By Laura Quirarte

Ancillary income, or income derived from non-rental sources, is sometimes presented as passive income or even “found money.” Nothing could be further from the truth! Each ancillary income source, whether it takes the form of fees, premiums, or amenities, represents a thoughtful strategy on behalf of the owner or negotiated contract. And, as many know, good negotiating can take a lot of planning and work.

As a Client Account Manager at RealtyCom, I’m focused on access, marketing and service partners providing Television, Phone and Internet products to multifamily housing. While each provider is different in how they choose to partner with owners, RealtyCom clients generally have a revenue-share model that creates ancillary income to the owner on a monthly or quarterly basis. The owner is incentivized by the provider to receive additional revenue, as resident subscriptions are increased via their marketing efforts.

The idea being the more Provider is marketed by the owner, the more subscribers and the more revenue to the Owner. Once an Owner signs an agreement, most providers will assign a local representative to work with the property team in an effort to increase subscriptions (at no cost to the property) by:
● being a resource for residents […]

By Annie Manfredi

In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the dynamics of business. Instead of commuting, for example, about 4.7 million U.S. employees now work from home at desktops set up anywhere from home offices to spare bedrooms to their kitchen counters. IoT technologies make it possible; even on the national stage, thanks to Zoom and other technologies, delegates all over the U.S. at the first virtual Democratic National Convention were linked by one barefoot man in his family room.

All this decentralization of gathering demonstrates how much there is to be gained from the remote work model. The challenge for multifamily property owners is: How can we power that model for our tenants?

5G Is the Future

At RealtyCom Partners, we think 5G is a great opportunity and will provide immense benefits to the work-from-home (WFH) generation, as well as generate significant revenue and increased value for multifamily property owners’ portfolios.

RealtyCom’s Annie Manfredi recently spoke to Rick Varnell, Partner at 5G LLC (a leading provider of cutting-edge technologies and services) about these benefits.

“In today’s world, we rely on our ability to connect heavily,” said Varnell. What’s more: “Working and studying at home, and reliance on the smartphone and […]

By Mike Manfredi

Several of RealtyCom’s Clients are exploring short-term housing.  Some want to use short-term housing as a temporary solution to vacancy during the lease-up stage of a new project while others are exploring short-term housing to enhance long-term net operating income (NOI).  Both objectives entail operational issues that are beyond RealtyCom’s scope of work; however, careful telecommunication considerations are needed and generally fall into two (2) categories:

1. Telecom Agreement – Most Clients want to provide the short-term guest with high-speed Internet in their unit and common areas during their stay. In addition, some clients want to include some level of cable television service as well.  In properties in which our Clients have entered BULK arrangements, this is quite easy.  However, in properties in which our Clients have chosen multiple providers, each with non-exclusive marketing rights, and each providing multiple services, this is more problematic.  Most providers do not want to provide flexible, discounted service to short-term units, nor do they want to provide consolidated billing.  RealtyCom has been able to help clients in workarounds that provide flexibility and do not breach the anti-bulk provisions contained in many telecom provider agreements.

2. Infrastructure – Some Clients want to have a […]