Product
Resident expectations have moved faster than most amenity packages can keep up with. According to a 2026 industry report, 73% of renters now expect a response from their property within the same business day, and more than 60% expect at least some degree of 24/7 responsiveness.[1] Meanwhile, 61% of renters contact more than one community before signing a lease, and 56% rate their current community's digital experience as average at best.[1]
For property managers, developers, owners, and asset managers, the takeaway is consistent. A pool, a gym, and a package room no longer define a competitive resident experience. Leading operators are rethinking what satisfaction and engagement mean, and they are building strategies around on-demand convenience, AI-enabled communication, wellness, and community. Each of these reaches residents far more often than a quarterly newsletter ever did.
From Amenity List to Amenity-as-a-Service
The traditional amenity package was static: a fixed set of physical spaces built once and left largely untouched for the life of the building. That model is giving way to what we have defined as amenity-as-a-service, where residents get on-demand access to products and services without owning, storing, or maintaining them. The building acts as a platform, and the offering can change as residents' needs change.
For operators, the appeal is flexibility. Services can be added, adjusted, or scaled to what residents actually use, which is difficult to do with a space that was designed and built years earlier.
On-Demand Convenience as a Daily Touchpoint
Part of that shift shows up in concierge-style conveniences: dog walking, pet sitting, dry cleaning pickup and delivery, and other errands that used to send residents out of the building or to a patchwork of outside vendors. Individually, each service is small. Together, they change how often a resident interacts with their community. Someone who books a dog walker or schedules a dry cleaning pickup through a building app is engaging with the property several times a month, which is far more often than a typical resident event can offer.
That frequency matters because every interaction is a chance for a resident to feel the building is working for them. Platforms like TULU, which gives residents on-demand access to rentals, retail, and bookable services through an app, are one example of this model in practice. TULU's own data shows that 78% of residents rate TULU as their favorite building amenity, and 82% say they would be disappointed if it were no longer available.
AI-Powered Communication and Resident Services
Communication is the area where operators are moving fastest, because residents are asking for it. A 2026 industry survey found that 36% of residents describe the communication they receive from management after moving in as minimal or nonexistent, and 33% name maintenance quality and responsiveness as a critical factor in choosing where to live.[1]
AI tools can help property teams respond faster without adding headcount. Maintenance triage, resident messaging, and virtual assistants all fall into this category, and the same survey found that 89% of multifamily operators have built AI into their operating model in some form.[1] The same logic applies behind the scenes of an amenity program. TULU uses AI to curate the right product assortment for each community, personalize the resident's digital experience, monitor low or expiring inventory, and automatically trigger reorders. Meanwhile, TULU's team provides 24/7 resident support, ensuring building staff don't have to handle amenity-related requests.
Health and Wellness Programming
Wellness has moved from a luxury differentiator to a baseline expectation across residential real estate. An August 2026 Forbes report covered a wave of health-focused developments, including onsite wellness professionals, recovery spaces, and biohacking services, that have brought wellness-centered living well beyond the ultra-luxury segment and into more attainable price points.[2]
In multifamily, the definition of wellness is broadening as well. As TULU's research on the 2026 renter notes, it now extends past the gym to include air and water filtration and mental wellness programming. The properties that get the most from these amenities tend to pair the physical space with a schedule of classes, challenges, and guided access, so the space gets used.
Community-Led Events and Belonging
Connection between neighbors shows up in renewal data. In a study with one of the NMHC Top 50 ownership groups, RealPage found that residents were 8% more likely to renew their lease after forming just one connection within their community, whether through a fitness class, a shared interest group, or a resident event.[3] That single data point explains why many operators invest in recurring, low-barrier events: each one gives residents a reason to recognize their neighbors.
Events are only one route to those connections. Shared amenities create them too. Residents who use a common amenity tend to run into each other, trade recommendations, and bring friends along, and these small encounters complement the programming a community team already runs.
Personalization and the Push Toward Continuous Engagement
Underneath all of these strategies is a shift toward more frequent, more personalized touch points. A maintenance update, a package notification, a same-day service booking, and an event reminder tailored to what a resident has attended before each give the building another chance to show that it is responsive and easy to live in.
Usage data makes that personalization possible. When an operator can see which services, items, and events residents actually use, the amenity mix can improve over time. Operators who treat that feedback as an ongoing input give residents more reasons to stay, participate, and feel connected to where they live.
For a deeper look at how these dynamics play out at the lease renewal stage, see TULU's analysis of how amenity access affects renewals and lease-up stabilization.
Sources
EliseAI, "The 2026 State of AI in U.S. Multifamily," July 29, 2026, https://eliseai.com/resources/the-2026-state-of-ai-in-us-multifamily
Jeffrey Steele, "Wellness-Focused Living Reaches Attainable Price Points," Forbes, August 10, 2026,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffsteele/2026/08/10/wellness-focused-living-reaches-attainable-price-points/
RealPage Staff, "Creating Amazing Resident Experiences Through the Renter Lifecycle," RealPage Blog, July 17, 2018, https://www.realpage.com/blog/creating-amazing-resident-experiences-renter-lifecycle/