Traditional amenities can no longer keep up with resident’s needs.

While renters and homeowners used to look for pools and gyms, they’re now expecting smart home tech in their buildings — and are willing to pay a premium for them.

As the smart building sphere continues to thrive, amenities like smart parking, smart parcel lockers, digital door locks and automated temperature controls are creating convenient, secure experiences for a variety of residents.

This continuing shift to smart communities isn’t based on amenities per say, but the experiences they create. Tenants and homeowners are searching for safer, more convenient living spaces with a sense of connection building-wide.

For developers, this provides a unique opportunity to stand apart from the competition . As resident expectations shift, those who adopt smart technology are able to gain a competitive edge while boosting property value and attracting long-term residents.

We look at how smart communities offer enhanced living conditions and why residents are interested in a better, more connected experience.

Resident expectations are evolving quickly because their lives are constantly changing. As Millennials enter middle age and Generation Z starts looking to grow their families, smart communities are gaining popularity — not just for the allure of modern technology, but for the comfort and security they provide. Smart tech integration allows for a variety of convenient, customized experiences that match each person’s unique needs.

In many ways, today’s renters and homeowners either grew up surrounded by technology or raised children who did. This means everything from aging at home to raising a young family looks different than it did 20 years ago.

Residents face a variety of frequent every-day issues, including:

• Growing energy bills as energy consumption continues to rise, along with a drive to lower their carbon footprint
• Security concerns such as break-ins and unauthorized access. This is especially a problem for seniors living alone who have caretakers coming and going
• Inconvenient access to services. For example, let’s say a resident is hosting a dinner party but has no way of knowing if there will be enough parking spots for their guests, and doesn’t want to come all the way down to the concierge desk to check them all in
• Long maintenance wait times and difficulty communicating with property management
• A lack of connected experiences, which makes it hard to receive notifications and alarms in time

Residents are starting to look at smart tech to solve many of these problems. According to a recent survey of over 1,500 renters, around 82% of respondents said they’d like to have at least one smart device in their rentals.

Smart thermostats were listed as the most popular addition, followed by keyless entry systems and smart locks, smart appliances, and smart lights.

A deeper dive into this tech finds that a lot of the problems mentioned above are being solved by smart features like:

• Smart thermostats and temperature controls, which allow residents to remotely monitor and adjust their unit’s temperatures when they’re out, lowering energy bills and consumption.
• Flood and smoke detectors. Residents and property management are quickly alerted to any issues, ensuring measures can be taken right away.
• An interconnected access point that allows residents to monitor and control their unit. SmartONE’s solution, for example, includes a Wall Pad and ONE! App, both of which centralize access to all connected devices and smart tech, including alarms, temperature monitoring, security monitoring and visitor access.
• Remote security monitoring, guard phones, and keyless digital door locks, which can only be accessed by the resident. All these solutions allow for enhanced security and peace of mind. By using digital door locks and video doorbell cameras, users don’t have to worry about lost keys and will be notified each time someone turns their suite’s security system on and off.
• Convenient concierge service through smart parcels and smart parking services.
  • Smart parcel lockers reduces the risk of losing valuable packages by storing mail in a smart locker with a temporary code and notifying residents as soon as their packages arrive
  • Smart parking lets residents keep an eye on how many parking spots there are and sign guests in remotely
• Easier communication with property management. SmartONE, for example, uses the ONE! App, which lets property management send alerts, announcements, messages, and notifications to residents, improving response times
• Tech integrations. Smart spaces allow residents to integrate a variety of smart home devices, from personal assistants like Alexa to smart appliances and lighting. With SmartONE’s solution, residents can create Smart Scenes that automate multiple functions at once. For example, a Good Morning scene could adjust the temperature, open the blinds, and turn on the lights at a touch of one button.

Proptech, or property technology, is a growing market worth $16.2 B in North America in 2022, with a growth projection rate of 15.7% by 2030 . Those that adopt this quickly-evolving tech are more likely to future-proof their buildings as smart tech continues to develop at impressive speeds.

Smart communities provide experiences that traditional buildings can’t, creating a significant competitive advantage for developers.

The examples are limitless. In typical communities, addressing basic needs becomes complicated. Notifications are often given through physical paper copies slipped under doors. Guest parking becomes a cycle of walking up and down stairs, dealing with concierge, and placing parking passes on dashboards.

With smart living, both tasks are simplified. Notifications can be sent building-wide through the wall pad and app, and smart parking makes it easier to host guests.

Integrating this type of technology leads to better tenant retention rates and improved tenant satisfaction. According to FCIQ, which reports on the real estate sphere, smart tech integration can increase resident satisfaction by up to 25%.

As more residents look for smart building experiences, developers are able to stand out and attract higher-paying renters and home buyers through smart tech adoption.

Developers can achieve ROI through:

• Higher rent potential. The recent survey of over 1,500 renters mentioned above found that participants are willing to pay $10-$52 more per month for smart technology.
• Increased property values. A review of smart home consumer trends showed that 3 out of 4 potential home buyers would pay more for smart home tech and 70% of buyers are actively looking for a smart home.
• Lower operating costs. Along with creating positive living experiences, smart tech allows for fewer maintenance requests, lower staffing and concierge fees, and reduced energy bills

As resident expectations continue to change, more tenants and homebuyers are being drawn to positive living experiences over physical amenities. While gyms and hot tubs used to be a big selling point, tenant needs are more complicated today with many looking for smart tech adoption like smart thermostats, smart lighting, and digital door locks.

These needs aren’t based on the technology themselves, but the types of experiences they provide. Tenants are looking for safety, convenience, and connectivity. Features like flood sensors, temperature controls, keyless entry systems, and a building-wide access point for notifications and alarms have become key differentiators for renters and buyers alike.

As an industry leader in the smart building field, SmartONE provides safe, connected experiences that matter most to residents. Learn more about building positive resident experiences by booking a demo.