In this issue we'll cover:
💜 How flexible rent programs work (and how to get started)
💜 NARPM© Annual VIP is here!
💜 Our next How I AI session
There are a lot of resident benefits available in property management today, but if I had to choose one of my favorites, flexible rent payments would be at the very top of the list.
I’m a big believer that the best resident benefits are the ones that solve a real problem or make life genuinely easier for the people we serve. Flexible rent payments do exactly that. They give residents more control over one of their largest monthly expenses, while also creating a benefit for property managers and owners.
At Milestone, we've offered flexible payment options for years, and today we use Flex. There are several providers offering similar programs, but the concept is relatively simple: instead of requiring a resident to come up with their entire rent payment at once, an approved resident can split that obligation into multiple payments that better align with when they actually get paid.
And the property manager still receives the full rent payment on time.
Think of Flex almost like a short-term rent line of credit.
A resident applies directly through Flex and, if approved, receives a payment schedule based on their eligibility. Instead of paying their entire monthly rent to us at once, they make their scheduled payments to Flex.
Let's say a resident's rent is $1,500 per month and their approved payment dates are the 1st and 17th.
Rather than coming up with all $1,500 on the first, the resident might pay Flex $750 on the 1st. Flex then sends us the full $1,500 rent payment. The resident pays the remaining $750 to Flex on the 17th according to their payment plan.
From our perspective, rent is paid.
From the owner's perspective, rent is paid.
And from the resident's perspective, they've been able to structure one of their largest monthly expenses around their actual cash flow.
That's a triple win.
The decision to offer flexible payments came from something we saw over and over again: good residents who weren't necessarily unable to afford their rent—they just struggled to pay all of it at one time.
There is a big difference.
A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. Their rent may be $1,500, but their paycheck on the first may not leave them with $1,500 available after groceries, utilities, childcare, car payments, and every other expense that hits at the beginning of the month.
Before flexible payment options, those residents might pay what they could, wait for their next paycheck to pay the remainder, and rack up late fees in the process.
Sometimes that meant spending hundreds of dollars throughout the year simply because the timing of their income didn't line up with the timing of their rent.
That never felt like a particularly good outcome for anyone.
The results have been overwhelmingly positive.
Residents appreciate having an option that works around their pay schedule. Owners appreciate receiving their rent on time. And our team appreciates having a resource we can offer residents that doesn't require us to become their lender or create complicated internal payment arrangements.
Most importantly, I think it creates a healthier relationship between the resident and property manager.
We're still enforcing the lease. Rent is still due. We're not eliminating accountability.
We're simply recognizing that the traditional "everything is due on the first" model doesn't always match the way people are actually paid anymore.
If there is a tool that can bridge that gap without shifting the financial burden or collection risk onto the property owner, I think it's worth considering.
For property managers considering flexible rent payments, implementation is fairly simple.
Start by researching the providers available to you. We use Flex, but there are other companies offering similar programs, and your property management software may already have an integrated option.
Then look beyond the sales pitch. Understand exactly how and when your company receives funds, what happens if the resident doesn't make their subsequent payment, what fees the resident pays, eligibility requirements, and how the program interacts with your existing accounting and delinquency processes.
Once you've selected a provider, don't just add a link to your resident portal and forget about it.
Build it into your processes.
Include the option in your resident communications. Train your team on how it works. Add it to your delinquency workflow. Make sure team members know when it's appropriate to mention it and, equally important, that they aren't promising approval.
Property management companies spend a lot of time talking about creating better resident experiences. Sometimes that gets translated into adding more programs, more technology, and inevitably, more fees.
I think the better question is simpler:
Does this actually make the resident's life easier?
Flexible rent payments do.
They give residents more control over their monthly cash flow. They can help residents avoid unnecessary late fees. They give owners more consistency in receiving rent. And they give property managers another tool to prevent a temporary cash-flow issue from becoming a delinquency problem.
Residents win. Owners win. Property managers win.
That's exactly what a resident benefit should do.
Brandy Landon
Broker/Owner
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Maranda Hunnicutt joins us on September 24 to walk through the fundamentals of AI, giving you a practical starting point if you're not already an advanced AI user. She'll use examples from her own property management work to show how she started and ramped up with AI. Register today!
Use our template to write a non-renewal of lease letter, and learn how, when, and why to send it. Read the blog post
See you in a couple of weeks!
The Second Nature Team