7 Reasons Multifamily Landlords Should Offer Wi-Fi

By creating a Wi-Fi hot spot, landlords can create over $150-worth of savings for their residents! This is wonderful for the residents, but what about landlords?

Here are some reasons Multi-Family Landlords should create “community wide” Wi-Fi at their properties:

  1. Marketing advantage against your competitors.
    Wi-Fi is the way your property will differentiate itself apart from your competing properties. It’s common for every property to have a pool, a hot tub, a fitness center, a business center, etc. It’s not common to have “in unit” Wi-Fi across your entire property.
  2. New Income Streams for Landlords.
    Increase rents to cover monthly Wi-Fi expenses plus “service fee.” Landlords can easily add $40.00 / month into Residents’ leases upon renewal. You’ve just saved residents a significant amount of money, they should have no problem sharing some of the savings with you. This tactic, of course, should be a win-win; allowing you to net a new income stream while saving your residents a significant amount of money.
  3. Use this value package to differentiate your units and speed lease up.
  4. Show prospects that your rents are reasonable, especially in light of the monthly savings.
    Prospects get excited when you talk to them about your “housing package” verse your monthly rent rate.

What’s in it for your Residents?

  1. Reduce your Residents’ monthly Internet expenses.
    You may discover that your residents are paying for high-speed internet. Providing that WiFi service would create real, easy-to-understand, value by reducing their monthly living expenses. Each of your residents could save around $40 to $100/month depending on where you’re located.
  2. Reduce Residents’ monthly Telephone Service expenses.
    Believe it or not, people still use land lines. Your residents would need to buy devices like netTALK DUO WiFi (less than $20/year) or Ooma (no monthly fee) to place calls over the internet. If your land line using residents purchased one of these devices, they could save around $27/month.
  3. Eliminate residents’ TV subscriptions.
    Hulu, podcasts, and Netflix are all web-based alternatives to cable or satellite TV. They are accessible from any web-enabled computer or Roku Player. This strategy could save your residents about $60 – $110/month

 

Wireless Networking That’s Environmentally Friendly

Convinced that most commercially available wireless solutions were costly and inefficient, Chase Dubs, Level One Founder, discovered an equipment line manufactured by the California startup CloudTrax. With a few strategically placed CloudTrax access points and a little experimentation in his own home, he built a network that enabled online access from just about anywhere in his single family home.

That success was crucial to the foundation of Level One’s “Multi-Fi” – the wireless solution for Muti-Family owners. With wireless technology expanding quickly, Chase set out to help major apartment complexes create fast, reliable wireless networks that cost less, conserve energy and reduce e-waste, the vast amount of electronic equipment left to rot in landfills. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Level One builds “Multi-Fi” wireless networks that can replace expensive individual Internet connections for residents with nearly identical levels of speed and service.

“We cover three to six apartments with a single wireless access point that uses less electricity than any commercially available wireless router you can buy,” says Chase. “We have multiple access points feeding off a single Internet connection. We are able to replace dozens of pieces of equipment which would normally be required for the same coverage.” In a 200-unit apartment complex in Mesa, the networks save about $2,500 a year in electricity costs, he says, and conserve about 21 tons of carbon, the amount an average American produces in a year.

Chandler, Mesa & Tempe Apartment Owner Uses WiFi to Attract New Residents

Select Suites, a Southwestern real estate investment company, recently installed Level One’s WiFi into four existing rental communities in Chandler, Mesa & Tempe, Arizona.

And they’re delighted that they did.

“The WiFi service is quite fast,” says Mr. Bard, Vice President and CEO of Select Suites. “I would consider it amazing given the fact it is a wireless connection. The residents are thrilled by it. It has been commonplace for a while for apartment communities to have WiFi service in common areas and pool areas; residents have almost come to expect that. However, when they learn the service is included in their apartment home, they are impressed, excited . . . and grateful.”

Select Suites’ current portfolio includes 1,094 apartment units, valued at over $100 million. Select Suites and Level One Communications have an ongoing relationship, with Level One  providing help desk services and on-site support services.

“We see our partnership with Level One Communications to be a long-term prospect,” says Mr. Bard. “They’ve been great partners with us — delivering a much-needed product with excellent customer service, that helps us create value through an improved cash flow.”

“Partnering with Select Suites has been great,” says Level One Communications President, Chase Dubs. “They understand how adding WiFi to their communities helps add value by increasing occupancy and rent levels.”

With large numbers of units in the existing installations (200 units in two, 222 and 436 in the others), fast, reliable Internet is vital. Lightning-fast, free WiFi helps satisfy current residents and attract new ones – and Select Suites appreciates the way Level One helps achieve that goal. “Level One WiFi certainly has aided our resident retention efforts beyond our expectations,” Mr. Bard says.

According to Mr. Bard, Level One WiFi offers much more than speedy Internet connections. Every aspect of the service – from installation to 24/7 tech support – is fine-tuned to create the easiest experience possible for both residents and property managers. “The service team is really dedicated to responding quickly and fixing any problem the first time,” Mr. Bard explains.

He was equally enthusiastic about Level One’s friendly customer service: “The customer service that the entire team deploys is one of the hallmarks of working with Level One. They work hard, respond immediately and communicate thoroughly. It is a unique experience.”

From Mr. Bard’s perspective, one of the nicest extra “perks” Level One WiFi offers is custom marketing materials. For each new client, Level One creates a unique marketing campaign, designed to alert potential residents to the benefits of a rental community with free WiFi. Inspire WiFi’s campaign for Select Suites included postcards to send out to prospective residents, signage for the clubhouse and connection guides for existing residents.

“The customized marketing collateral are all nicely and professionally done,” Mr. Bard says. “Our marketing director will interact with Level One WiFi’s people to get it just the way we want it each time we deploy the service. It helps us get the message out to our residents, prospects and the public in general. And at no extra charge –it’s all included in our one price.”

Overall, Select Suites is delighted with the way Level One WiFi has added value to their rental communities – and created an edge that makes them stand out from competitors.

“We feel like it really gives us a leg up,” Mr. Bard says. “We have something our competitors don’t have.”