In Season 3, Episode 3 of the Apartment Academy Podcast – we welcomed Kate Good, SVP of Multifamily Development at Hunington Residential. She joined us to discuss her 2022 Apartmentalize speaking session topic on how the multifamily industry is accommodating for the digital nomad lifestyle! Below are pieces of her episode, we didn’t want you to miss!
How is multifamily accommodating for the digital nomad lifestyle? (1:00)
- Heavy trend of the renter that offices at home – 38 percent of our renters office at home.
- A continuation of what started during the pandemic – apartment communities are converting spaces in their clubhouses so residents can have their meetings
What amenities do you incorporate into your communities to accommodate for the digital nomad lifestyle? (2:40)
- Residents desire a space that’s an extension of their home. When it comes to your clubhouses, residents don’t want open concept. It’s too noisy. It doesn’t give them private space. They want to come down to the clubhouse and have a workspace where they can do a zoom call, where there’s good lighting, where the sound acoustics are good, and they can really manage their lifestyle of living and working here.
- Managed Wi-Fi is the No. 1 selling point for the person who considers themselves a digital nomad. The value is truly this instant-on. When that digital nomad shows moves in to the apartment community, their internet’s on right away. They don’t have to worry about getting all that set up and having these accounts set up all over the world wherever they’re living for their their newly found lifestyle.
Is the demand from digital nomads sufficient enough that you can expect your communities to be consistently occupied on a regular basis? (8:50)
- The initial expectation was this lifestyle would be for the 25-year-old who wants to travel the world and be a social media influencer. We’ve found that families are doing this as they try to decide where they’re going to go live next.
- Airbnb is reporting they are seeing a greater number of people searching for apartments for 28 days or more. Short term stays are not the growth they are seeing.
Do lenders see the value in accommodating for this lifestyle? (12:30)
- Lenders love to see the underwriting, but are interested into how many leases? When do the leases expire? How can we control it?
- They realize this is the way things are trending. Of course, they’re worried about their risk, and they want to make sure we’re being good stewards of the community.
One thing people should keep in mind as it relates to this emerging lifestyle? (15:01)
- Overwhelming how much people who live this lifestyle love it. They give a lot of credit to the places they’ve live, and detailing why they live here, and why they chose this apartment.
- It’s this incredible word of mouth experience.
To listen to this episode in its entirety, click here.