Screen capture of Resident Buddy, a new app released by Rentbits. (The Denver Post | screen capture)
Denver-based Rentbits is rolling out a social networking-like service for apartment dwellers that combines features from Facebook, eVite, HomeAdvisor and Craigslist.
Resident Buddy is an online portal that connects a multifamily community, allowing members to submit repair requests, post items for sale, receive notifications about closures and events and pay rent.
Cornerstone Apartment Services, which manages 70 apartment buildings in downtown Denver, is in discussions to potentially launch the platform for its roughly 3,000 residents.
"This is exactly what I have dreamed about in connecting my residents to our community," said Nicole Hancock, manager of resident relations for Cornerstone. "It's going to be a great way to retain residents. Not even just that, I really am interested in making sure our residents have a great experience while they live with Cornerstone, and they feel a part of the Cornerstone community."
In pitching Resident Buddy, Rentbits chief executive Dan Daugherty said the service can help multifamily communities reduce turnover.
On average, communities lose about half of their residents annually after their leases end, and 60 percent of that can be controlled, he said.
"Some of the ways you can control that are through things like maintenance request transparency," Daugherty said.
The standard procedure for residents right now is to call community managers whenever they have a service issue, such as a leaky faucet.
With Resident Buddy, residents submit the request online or by phone and can see the process through, similar to the Domino's Tracker, which gives consumers updates on their order.
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Rentbits launches a social network-like service for apartment dwellers