As always, our team had a productive experience connecting with industry leaders and innovators at NMHC OPTECH 2022. This year, OPTECH was hosted at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, where vendors and innovators had the opportunity to reconnect, network, and have important conversations about the latest in multifamily housing technology and operations.
The 3-day conference featured over 30 educational sessions and had over 2,000 professionals in attendance. Along with sessions about the economic climate, many discussions focused on the applications, challenges, and opportunities of data and technology. Below are the main highlights and key takeaways from OPTECH this year.
Market and Economic Overview
As concerns about a recession continue to grow, market analysts and economists gathered at the Town Hall to help operators understand how to combat uncertainty, protect against risk, and capitalize on areas of opportunity. Rising mortgage rates, cap rates, and rent growth stalls continue to be a concern for industry leaders, however, new technology solutions and better risk mitigation strategies enable housing providers to not only protect but grow their assets and achieve long-term financial goals.
Biggest Risks Facing Multifamily & What to Do About Them
Legal and regulatory experts came together to discuss some of the biggest risks facing the industry today as well as the best strategies to stay ahead of the curve. Cybersecurity, increasing insurance costs, as well as evolving regulatory and compliance issues were the session’s primary focus, as panelists considered various strategies such as risk management and cybersecurity measures to help lessen the legal and financial exposure.
Risks & Rewards of AI
Our Chief Technology Officer, Sudip Shekhawat, participated in this session alongside industry professionals Amy Weissberger of Morgan Properties, Stephanie Fuhrman of Entrata, and Adam Demuyakor of Wilshire Lane Capital. As the industry continues to embrace AI tech in front-end operations, it’s just as important to leverage this powerful technology to improve back-end processes so that organizations can make better decisions and future-proof assets.
The group acknowledged that the deployment of AI technology presents challenges to site teams who are inundated by the day-to-day tasks of property management, while AI generated bias has also drawn some scrutiny. As property management companies continue to integrate AI into their operations, it’s critical to stay vigilant and educated about the impacts on operations in order to reap the benefits without negative consequences.
Integration Challenges and Solutions With New Tech
Multifamily tech stacks have evolved exponentially in the last few years, sometimes complicating daily operations and processes. Before deploying new technology solutions, operators must consider their integration capabilities to ensure solutions work together seamlessly and efficiently without burdening their site teams or creating a negative resident experience.
The panel discussion emphasized the importance of truly understanding the capabilities of software products before implementing them to ensure their technology stack can scale sustainably rather than holding property teams back and causing property performance to suffer.
LeaseLock’s booth featured a sleek digital screen showcasing how our AI-powered risk engine runs tens of thousands of simulations based on millions of data points to optimize coverage by property. Our team of asset optimization experts were excited to talk about the advancements in our financial performance technology that allow forward-looking operators to better predict risk and turn unpredictable loss into dependable net operating income and greater asset value.
Those who visited our booth showed particular interest in our “Final Balance Zero” mission—in a perfect world, every lease would end with zero balance. Unfortunately, nearly half a month’s rent per unit is written off as loss. LeaseLock uses ledger data and AI to better predict final account statements and absorb those balances with lease insurance. This helps owners and operators recapture revenue before it becomes bad debt, thus creating more valuable, efficient properties.
While in Vegas, we made time to celebrate the many accomplishments of industry partners, including long-time LeaseLock supporter and NMHC President, Doug Bibby, and we enjoyed toasting to his many industry contributions during his 21-year career. At our special dinner at Lakeside Restaurant, we connected with other highly-esteemed multifamily influencers including Debbie Phillips, Marcie Williams, Teresa DeVos, Janine Steiner Jovanovic, Tiffanie Byrd, Ian Bingham, John Jeter, Ann-Marie Bomba, Nicole Similari, and Rachel Purcell. Last but not least, we had a blast sharing drinks and exchanging ideas with fellow peers at the LeaseLock sponsored networking bar.
Needless to say, OPTECH 2022 was a total success thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth and took the time to connect with us on the expo floor. We left the conference feeling energized and even more motivated to empower housing providers with a new generation of financial tools to enhance the property revenue stream and optimize asset performance for our clients in 2023.
