The residents have spoken–delivering service at the speed of RIGHT NOW is what keeps them happy. Meanwhile, the old 48-72 hour work order is beginning to fall apart.
At Happy Summit, Western Wealth Communities’ Jennifer Staciokas, The Dinerstein Company’s John Barr, and Thumbtack’s Anna Hou discussed centralization–from team structure to the technology that supports them–and the effects this has on the resident experience.
John Barr dove straight into his journey from centralization skeptic to believer. Facing a 4-month work order backlog and burned-out maintenance teams, he decided to test a centralized maintenance model with HappyCo.
“I was literally shocked with the results,” John admitted. “Within a four-month pilot... our deflection rate is now 60%. It’s amazing for our guys to have their evenings back.”
Translation? His teams went from drowning in service requests to actually having time for preventative maintenance and, more importantly, more time for themselves and their families. The secret wasn’t working harder—it was working smarter with the right partners and technology.
Your Tactical Implementation Guide
Build a Multi-Layered Vendor Network
Jennifer shared a cautionary tale about vendor management: “We have one vendor that does a really good job for us on one site. Then, we sign a contract for 20 other deals, and they’re overwhelmed.” Strategic vendor relationships require thoughtful scaling and integration.
- Create a “preferred vendor roster” for each location across your portfolio with at least two backup options.
- Test new vendor relationships on a limited number of properties before expanding to prevent overwhelming good partners.
- Integrate marketplace technology that creates seamless handoffs without duplicate data entry for in-house teams and vendors.
Solve After-Hours Coverage Strategically
John explained how technology helps prevent burnout: “I have an aerial view of every on-call schedule... when I see a guy that’s been on for three weeks, I literally call the manager.” Preventing maintenance burnout requires both structural changes and proactive monitoring.
- Split lockout requests from standard maintenance requests to create a separate on-call rotation for non-emergency issues.
- For multi-property markets, create rotating call schedules where team members are on call “once every six weeks” rather than continuously.
- Use technology to track on-call frequency and workload to spot potential burnout before it impacts service or staff retention.
Maximize Asset Value Through Service Excellence
Jennifer broke down the direct connection between maintenance and property value: “Every dollar that we raise NOI equals $20 in property value. Put that into perspective: just $50 more in rent versus comps can equate to $1.2 million in value for a 100-unit community.” The path to those higher rents? Exceptional service that translates to reviews.
- Quantify maintenance impact by tracking how service improvements directly affect your property’s NOI.
- Develop property-specific targets for maintenance-driven rent premiums compared to local comps.
- Create a dashboard linking maintenance performance metrics to renewal rates and online reviews.
Adapt to the On-Demand Economy
“Gen Z not only are used to this on-demand economy, but they actually expect it,” explained Anna Hou from Thumbtack. She emphasized that today’s residents expect the same transparency and immediacy from maintenance that they get from food delivery or ridesharing apps.
For multifamily operators, this shift means standard maintenance practices now feel outdated to residents accustomed to on-demand services everywhere else in their lives.
- Create a maintenance request system with real-time tracking and status notifications.
- Implement digital communication channels that provide immediate acknowledgment and updates.
- Establish service level agreements measured in hours rather than days for standard requests.
Your Call to Action
Stop accepting industry “standards” that were created back when residents expected less and waited longer. Maintenance is your biggest lever for resident satisfaction and asset value growth. As Jennifer put it: “When you’re stuck in certain ways, you get lost in legacy. And that is not what our renters want.”
Build your vendor network, integrate your systems, and train your teams to understand exactly how their service directly impacts the bottom line. The properties that win will be the ones that deliver at the speed residents now demand.
Learn how HappyCo is building the open API marketplace to bring more vendors, specialists, and systems together–all through one interface.
