Today in Multifamily Tech

Google Wants to Monitor Home Energy Usage
Google and a firm named Energy have joined forces on a residential energy-monitoring system. The offering combines Google's PowerMeter Web tool, which the company debuted in February, and Energy's TED 5000, a device that measures power use, to monitor home energy consumption without a smart meter from the utility company.
>> Full story at Reuters

The App Store on the Job Site
Did you know mobile apps can turn your BlackBerry into a ruler or protractor? Or with the download of a construction calculator app you can calculate volumes and dimensions of concrete and lumber on your iPhone? Contractors are finding value in apps built for business.
>> Full story at ConstrucTech

More on Augmented Reality
Your cellphone's camera can now provide a computer-enhanced view of the world through programs that provide "augmented reality." These applications take advantage of the phones' GPS and compass features and access to high-speed wireless networks to mash up super-local Web content with the world that surrounds you. One use: See available apartments on the block where you're standing.
>> Full story at USA Today

Cox Makes Big Investments, Prepares for Wireless
Cox Communications, on the verge of completing a network upgrade to 1 GHz, is also preparing to launch a 3G mobile service as an extension of its video service with wireless installed in the last mile of its network, the cable company said. "We can bring the four-product experience together in a way that's unique."
>> From Multichannel News

FiOS Expands in New York, U-Verse Moves into Nashville
Verizon has launched its FiOS broadband package in eight upstate New York towns near Syracuse, while AT&T also added a new market to its U-Verse portfolio with the introduction of its services in Nashville.
>> Full story at Multichannel News and the Tennessean

Is Internet Access Just an Expectation?

Last week, Apartment Guide released a list of the highest ranking apartment features and community amenities that consumers searched for on ApartmentGuide.com over the past six months (from February 2009 to August 2009). Here are the results:

1. In-Unit Washer and Dryer
2. Pets (allowed)
3. Air Conditioning
4. Some Paid Utilities
5. Washer and Dryer Connections
6. Dishwasher
7. Balcony
8. Garage
9. Cable Ready
10. Furnished Available
11. Swimming Pool
12. Short-Term Lease Available
13. Fitness Center
14. Gated Access
15. Oversized Closets
    

Here's what surprised me most: Wi-Fi, or even wired Internet access, didn't even make the list. (To be fair, it did make the list over at Apartments.com.)

Over 74% of the U.S. population is online, yet renters don't need Internet in their apartment? (About 85% of the population pays for TV service from a cable, satellite or telco provider.)

This doesn't make sense to me, unless Internet access has finally become an expected utility, rather than an amenity. Heat didn't make the list. Water didn't make the list. Electricity didn't make the list. Now, Internet access doesn't make the list. (Just a couple years ago, Wi-Fi was touted as a "must-have amenity" ... I would argue it still is.)

What do you make of this? What are you seeing in the market? Is Internet access not as important, especially if apartment hunters are "being mindful of their budgets," or has it become such an expectation that searchers don't even think to list it as a requirement?

MHN Announces Their Technology Choice Award Winners

Multi-Housing News has announced the winners of their 2009 Technology Choice Awards, as selected by their readers.

I'll echo the comment in the article:

Now, more than ever, your technology choices are critical to efficient operations—the bonus is retaining and attracting satisfied residents.

I'm not going to write much more about this, primarily because I'm not a fan of the selection process employed by MHN. When some of the companies on their original list aren't even categorized correctly, I can't agree with their emphatic statement, "please confidently use this list as your reference."

I would also love to see a study of residents'/prospects' impressions of some of these same services, if for no other reason than to see any possible differences in the results.

Don't get me wrong ... there are many outstanding companies on this list. Congratulations to all of the winners. I've taken the work out of searching for you (where possible) by linking directly to the website of each winner:

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
AMSI
Intuit Real Estate Solutions
One Site by RealPage
Yardi Systems

RESIDENT SCREENING SYSTEMS
First Advantage SafeRent
One Site Screening (LeasingDesk) by RealPage
On-Site.com
Resident Data

INTERNET LISTING SERVICES
ApartmentGuide.com
Apartments.com
ForRent.com
Rent.com

RESIDENT PAYMENT SYSTEMS
NWP Services Corporation
One Site Payments (Velocity) by RealPage
PropertyBridge
ResidentPay by Property Solutions
Yardi Portal/Yardi Checkscan

TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS
AT&T
Comcast Cable
Time Warner Cable
Verizon Enhanced Communities

SECURITY
KeyTrak, Inc.
Kwikset
Saflok (Now KABA Multihousing)
Schlage/Ingersoll Rand

UTILITY MANAGEMENT
American Utility Management
ista North America
NWP Services Corporation
Velocity

LEAD MANAGEMENT
CallSource
Lead Tracking Solutions
Level One
Resite Online

RESIDENT PORTALS
Crossfire by RealPage
Property Solutions
Resite Online
Yardi Portal

MARKETING WEBSITES
Crossfire by RealPage
Ellipse Group
Property Solutions
Resite Online

What do you think? Do you agree with these picks? Are there companies (or whole categories) that you would add to the list?

Are Electronic Locks Right for Your Property?

This is a guest post written by Yvette Felix from Saflok. For more information, please visit their website or contact her at yfelix@saf.kaba.com.

Why Choose Electronic Locks?
Choosing an electronic lock system for your property does more than secure access control and enhance safety and life security. Selecting the right system for your building’s unique needs could mean increased operational efficiency and a significant return on investment, not to mention serve as a unique selling point for potential residents. Here are some critical considerations to keep in mind.

Choose a stand-alone lock. Installing a hard-wired system is a significant investment. Battery life in a typical stand-alone lock is approximately two to three years under normal use — a long time to be sure, but it's best to incorporate a battery change into your maintenance schedule at turnover to alleviate any confusion and to ease record keeping.

Streamline Operations
If electronic locks are deployed site-wide (both in the common spaces and at the apartments), the residents only require one key to get anywhere on the property, whether it's the parking garage, the fitness center or there apartment.

Electronic locks also help eliminate lost-key related issues and streamline the move-out process in all types of multihousing properties. A new key should automatically re-key a lost or stolen key by canceling the old key. You shouldn’t have to hassle with the use of a re-keying device on the locks. Especially in situations where the master key is lost, there is no need to re-pin all the locks on your property.

Protect Yourself
Electronic lock audit trails are an important feature to consider. This use-history report details exactly who has been in and out of an apartment or restricted areas throughout your community — this becomes an especially useful report in the event of theft, giving you better control over your liability.

With an electronic system, you also can program various access levels on a key. For example, a visiting contractor could be given a key that gives him access to only one room on the property and the key could be programmed to work only during a specified time.

One Size Does Not Fit All
Don’t forget, one lock sometimes doesn’t fit every door requirement. So choose a provider with a complete lock line-up with unique products for different applications such as common access locks, and locks with unit and suite configurations.

Also, make sure that the locks are ANSI/BHMA-certified. Certification speaks to the fact that the lock has withstood appropriate testing, and adheres to usage parameters and safety criteria as defined by nationally accepted standards.

Do you use electronic locks at your property? What has been your experience? If not, what is preventing you from trying them? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Rent.com and PadZing Cook Up a Tasty Data Buffet

Start with the massive database of vacancy information that drives VaultWare. Then take all the rental rate data from the largest consumer apartment search website. Throw it all together and you have one serious market research tool.

This week, Realty DataTrust and Rent.com today announced an agreement to do exactly that -- they'll integrate the rental rate data from Rent.com's 25,000+ property listings into the site RDT built to analyze apartment market data and trends, PadZing.com. VaultWare, the keeper of the data that currently drives PadZing, is already the leading online apartment availability and reservation system, so the Rent.com data should easily make PadZing one of the most comprehensive sources for current rent and vacancy data in the industry.

If you're not already familiar with PadZing, it's a subscription-based tool that allows users to obtain up-to-date competitive information ... it includes some pretty cool mapping and customization features. (It's a free subscription.)

Both Mike Mueller, CEO of Realty DataTrust, and Peggy Abkemeier, General Manager of Rent.com, are all smiles about the new partnership -- you can check out their happy quotes in the Padzing Pressroom.

Have you tried PadZing previously? What did you think? What data resources do you use most when doing your market research?