Progress Residential’s New Approach to Vacant Property Management
by Ashna Lee
Vacant properties are a fact of life in rental real estate. But for many owners and operators, they are also one of the most underappreciated sources of risk. Issues with trespassing, theft, water damage, and even the safety of staff can escalate quickly in the absence of tenants, and traditional solutions do not always catch problems in time.
That reality hit home for Progress Residential, one of the largest single-family rental (SFR) operators in the country, when incidents of trespassing surged across key markets like Dallas, Atlanta, and Memphis. Despite strong security protocols, properties were repeatedly being accessed by unauthorized individuals, leading to lost revenue, delayed turns, and safety concerns for field teams.
Their challenge was not unique. But their solution and the results it delivered offer an important lesson for operators of all sizes.
The New Vacancy Problem
Vacancy has always come with risk. But in today’s market, where leasing delays, staffing shortages, and economic pressure are common, even short periods of unoccupancy can lead to long-term losses.
“For a portfolio our size, even a small increase in incidents can mean significant operational cost,” said one senior leader at Progress Residential. “It’s not just about what gets stolen or broken. It’s about time, liability, safety, and the cost of trying to undo the damage after the fact.”
Like many large operators, Progress tried the usual options: alarms, routine property checks, and motion sensors. But these tools were not built for the reality of SFR vacancies, where monitoring needs to be temporary, cost-effective, and easy to deploy and relocate as properties turn over.
That is when they discovered a new solution built specifically for vacancy protection: Swidget’s VacantView™.
A Smarter Kind of Monitoring
Known for their innovative wiring devices and modular smart sensors, Swidget has evolved into an IoT-enabled data services business, providing holistic smart solutions for commercial and residential customers alike. One of their latest innovations is VacantView, a portable monitoring system designed for vacant rental properties. The solution caught the attention of Progress not because it was flashy, but because it addressed important gaps that traditional security systems ignored.
VacantView kits bundle discreet sensors (including cameras and proximity sensors) with a hotspot for reliable connectivity. Once a few smart-ready outlets and/or switches are installed in a vacant property (typically during renovation or turnover), the components of the VacantView kit can be deployed in a few easy steps:
» insert the sensors into the outlets or switches
» plug in the hotspot
» assign the kit to the appropriate property using the VacantView app or dashboard
The system immediately begins delivering real-time activity alerts, capturing video clips, and gathering activity data in a centralized dashboard.
The kit can be deployed in minutes, and just as easily moved to another vacant property as needed, with no messy contracts tying kits to specific properties.
Real-World Results, Not Just Alerts
Progress piloted VacantView in several high-risk markets and saw results immediately.
Within the first week, the system caught an overnight intruder in Dallas. The team verified the break-in remotely and coordinated a same-day eviction, with no police escalation required. In Atlanta, repeat trespassers were identified, and behavioral patterns captured by VacantView enabled the proactive re-securing of properties for improved prevention.
Over three months, Progress saw an 86% reduction in trespassed homes and more than $250,000 in cost savings, including avoided property damage, reduced legal fees, and staff time.
Perhaps just as importantly, field teams gained a new level of confidence with heightened situational awareness. Before entering a property, they could check for unauthorized movement, ensuring a safer environment for employees, contractors, and leasing agents.
Additionally, when intervention by law enforcement was required, a live view inside the property gave officers insight into the situation, helping them assess potential threats before entering. This visibility can make the difference between a routine response and a dangerous confrontation.
Why It Worked
This new approach to vacant property management was a success because Progress Residential didn’t just buy a new piece of tech — they embraced a new operational model that prioritized real-time visibility and flexibility over static, costly systems tied to individual homes.
During their pilot, Progress highlighted several standout features of VacantView:
Portability // Instead of permanently outfitting every home with static hardware that easily becomes outdated, a limited number of kits could rotate through properties based on risk level and vacancy duration.
Scalability // As the portfolio grows or as risks shift geographically, more kits can be added or moved. Operators can also add Swidget environmental sensors (sold separately) to monitor humidity, air quality, or water leaks and mitigate further damage.
Situational Awareness // Live video via discreet cameras help staff understand what is happening inside before entering a home.
Minimal False Alerts // AI-powered human detection in Swidget’s cameras ensure the team isn’t flooded with meaningless alerts, allowing them to focus on the serious incidents that mattered.
Evidence Capture // Time-stamped sensor logs and cloud-stored video clips support legal cases, insurance claims, or law enforcement response.
Integration // The VacantView platform was built with interoperability in mind — easily integrating security alerts into existing internal systems and keeping operations simple.
What started as a small pilot has now expanded to over 230 homes across seven markets, with continued rollout underway.
A New Layer of Security for the SFR Industry
The rise of intelligent, modular monitoring represents a broader shift in how property managers approach security. It’s no longer enough to rely on basic, static systems. Operators need solutions that adapt with their portfolios and provide value during day-to-day operations, not just emergency response.
VacantView is redefining vacant property protection with smart, data-driven decision-making tools that reduce risk and optimize operations at scale.
As Progress has shown, when you stop treating vacancy as a temporary gap and start treating it as a risk profile to actively manage, the results are tangible: safer staff, protected properties, and fewer costly surprises.
Learn more at swidget.com/vacantview.
