July 17, 2018 – Berger Rental Communities has hopped onboard the ongoing network of Airbnb friendly buildings that use Pillow’s services to allow their residents to list their units as short-term rentals.
In 1972, the Berger brothers established Berger Rental Communities. What had started as managing a 42-unit apartment community in Havertown, Pennsylvania, has evolved into a well-known property management team in the Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland multifamily housing industry. Over the past four decades, the Berger team has expanded its services to larger residential communities, student housing, and new luxury construction, giving them a wide variety of residents they serve. The company currently manages 33 apartment communities and is focused on growing their portfolio. Generally, their focus has been on communities within a three to four-hour radius of their home office in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
The Amenities That Set Berger Apart
Berger differs from other management companies by offering services and flexibilities that are atypical of traditional apartment living. Residents have a 30-day move-in satisfaction guarantee, the ability to transfer apartments mid-lease, relocation options, the freedom to purchase a home at any point in their lease, security deposit alternatives, and the ability to do self-guided tours. By offering Pillow, they are adding another distinct amenity that residents will be able to use.
“What is unique about Pillow is that it brings an amenity to the multifamily industry that allows residents to generate income from their apartments, which has generally only been available to homeowners,” says Brian Miller, Director of Marketing at Berger.
A Perfect Partnership
Berger communities are all throughout Pennsylvania, as well as Delaware and Maryland, some of which are in prime vacation spots, downtown scenes, walking distance to different localities, or near college campuses. These locations and modern amenities make these communities an ideal choice for short-term renters to use as Airbnbs. As of 2018, 43.2 million people in the U.S. use Airbnb when they travel. About half of these Airbnb rentals take place in multifamily building units. By 2021, this number is expected to increase to 60.8 million users, making the Pillow model more sensible to have for any property management company.
Four of their properties, The Greentree Building, located in West Chester, Goshen Terrace, also located in West Chester, Village Square, located in Bensalem, and The Athens located in Ardmore, launched Pillow on June 29, 2018. The remaining properties became Airbnb friendly buildings the following week, which included Toftrees and Vairo Village in State College, Lakeview in South Williamsport, as well as Walton Heights in Altoona.
“Pillow is pleased to partner with Berger Rental Communities not only to further our expansion to the Pennsylvania area but also because Berger is an early adopter of technology,” says Alex Chang, Pillow’s COO. “The Pillow model will be able to offer Berger’s residents something that their competitors cannot. This is a great opportunity to benefit the property management company as well as the residents. Any opportunity for Pillow to expand our network of properties is something we look forward to!”
Pillow’s Property Management Features
With Pillow, renters and property managers at Airbnb friendly buildings are at ease and are able to relax! Pillow is solving short-term rentals for multifamily properties, allowing building owners and property managers to have control and transparency over short-term rentals while enabling their residents to rent their units short-term on Airbnb. It is incredibly beneficial to all parties who participate. When someone books a short-term rental reservation with a resident, building owners are earning 10 percent of each booked reservation allowing them to invest back into their communities or help cover management expenses. Additionally, building owners receive daily and weekly short-term rental activity reports with key reservation information including dates, guests’ names and contact information. Other features include lease addendum help, safety, payment, monitoring and online compliance. Increasingly, potential residents view this as a desirable amenity. Building owners can attract renters with the amenity which requires no capital investment and little time and effort. This is especially important, as a growing number of potential residents are looking at amenities before signing a lease.
Conclusion
Berger Rental Communities and Pillow see this partnership as a great opportunity for each of themselves and the residents that it serves and are excited to see the outcome. The goal is to provide additional value to each apartment home in their newly Airbnb friendly buildings. Berger intends to measure enrollment and usage in the hopes of discovering high interest and engagement from their residents.
For more information about Berger Rental Communities visit www.rentberger.com. If you own a multifamily community or management company and are interested in short-term rentals, email partnerships@pillow.com or visit www.pillow.com.
