Entrata Blog

Entrata recently hosted a webinar featuring Rebecca Herrin, Chief of Staff to the CEO at The Collier Companies, Melodie Raab, SVP of Support Services at Asset Living, and Keri Goins, Direct of Operations Systems at Landmark Properties, to discuss key wins from the previous leasing season and what they are doing to prepare for the coming school year.

As we step into 2024, the educational landscape is showing signs of recovery with a notable 1.2% rise in enrollment rates for the first time since the pandemic. Over two-thirds of institutions witnessed growth in undergraduate enrollment this fall, signaling a positive shift in the academic sphere. Correspondingly, in the realm of property management, we at Entrata have observed a surge in pre-leasing activities, indicative of a bustling year ahead.

Apartment managers trying to forecast the wants and needs of tomorrow’s renters need look no further than the occupants of today’s student-housing communities. Based on the insights of panelists in the Student Renters: Defining the Future of Multifamily Experiences session at 2022 Entrata Summit, the apartment industry needs to prepare for a different kind of resident.

The student housing sector makes a case for the most fluctuating business in the nation. The revolving door of move-ins and move-outs occurs at a much greater rate than in the conventional apartment world, and the desires and preferences of younger renters are constantly morphing.

Why does turn week make so many student housing operators and community managers cringe? The way Mark Zikra, Director of Systems Compliance at CA Ventures, put it at Entrata Summit, “A lot of the pain comes with organization, knowing what’s accurate and up to date as far as turn goes. Drinking cases of red bull, not sleeping for three days….” Dry erase boards and sticky notes with move-in notes and check lists clutter property offices. And, matching roommates is often a high risk task that ends with at least one unsurprising disaster. Historically, multifamily software just wasn’t made to handle student housing.

Apartment operators have pricing structures for conventional homes down to a fine-tuned science.