Amenities Your Tenants Actually Want

We encourage you to follow the Build-to-Rent Podcast on social media, and wherever you get your podcasts (ie. Apple Store, and Spotify). You can also watch each episode as we film them in our studio here at the Fourplex Investment Group on our YouTube channel.

Let's say I pitch a project to you. It's 100 doors, all townhomes. What specifically are you going to go do to find out what kind of tenant is going to live there? How are you going to find out what amenities they're going to want within the build-to-rent community?

Chase Leavitt

I would look at what's there currently, and what's coming in. So surrounding properties, see what's working, just have an idea and a good feel for the area, and what they need, and what the demand is for that location. And then once you figure out and understand who your tenants gonna be, then Okay, let's talk about amenities.

We talked about pickleball. I think a lot of not just younger crowds, but 55 and older, they're loving pickleball as well. Probably doesn't make sense to put a big old tennis court there. Right? I think they'd probably like the pickleball and maybe some other amenities versus maybe like the younger families. So that could differ or change depending on who your demographic target is.

Sherida Zenger

When we're talking about even a smaller project let's just say you have an infill lot and you're gonna do one single-family home, maybe you look around and see Hey, is this close to parks where somebody could take their kids if you're building you know, three, four-bedroom home something of that nature?

I think sometimes not it may not just be project-specific but let's look in the neighborhood and see what's walkable, you know, like I know a lot on a lot of websites, they give it a walkable score, you know how walkable is this project to other amenities, meaning outside things, grocery stores, stuff like that because amenities can go both ways.

Steve Olson

Well, that walkable score, I think it's neighborhood scout Comm. They do one you have one. A lot of places have one. But that lends itself to a lot of what Chase was saying about what are the demographics, right. Are you going to put a playground in an area where most people are 55 and up, right? We did a project recently, Blackstone farms in Provo, where this specifically came up. We have a small playground, like a basketball hoop like a pavilion with a barbecue. But that's it.

Why was that?

Sherida Zenger

Because just north of us was a park. A city-run park.

Chase Leavitt

There was a huge park, and then within the project in order to make the numbers work with the doors that we put in there... we normally like to put a clubhouse in a pool, but we couldn't fit that in there.

Steve Olson

We weren't going to be able to get the revenue. So the city is putting in a brand new beautiful park with all kinds of you know, bathrooms and parking and huge playgrounds and everything. What is like a block north is all.

Sherida Zenger

It's connected. Like if you take the road going north, you're going to run right into it.

Steve Olson

That's right. That's right. So sometimes the city or surrounding developmental do your work for you on that. And that usually is going to tell you the tale about what kind of amenities you need to put in.