.png)
All property management systems are the same, right? Wrong. Like relying on a road map to climb a mountain, a standard property management system is not set-up for the unique terrain of coliving.
At a base level, the coliving model shares some common traits with other hospitality segments: there are guests, there are rooms, there are bookings. But, this is where the similarity ends. In its simplest terms, coliving refers to a group of like-minded and unrelated individuals living together in the same space. With access to the same purpose-built communal areas, coliving centres on the values of community and flexibility.
Coliving operators therefore need a property management system that addresses the distinct business and management challenges of shared living. In short, coliving operators need a coliving property management system (PMS).
Contents
- What is a coliving PMS?
- Who is a coliving PMS for?
- Why does coliving management software exist?
- What are the key features of a coliving PMS?
- Best practices for coliving management
What is a coliving PMS?
A coliving property management system (PMS) is an all-in-one software that’s specifically developed to manage coliving properties, which integrates all the coliving management tools you need into one platform. It syncs data insights from across the business into a simple, easy-to-use dashboard, allowing coliving operators to manage multiple properties remotely via the touch of a button. It automates operational tasks, such as housekeeping and maintenance scheduling, and enhances efficiency. It streamlines manual processes, like sending auto-updated invoices and taking bookings, saving staff time and reducing human error.
In short, a coliving PMS is a one-stop-shop for best practice coliving management.
Who is a coliving PMS for?
A coliving PMS is a property manager’s best friend, enabling them to manage all aspects of a coliving business across the customer journey. Pre-stay, a coliving PMS helps property managers make a great first impression by taking bookings (and amendments), automating pre-arrival emails and providing a seamless digital check-in process. In-stay, property managers can keep direct communication with front of house staff and schedule tasks for housekeeping or maintenance, as well as facilitate two-way discussion with residents and send out important announcements. Post-stay, property managers can send automated loyalty offers based on guests’ in-stay preferences.
All of this happens from a centralised system, no matter the location or size of portfolio, allowing coliving businesses to not only reduce pressure on staff time, but also reduce overheads. What’s more, by generating a wide array of data on occupancy, inventory and external channels, managers know what levers to pull to increase revenue generation.
In short, a coliving PMS helps property managers excel at their jobs.
Why does coliving management software exist?
According to the 2022 Co-Liv Summit, the number of Google searches for ‘coliving’ increased by 830% over the past two years and the sector now boasts over 850 coliving brands worldwide. As coliving becomes more popular, coliving businesses require a dedicated software that not only addresses the unique challenges of coliving, but also helps fuel its continued growth.
Here’s two examples:
Coliving specialises in flexible stays. The needs of coliving residents vary from person to person: some may want to stay for one month, others for one year. With a coliving PMS, an operator can synchronously advertise the same room on long-stay and short-stay channels, and use short stays to fill occupancy gaps between long stays. For instance, res:harmonics worked with Finland-based Noli Studios to develop a coliving concept with scalable pricing that matched varying stay lengths and an availability grid so every coliving unit could become a ‘hotel’ for seven-day holidays or a ‘home’ for seven-month work placements.
Coliving prioritises community. A study by Apartment Life found that residents with 7+ friends in a building have a 47% chance of renewing their contract compared to 29% for those with no friends. A coliving PMS helps operators curate their ideal community (and therefore boost occupancy and retention) by providing a community platform for the team and residents to post instant messages, host events, organise social outings and register for social activities. For instance, res:harmonics coliving software helped Gravity Co set up a ‘virtual reception’ to instantly answer guest queries and respond to their needs round the clock.
In short, a coliving PMS is the beating heart of a dynamic coliving business.
What are the key features of a coliving PMS?
A coliving PMS encompasses a set of features for managing shared living accommodation. From automated messaging, billing and bookings to remote management of sales channels, maintenance tasks and access control, a coliving PMS consolidates all the features needed to run a coliving business into one, easy-to-use platform.
Here’s two examples:
Channel manager - A dynamic coliving channel manager connects your pricing and availability to all of the major OTAs (i.e. booking.com) and specialist coliving sites (i.e. Young Global Living), enabling you to highlight specific features and attract like-minded individuals to your community. It also synchronises advertising across multiple sales channels, avoiding the risk of taking double bookings, and extends your reach across the world, finding residents for your desired length of stay in just a few clicks.
Access control - Balancing seamless movement with security is really important for the safety of coliving residents. With access management solutions designed specifically for coliving, including keyless access control, it’s easier to manage communal areas and private spaces. You can remotely update settings for specific times or amenities (i.e. closing swimming pool at night), temporarily open room access for external events and guarantee that residents can move frictionlessly around a coliving property and enter individual rooms with the same token.
Best practice coliving management
As coliving is a nascent industry, those who are currently scaling coliving are effectively pioneers, venturing forth into unchartered territory using previous hospitality experience as a guide.
res:harmonics coliving PMS maps coliving to success. Combining learnings from 15 years of running innovative living operations with pioneering tech know-how, res:harmonics brings best practice to the coliving industry - not just by making management easier and more profitable, but by guiding the way too.
Download the Ultimate Guide to Coliving Management Software 2023 to learn how property management software supports coliving operators.
Request a demo to find out more.
