Security costs are eating your NOI on Class C multifamily. Here are the real numbers.

1. The real cost of doing nothing

Most Class C properties already have cameras. They were installed by a previous owner, or the property management company put them in as part of a renovation. The problem isn't the hardware — it's that nobody watches the feeds. The cameras record to a DVR that sits in a closet, and the only time anyone looks at the footage is after something has already happened.

The costs of “doing nothing” are real but hard to see on a spreadsheet until they hit:

• Catalytic converter thefts in the parking lot cost $1,500-$3,000 per vehicle. One theft and your tenants start looking at competing properties.
• Trespassing incidents that turn into police reports — and police reports turn into insurance claims, higher premiums, and liability exposure.
• Package theft drives resident turnover. A study by the National Multifamily Housing Council found that security concerns are the second most cited reason for not renewing a lease after rent increases.
• Staff time reviewing footage— your property manager spending 3-4 hours scrubbing through DVR footage after a tenant complaint is 3-4 hours they're not doing leasing or maintenance coordination.

None of this shows up as a “security” line item, but it erodes NOI through turnover, insurance costs, and lost productivity. On a 120-unit Class C deal, even a 5% bump in turnover from security concerns can cost $50,000-$75,000 annually in vacancy loss and make-ready expenses.

2. Security guards — the math doesn't work

The first call most operators make is to a guard company. The quotes come back around $2,800-$5,000 per month for nights-only coverage at a single property. That's $33,600-$60,000 per year — on a 120-unit Class C where your total NOI might be $350,000-$500,000, you're giving up 7-17% of your income to a single guard who can physically watch one area at a time.

The problems:

• One person can't cover a property. A 120-unit complex has a parking lot, mailroom, pool area, multiple stairwells, and 3-4 entry points. A guard patrols one area while incidents happen elsewhere.
• Turnover is brutal.The security guard industry has 100-300% annual turnover depending on market. You're constantly training new people who don't know your property.
• Liability.If a guard confronts someone and it goes wrong, you're exposed. Most guard contracts explicitly limit their liability.
• Doesn't scale across a portfolio.If you have 5 properties, that's $168,000-$300,000 per year in guard costs alone.

Guards make sense for Class A luxury properties where the cost gets absorbed into premium rents. On Class B/C deals where you're operating on tighter margins, the economics rarely work.

3. Full camera overhaul — capital you don't have

The next option is ripping out your existing cameras and replacing them with a modern IP camera system from companies like Verkada or Rhombus. These are excellent products — AI-powered, cloud-managed, high resolution. But the price tag is prohibitive for most Class B/C operators:

• $50,000-$100,000+ per property for hardware, new wiring, NVR replacement, and professional installation.
• Months of constructionwith crews running cable through ceilings and walls. Tenants don't love it.
• Ongoing cloud storage fees of $200-$500 per month per property on top of the capital expense.
• Vendor lock-in.You're now on their platform, their hardware refresh cycle, their pricing.

If you underwrote the deal at a 6 cap and you're spending $75,000 on a camera overhaul, you need that investment to generate $4,500 in annual NOI improvement just to break even at the same cap rate. It's hard to justify that on a Class C asset where you're already competing on price.

4. Virtual guard services — hidden hardware costs

Virtual monitoring services (remote guard companies) sound great in theory — a remote operator watches your camera feeds and dispatches alerts. Monthly costs run $500-$1,500 per property, which is more palatable than a physical guard.

The catch:

• Most require you to replace your cameras with their proprietary hardware. That “$800/month service” suddenly has an $18,000-$25,000 hardware requirement upfront.
• Remote operators are watching dozens of properties simultaneously. Response times aren't what the sales pitch suggests.
• You're still dependent on human attention. During overnight shifts, alert fatigue is real.

Virtual guards can work, but do the total cost of ownership calculation before you sign. Hardware replacement + monthly fees + a 3-year contract often puts you back in the $50,000+ range.

5. AI monitoring on existing cameras — the middle ground

This is the category that barely existed two years ago and is now the fastest-growing segment in property security. The idea: keep your existing cameras and DVR/NVR, but add an AI layer on top that watches every feed 24/7 and alerts your team when something happens.

Instead of replacing hardware, you plug a small device into your existing DVR via HDMI. The device runs AI models locally (on the property, not in the cloud) and monitors all your camera feeds simultaneously. When it detects trespassing, loitering, package theft, or tailgating through a secured entry, it sends a real-time alert to your property manager's phone.

One example is Cyrano, an edge AI device built specifically for this use case. It plugs into any DVR/NVR via HDMI, installs in under two minutes, and supports up to 25 camera feeds per unit. The AI processes everything on-premise — no video leaves your property, which addresses the privacy concerns that come with cloud-based systems.

What this looks like in practice:

• Trespassing detection: Someone enters a restricted area at 2 AM — your manager gets an alert with a screenshot and threat assessment within seconds.
• Package theft prevention: AI monitors delivery areas and flags suspicious activity near mailrooms before packages disappear.
• Tailgating alerts: When someone follows a resident through a secured gate without credentials, the system flags it immediately.
• Footage search in plain English:Instead of scrubbing through hours of DVR footage, search for “person in red jacket near gate” or “vehicle entering lot after midnight” and get results in seconds.

At one Class C multifamily property in Fort Worth, an AI monitoring system caught 20 incidents in the first month — including a break-in attempt that would have gone unnoticed until the next morning. The property renewed after 30 days.

6. Per-door cost comparison

Here's how the options compare on a 120-unit Class C property with existing cameras:

At $1.80 per door per month, AI monitoring is an order of magnitude cheaper than any other option. And because it works with your existing cameras, there's no construction, no rewiring, and no multi-month installation timeline.

7. What to look for in a solution

If you're evaluating AI monitoring for your Class B/C properties, here's what matters:

• Works with your existing cameras. If a vendor tells you to rip out your hardware, walk away. Your cameras work. You need intelligence, not more hardware.
• On-premise processing. Video leaving your property for cloud processing creates privacy liability and bandwidth costs. Look for edge AI that processes everything locally.
• Real-time alerts, not just recording. The whole point is shifting from reactive (reviewing footage after an incident) to proactive (getting alerted as it happens).
• Threat assessment, not just motion detection. Basic motion alerts will drown your property manager in false positives. You need AI that can distinguish between a resident walking their dog and someone casing vehicles in the parking lot.
• Footage search. When you do need to review footage, being able to search in plain English saves hours compared to scrubbing through a DVR timeline.
• No long-term contracts. The best solutions are confident enough in their product to let you cancel monthly.