off at their door in 20 minutes, then everything should come that easily...right? Choosing an apartment to live in means finding a community that offers amenities that will contribute to a certain quality of life.
To help you stay up to date, we looked at all the popular amenity lists from surveys and rental websites and condensed them for you. We found 10 commonly-valued amenities that many renters consider essential.
1. Upgraded appliances
As people look to multifamily living as a way of life, upgraded appliances are super popular. Renters don’t want to pay 2020 prices for rent in a place with appliances from 1995. Stainless steel appliances tend to be the most preferred. Nobody wants to hand wash dishes in this fast-paced world, either. Zumper found that dishwashers are one of the top ten searched-for amenities by users on their site.
Renters are often willing to pay extra for upgraded countertops and wood-floors. According to Zumper, in-unit laundry ranked higher on user searches than dishwashers. These days, most residents are unwilling to haul their laundry down several flights of stairs to sit with their laundry for hours in a laundromat.
2. Package lockers
Unless you want to manage and sort through piles of packages in the leasing office each day, package lockers are a must have. Online shopping is taking the retail world by force, especially with many people avoiding shopping in stores. Renters want to be able to order as they please. It makes it so much easier for them and management when they have a place to pick their packages up on their own time. Package lockers are a good way to help with social distancing, keeping residents in the management office to a minimum.
3. Pet-friendly communities
It turns out there’s a difference in allowing pets and being a pet-friendly community. People often see their pets as an extension of their families. It’s a huge benefit to find a place where their pets are not only welcome, but loved. At the bare minimum, pet waste stations and designated doggy areas add convenience. Dog-washing stations are a major bonus. It may seem silly, but something as simple as a jar with dog treats in the front office can boost dog owner morale.
While people may love their dogs, they don’t always have the time to give them the exercise they need. It’s become popular at some communities to implement in-house services such as dog walking to make daily life more smooth for residents.
4. White-glove services
High-end, urban communities offer white-glove services to help residents manage more than just their pet care needs. These services can include taking care of household cleaning, dry cleaning, and more. People are often willing to pay for services that make life easier for them. It’s also becoming more popular to partner with outside-party services such as Hello Alfred to offer those services to residents.
5. Secure resident parking
Most surveys find that residents desire secure parking. A 2019 Greystar resident survey concluded that residents want reserved parking spaces. Renters like to know they have a spot waiting for them at home, and many are willing to pay for a premium reserved space. This is also a great way to generate revenue. A car is often an extension of a person, and knowing it has a place to stay can provide a sense of security. If you are looking for ways to improve your community parking problems, check out Parking Boss.
6. Smart home technology
There are few who don’t own smartphones these days. With smart home technology, residents can use a handful of amenities through their phones. A community app can give residents easy access to community information, rent payments, online maintenance requests, resident event details, and more. Smart home tech can include badge or key-secured buildings, and online guest parking management. If you want to take the resident experience a step further, online or app-based amenity reservation software such as Amenity Boss is a real bonus.
7. AC & central heating
Air conditioning & central heat are sought after, particularly in places with extreme temperatures. Central air is yet another amenity that adds to the comfort of being home. It’s especially nice (and adds to your tech offerings) to have a smart thermostat which allows residents to schedule temperature settings based on weather conditions or time of day. This gives people the potential ability to save money on their energy bill each month.
8. Co-working spaces
For residents working from home, co-working spaces can be a convenient alternative to a home office, or can provide a work space for those who don’t have it. Indoor and outdoor working spaces can be organized and arranged with social distancing in mind. Large conference rooms can even be renovated to hold individual work stations. This can promote a greater sense of community and also give residents a change in scenery from their regular home office space.
9. Fitness centers
People like to know they have the option to get exercise, even if they don’t always take initiative. That’s why a fitness center is a commonly desired amenity. Rather than throwing some equipment into a room and calling it good, consider implementing a more customized fitness approach. People like to switch up their routines with different options such as yoga, boxing, or cardio. As social distancing continues, some options to keep residents both engaged in the community and active at home are online classes or small, socially-distant studio classes.
Integrating an amenity management software for fitness center passes allows residents to work out during specific time slots. It also provides peace of mind in knowing there will never be too many people in the facility at once. With Amenity Boss, you can easily set capacity and time limits to keep fitness center usage fair for everyone.
10. Patios, pools, & other outdoor spaces
Surveys have found that Pool & Patio Space are desired by renters in both cold and warm climates. Those in colder climates like to know they have a pool space waiting for them when the warm days come around. There’s nothing quite like lying by the pool on a warm sunny day and smelling food barbecue on the grill in the cabana beside you. It’s an amenity that may never go out of style.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the functional design of most community facilities. Crowds can’t gather like they once did. But people still want to enjoy time outdoors with family or small groups. Common areas and shared spaces will soon be designed in new ways to keep healthy distances between people. As long as more residents continue to work from home, they’ll want more than ever to have community spaces outside of their units to unwind, exercise, and spend time.
Manage community amenities with Amenity Boss
Are you searching for an effective way to reopen amenities while continuing to maintain healthy distances? Amenity Boss lets you create customized time slots for resident amenity use and keeps usage fair among residents. Residents can create their own Amenity Pass right from their phones. They can easily check on the live capacity counts and reserve their amenity time from the comfort of home. There’s no need for walking to the bark park or fitness center and finding the capacity has been reached. All they need to do is log on to reserve their time.
Community amenities can easily be managed through Amenity Boss to maintain healthy distancing in facilities. With our completely cloud-based platform, there’s no need for infrastructure installation or contact with residents to set up a foolproof way to manage your amenities.
Conclusion
Times are changing rapidly as the world adjusts to a new way of living amidst a global pandemic. As habitual creatures, humans continue to crave the things that make them feel secure in their homes and communities. With amenities like central heat and air conditioning, residents will be comfortable working from home all day. Diverse workspaces give residents options and technology-driven amenity management keeps amenity use responsible and fair. Upgraded units make it easier for your residents to be happy in their own homes, while community amenities and increasing social and online connectivity keep them engaged. Make your residents happy with amenities that fit their modern lifestyles.
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