Choosing a parking solution for your multifamily community isn’t easy. You’re trying to optimize for your community’s finances, residents’ happiness, and the time commitment for managers and staff.

So how do you find the right solution? Here are a few things to consider before you make your decision:

1. Does it work well for residents?

The number one factor that determines the success of your parking system is whether it works for residents. If their digital parking permits are glitchy, people park in each other’s spaces with no repercussions, or two cars are assigned the same parking space, your residents won’t be happy. Without a good resident parking experience, you’re going to lose residents and get some bad reviews. 

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According to a survey by Appfolio, 90% of residents place importance on resident-facing technology, and those satisfied with the technology are 17% less likely to move.

Parking software and patrol should also keep resident data secure. Your parking software should have a lower-level user type for enforcement that only shows the necessary information to verify vehicles.

2. Is it easy for guests to use?

Guests shouldn’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out your parking rules. If your parking solution isn’t intuitive for them, you’ll end up with guests overstaying their welcome, parking in resident spaces, failing to pay your fees, or otherwise breaking your rules.

Make sure the parking software you choose offers self-service permit registration. Residents & guests want modern convenience. In fact, expectations for digital self-service options have increased the most, according to Zego, with 58% preferring digital guest registration. 

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Find a guest parking system that encourages everyone to follow your parking rules. For instance, look for the ability to send automated reminders when guests are approaching their parking time limit.

Parking Boss allows guests to easily register their own guest permits within the rules you set. You can limit guest parking time per unit to keep things fair for everyone; no more guest parking monopoly! Parking signs with QR codes make parking clear & easy.

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3. Will it help with parking enforcement?

The right multifamily parking solution will give you effective enforcement tools. It can keep track of violations, issue warnings, and give your team access to vehicle and violation reports so you can catch repeat offenders. 

A good parking software can also help you find unauthorized occupants in your community. If the system identifies non-permitted vehicles regularly parking overnight, you’ve likely discovered an unauthorized occupant, or a resident parking an extra vehicle.

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Parking Boss is a parking software that includes a handy web-based app for your patrol team. Patrollers can quickly check vehicle violation histories, record violations with photos, and scan all license plates in just minutes. Smart Warning Stickers with QR codes let the vehicle owner see details about their violation. Because Manager-level users can see all logged enforcement activity, transparency is built in.

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4. Can it help with your community’s financial goals?

Depending on your community’s parking space availability and norms, you may want to charge for guest parking. Parking fees can help generate revenue and often increase space availability. 

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A good parking solution makes it easier than others to collect guest parking fees. Look for solutions that accept payments from all major credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. It should be as easy as possible for guests to figure out how to pay. Your community should also be able to deposit fees into its own account. 

The right solution will also work with your community’s ideal pricing structure. For example, you may want to offer some free parking time before charging fees, or only charge for overnight parking. You may also want to change rates during weekends or peak times.

5. Does it work together with your property management software, access control, and current safety systems?

Your parking solution should work together with the other systems you use every day, such as Entrata, RealPage, or Yardi. That’ll keep staff from having to manually duplicate entries or hunt down information stored in different places.

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If you have an LPR camera system or gate access system, check that the software integrates with them, allowing you to identify who’s entering your community and who’s authorized to park.