Product Updates: Week 13

This week we rolled out a slate of updates to RentEngine AI. It's now more accurate when confirming or cancelling showings, better at finding specific units in multifamily buildings, and clearer on how it handles move-in timing questions. We also made an update to piggybacking in Accompanied Showings and resolved a few bugs.

Here's what's new in RentEngine.

RentEngine AI Improvements

We've made several updates to improve AI accuracy and responsiveness across different scenarios.

Showing Sycophancy

RentEngine AI no longer falsely confirms showings that don't actually exist. If a prospect asks about a showing that isn't scheduled, the AI will tell them there's no showing on record and prompt them to schedule one.

Additionally, it now only cancels showings when prospects give clear and explicit confirmation, such as "yes," "please cancel it," or "I want to cancel." This prevents the AI from misinterpreting ambiguous acknowledgment messages like "Okay, thanks" as confirmation to cancel a showing.

Multifamily Property Search

The AI now better handles multifamily properties when prospects search by price, number of bedrooms, or number of bathrooms.

When a prospect asks questions like "Do you have any two-bedroom units at [building name]?" or "Do you have anything for less than $2,000?" the AI retrieves the matching unit within the building and links the prospect to that specific unit. This makes the conversation more relevant and increases the likelihood of scheduling showings for units that actually meet their criteria.

Move-In Timing Settings

We've updated the move-in timing section in Portfolio Settings to give you more control over how the AI responds to move-in timing questions.

The settings now include two separate controls:

Property can be held for: How far in advance a prospect can hold the property before moving in

Move-in can happen within: How soon a prospect can move in after applying

These settings help the AI give accurate responses when prospects ask about move-in timelines, hold periods, or how quickly they can secure a property.

Where to find it: Settings > Portfolio > Move-in Rules

Prompt Updates

We made several smaller updates to improve how the AI responds in specific scenarios:

ESAs: The AI now always confirms that Emotional Support Animals are allowed and don't require exceptions or approval from property managers.

Alternative properties: When a unit isn't available, the AI now offers links to other properties that might fit the same criteria, keeping prospects engaged even when their first-choice property isn't an option.

Application age requirement: The AI now clarifies that everyone over the age of 18 must submit a rental application.

Lawn care and landscaping: The AI now treats "lawn care" and "landscaping" as the same utility.

Piggybacking Maximum Limit

You can now set a maximum number of consecutive showings (piggybacks) allowed at the same property with the same agent.

How it works:

Instead of piggyback showings being simply allowed or not allowed, you can now specify a maximum number.

For example:

• Set to 3: Up to 3 consecutive showings can be scheduled back-to-back at the same property with the same agent

• Set to 0: No piggybacking allowed (same as the previous "disable" option)

This is useful when you want to allow some piggybacking for efficiency but prevent excessive back-to-back showings that could overwhelm agents or create showing fatigue. You can set different limits at the company level or customize them for specific properties.

Where to find it: Settings > Showings > Portfolio > Piggyback Maximum (also available at the property level)

Bug Fixes

We've resolved several bugs:

Syndication Email Report Fix

Fixed a bug where multifamily properties were incorrectly showing as "deleted" in syndication email reports even though they were actually posted successfully.

The syndication status report showed the correct "Posted" status, but the daily email alerts would show these properties as deleted.

Mobile App

Lockbox search by address: You can now search for lockboxes by property address in the mobile app. Previously, you could only browse the full list. Now you can type in a property address to quickly find the lockbox you need.

White screen fix: Fixed a bug where a white screen would appear when first loading the RentEngine mobile app on iOS. This was related to over-the-air updates with Apple and has been resolved. The app should now load normally without showing a blank white screen on launch.

Questions or feedback? Give us a shout via the Chat!