BILT Alliance communities get preferred placement. Sounds interesting. Let’s dig in.
Preferred placement is pay-to-play visibility, and visibility is the product.
When a resident outgrows a unit, the platform shows your sister communities, and a move-out becomes a transfer. The transfer is possible because the resident data-fueled algorithm shows your communities first.
That platform is the Private Rental Marketplace (PRM), BILT’s closed network for moving residents between communities. We talked about it several months ago We talked about this several months ago – here, here. Now it’s real. And others will be quick to follow. What happens to the ILS? Topic for another day.
Consider the stack they are building! BILT now touches search, rent payments, rewards, maintenance through HappyCo, dining, and resident engagement through its Livly acquisition in September.
One might argue that a single login now holds a resident’s whole life. And further, whoever owns the login owns the relationship. You used to own that relationship. Now you’ll be forced to rent it back to yourself.
BILT also released research with 451 Research showing 83% of renters say rent and dining reservations in one app would improve their experience. Do keep in mind, this is supplier-funded research. And just because a renter ‘says’ doesn’t mean it’s the way they behave IRL. I do agree, residents want one app, and most won’t care who owns it.
Here is the second-order consequence. Resident data fuels renewal pricing, and he who owns the data sets the terms.
My forecast: within three years, placement becomes a line item on your P&L, and opting out will cost you.
For now, PMCs still own the one thing that matters most in renewals. They largely result from great service. They show up because work orders close the same day, when you remember a resident’s name, when you remember a pet’s name and have a treat ready when it walks into your office. An app can show a resident a restaurant and hand out a reward, and that’s fun. Your team shows a resident they belong, and they matter. Software can’t mimic that. Not yet.
Before you sign the Alliance agreement, ask three questions: who owns the resident data, how placement ranks, and what happens to both if you leave the agreement.
Send me the answers, and I will publish what operators are hearing.
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