Are you ready to leap into the future with both feet? If you have one or more properties in the Seattle area, are your Seattle rentals ready to accommodate the diversity of your tenants’ needs? Get your rentals ready for the future with a look at rental trends and decide what kind of help you need to streamline the process.

Seattle rentals
When you look forward into the future of your rentals, are you prepared to make them match tenants’ needs and desires?

Your Tenants Expect You to Understand Their Needs

ARL Now states that “property managers deal with tons of people (at all hours of the day) from all walks of life. Some may speak different languages, have different personalities, different needs and different backgrounds.” Seattle is no different. Are you ready to work with diverse groups of people who come from all over the world to live and work in the Seattle area? You need to be able to comply with tenant laws, clearly explain policies, and communicate effectively with all people.

Tenants Expect Outstanding Communication

Today’s tenants and tomorrow’s tenants all want outstanding communication from their property managers. What differs is how they want this communication to occur. Instead of mailing you a check or handing you a check as you come to collect the rent, increasingly, tenants want to be able to communicate with their property managers through online portals, email, and text. They want to pay the rent online as well, through e-transfers and other payment apps and websites.

Tenants Expect Walkability

When it comes to housing expectations for millennials and retirees alike, a walkable neighborhood is their favorite type of neighborhood. For millennials, this is because they are not fond of vehicle ownership. They rely on ride shares, transit, biking, and walking to get around. For retirees moving from the suburbs or within the suburbs, they want to have a vibrant cultural and recreational life without needing to spend their retirement sitting in traffic. When you’re looking for new rental investments, take a hard look at the walkability of the neighborhood.

Older Tenants Need Homes That Suit Their Physical Needs

We all get older, and right now, our country is experiencing a boom in retirees. Unfortunately, there is not enough housing to fulfill the needs for suitable spaces for the growing number of retirees. According to Forbes, “only 3.5% of today’s housing has three key features of “universal design” (zero-step entrances, single-floor living and wide halls and doorways).” As an owner or manager, you can generate suitable housing by adapting your existing housing stock, purchasing rental units that are easy to modify, building for accessibility, and investing in smaller homes such as apartments that are already accessible.

Tenants Want Modern Homes

Tenants are looking for modern homes, and these could be cottages or apartment buildings. Instead of a modern look, tenants are looking for modern amenities. According to CNBC, “more than a quarter of all consumers surveyed by Coldwell Banker own at least one smart home product, and nearly half of millennials (aged 18-34) have adopted the technology.” Smart home appliances and smart homes have technologies that the user can control remotely. You can make sure you locked the door or turned off the lights, and you can even make sure that your children returned home safely after school. These smart technologies are an asset to your rental.

Are you feeling the burden of getting ready for the future? Look for an ally in your property management. At Lori Gill and Associates, we can collaborate with you to bring your property management forward. If you’re looking for new property management solutions for your Seattle rentals, connect with us today.