Affordable settings in EliseAI come in two forms:
- Settings for market rate communities when prospects inquire about affordable offerings
- Settings for affordable communities
Affordable Settings for Market Rate Communities
These settings are managed on the backend and displayed within your Knowledge page. You cannot edit these setting directly.
By default, inquiries related to Affordable Housing and Housing Vouchers are flagged for urgent handoff without a response. However, EliseAI's Customer Support can assist in modifying both the language and behavior of these responses.
The available options include:
- Urgent handoff without a response (default setting)
- Urgent handoff with a customized response
- Respond only (no handoff)
- Non-urgent handoff after responding
To request updates or modifications to how requests about Affordable Housing and Housing Vouchers are handled, please submit a request here with the change you'd like to make. These settings cannot be changed in the Knowledge page.
Example of the affordable housing and housing voucher responses reflected in Knowledge.
Affordable Settings for Affordable Communities
To navigate to the Affordable Settings page, open your AI Portal and click Settings on the left side panel. In the dropdown that opens, click Affordable.
Any communities set up as affordable will be included on this page. To finish setting up these buildings, you will need to fill out each column.
This overview will guide you through filling out each column. All columns are required unless otherwise noted.
Basic Settings
The first three columns are the basic settings for your Affordable AI Assistant.
Should your AI try to qualify all leads for affordable units?
This column determines whether your AI Assistant should start the conversation as affordable or market rate.
- If the box is checked, your AI will proactively begin the pre-qualification process for all prospects.
- If the box is unchecked, your AI Assistant will only begin the pre-qualification process if the prospect asks about affordable units.
Should your AI allow tours for pre-qualified leads?
- If this box is checked, your AI Assistant will offer to schedule tours for prospects once they are pre-qualified.
- If the box is unchecked, your AI Assistant will avoid scheduling tours for prospects regardless of pre-qualification.
Should your community offer both market rate and affordable units, your AI Assistant will still schedule tours for market rate units regardless of whether or not this box is checked. To fine-tune your tour options visit Calendar & Tour Settings.
Max Occupancy
Double clicking inside of the cell will open a menu to input the maximum number of occupants for each layout size. If your community does not have a particular layout size leave the field as 0.
Affordable Knowledge
Skipping over "Application Document" and "Unit Details" for now, the next set of columns includes the Knowledge your AI Assistant will use in conversation with affordable prospects.
Most columns will be pre-populated with a default template that you can then edit for your specific community. The default templates are included below.
Your AI Assistant will heavily rely on Knowledge during conversations with prospects. Quality Knowledge results in quality conversations.
What documents are required for the leaseholder application? What documents work as IDs and proof of income?
Information to include in this cell:
-
Any documents required for the affordable application
-
Documents accepted for identification
-
Documents accepted for proof of income
Default Template
|
To apply for affordable housing, you'll need to fill in the application. Once that's complete, prepare the following documents: 1) valid government-issued photo ID for adult household members and birth certificates for all minors, 2) proof of income, such as 4 recent pay stubs or a current benefit letter, 3) rental history with landlord contact information, 4) social security cards, and 5) proof of citizenship or immigration status if applicable. Ensure all documents are current and accurate for a timely application process. If other people are on the waitlist for the units you're qualified for, their applications will take priority. Otherwise, you'll be invited to the property to tour the property and do a final review of your application materials. |
What should applicants know about the waitlist process for affordable housing?
Include any general details about the waitlist process here. If you do not have a waitlist at your community you can denote that here as well.
Default Template
|
We may have clients on the waitlist that are already interested in these homes, in which case, their application would take priority. |
What is the application fee for affordable housing? Does it vary based on the number of applicants?
Beyond the default template you can provide a number, if your community has a flat rate fee. For example, "25" would be an acceptable entry for an application fee of $25.
Default Template
|
A non-refundable $25 application fee per adult household member (including live-in aide) is required. |
Are there any additional qualifications such as an age requirement for senior housing?
This column is blank by default. Any additional details that haven't been included in the other Knowledge columns can be added here, such as an age requirement for senior housing. If there are no additional qualifications, this column can be left empty.
Note: Income requirements should not be included in this column. Your AI Assistant will calculate maximum income requirements based on the AMI% of the unit, which you will enter in the Unit tab during the next set of steps. Minimum income requirements are also covered in the next section.
Application Information and Unit Details
The final two columns include more details about the application process. In this section we will also backtrack to explain the "Application Document" and "Unit Details" which can be completed alongside these final steps. The "Unit Details" column is especially important!
Where can applicants find the link to apply for affordable housing?
In this column, include a hyperlink to your community's application portal or to an application file, such as a PDF.
You can upload a document directly in the "Application Document" column. Once the document is uploaded it should auto-populate. If this does not occur you can paste the link in this column. Note that uploading a file when one already exists will overwrite the previous document.
If you already have a link to an application, you can ignore the "Application Document" column.
What is the minimum income requirement for affordable housing applications?
You can format your minimum income requirement however you like, similar to the Knowledge columns. Writing out the income requirement will work, or if preferred, you can use a math equation.
Some examples:
-
2x the monthly rent
-
Residents cannot spend more than x% of their income on rent
-
(monthly rent) * 12 months / 0.35 rate
Unit Details
Finally, circle back to the "Unit Details" column to complete the affordable sections for each community. Clicking on the link inside of the cell will open the Unit Editor for that specific community.
In the Unit Editor, scroll right to the affordable columns: Unit Type, Affordable Program, and AMI.
- Select Affordable under Unit Type.
- Add each unit's AMI percentage to its AMI column. This is county-level data pulled from HUD. Your AI Assistant uses this percentage to calculate the maximum income requirement for each AMI level.
- If a unit is under PFC, enter PFC into its Affordable Program column. Otherwise, leave this cell blank.
This information drives your AI Assistant's ability to find dynamic maximum income limits for prospects.