November 21st, 2009
As operators we often fall into the trap of believing we have taken all the steps we can to expand our market presence. However, we forget the power of our buying base. As owners a property may be the home to hundreds or thousands of residents.
We can leverage our resident base to gain the attention and marketing support of many potential marketing sources. For example, many businesses will welcome our flyers, banner signs, temporary signs for marketing our property because of the resident base.
Have you considered approaching private business owners to place signs, banners, and flyers on their premises as a way to increase your presence?
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Posted in Tenant Acquisition | 2 Comments »
November 20th, 2009
We often are able to place signs for $200 – $400 per quarter on main roads with very high traffic. The cost of the signs are less than $1,000 and the traffic can be 3 to 5 new visits per day.
The next major issue is what to place on the sign. We normally add:
- Property name
- Address
- Phone number
- Website
- bedrooms
- Sometimes more if it fits well.
Blake Ratcliff
The Apartment Guy
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Posted in Tenant Acquisition | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
Inspections and visits should be taken seriously with discrete and specific information sought. A good inspection can accomplish much to improve performance at a property. When a regional manager visits a property, some key items to see to are:
- Inspect ready units and verify that they are fully ready for new residents. Check outlets, heating, air conditioning, cleanliness, operability of appliances, faucets, toilets, windows, and so on.
- Inspect vacant units to see condition and to assure that no one decides these units are their personal inventory.
- Reviewing the referral program, retention programs, and partnership programs. Find out what the property team has been doing for marketing since the last visit and what they will be doing after this visit.
- Tour all the buildings, common areas, and amenities. Check operability, cosmetic condition, and for anything unusual.
- Review files and records.
- Check the condition of the office and the appearance of the team on site.
A review like this will improve property performance, send a clear message about your interest, and speak volumes about the need for quality.
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October 21st, 2009
Hey everyone,
We have found a post by Chris Thorman on his Software Advice website about Property Management Software. This article briefly explains the many problems property managers face such as keeping track of resident leads, managing marketing your apartment, building an apartment marketing website, and much much more. Also he brings up a great point on how a recent report by Apartment Internet Marketing shows that 46% of prospective resident leads come in past the normal 9am-5pm operating hours. The article touches on the importance of an online rental application and how collection information from your website can help you know more about your prospective residents such as where they found out about your apartment community… click Property Management Software for more on this post.
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Tags: Property Management Software, Software Advice
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Marketing Website, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Marketing Green Apartments, Online Property Management, Online Rental Application, Property Management, Property Management Service, Property Management Services, Property Management Software, Property Management Solution, Rental Application | 1 Comment »
October 15th, 2009
The Company should be able to provide:
- A summary of tenant rights in the state and municipality
- The first late date
- The notice of eviction date
- Workout guidelines for managers and guidelines should follow credit scores
- Court filing requirements
- Expected time to gain a court date
- A written process that includes checks and balances that will prevent managers giving favors to tenants and will maintain as brief an eviction process as possible
- A written description of the process to turn over uncollected rents to a collection agency
- A selected collection agency with local references
A thorough and prompt eviction process is a significant component of maintaining cash flow. Less obviously, the collections process is an important part of maintaining and improving the quality of the tenant base.
The notice process should also include procedures for calling, knocking on doors, and otherwise assuring the tenants respond immediately to late notices. There is a direct correlation between keeping tenants as nearly current as possible and the collectability of their rents. The further behind lease payments become the more difficult they are to collect.
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Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Billing and Collections, Operations | No Comments »
October 14th, 2009
I ran into a great post on multifamily insiders by Bill Gray (the Land Lord Doctor) on tenant screening. I suggest you give it a look for some great indepth ideas on tenant screening. If you have thoughts on the same please comment.
“Ask these questions when talking with the current or previous landlord:
1. What was the tenant’s payment history?
2. Did the tenant give sufficient notice according to the lease?
3. Did the tenant fulfill all of the terms of the lease?
4. Did the tenant give a reason for moving?
5. Were there any complaints from neighbors about the tenant?
6. Would you rent to this tenant again?”
For more items visit Bills Blog Entry.
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Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, Find a Tenant, Get Good Tenants, Getting Good Tenants, Leasing Management, Property Management, Property Management Solution, Tenant Evaluation, Tenant Screening | 1 Comment »
October 14th, 2009
In the course of checking my usual blogs, looking at LinkedIn discussions, etc. I continue my quest for contributors and input writing a series of books for multifamily industry operations and investment.
The initial installment will be a bit higher level book designed to help an apartment investor assure that the right resources, the right skills, the right due diligence, and the right plans are in place. Marketing will be touch on more lightly in this book, but future installments will delve more thoroughly into many areas.
If you are interested in helping out in anyway, drop me an email at blake.ratcliff@occupancy100.com
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Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing | No Comments »
October 12th, 2009
The largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. have seen high density renting for sometime. Many communities have taken steps to attempt to manage the issue. However, in the final analysis if cost of living demands it then this will be a reality.
As apartment operators, why should we embrace this trend?
In the industry, we tend consider density related to tenant behavior issues. This association is based on experience and should not be ignored. How do we counter this? Some ideas that stand out include:
- Increased deposits based on density.
- Processes to identify density violations and processes to bring the violating tenants into compliance.
- Processes to better tenant and manage tenants for screening. Perhaps additional charges for added parking needs are a good response. Or, co-signature requirements on leases.
Ignoring the issues is not reasonable, but the economy may have created a new reality that we can’t realistically ignore.
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Posted in Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find a Tenant | 1 Comment »
October 11th, 2009
Signage is still one of the most powerful marketing tools available to business and that includes multifamily. In the coming 12 months, we are focusing on signage in a much more significant way. The questions we are asking are:
- Where can we get more,
- How can we gain more attention,
- How can we improve consumer response.
- What is the right information on our sign.
As always marketing to a potential resident is much different than selling a night at the local hotel, products at the local clothing store, etc. Our customers are making a lifestyle choice that they will have to live with for the next 12 months or more. If we can facilitate this in the right way, the consumer is more likely to rent and once having rented more likely to stay for the long term.
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Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Website, Find Good Tenants, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant | No Comments »
October 9th, 2009
I admit it… I shamelessly took my children (4 year old twin girls) to shop one of my property’s competition this weekend. I told them we were pretending to get a new house and that they needed to be mini-inspectors like their mom and check to see if the apartments were “good”. In my kids’ minds, things are either “awesome”, “fine” or “crappy” – just to pre-warn you.
Comp #1 featured a comparable rental price and quare footage, but horribly worn berber carpet that according to my oldest, looked like the “crappy sidewalk” by their favorite park. This comment went unchallenged by the leasing agent.
Comp #2 featured a higher rent, less square footage, but big money amenities on the property and in the unit itself. The leasing agent completely neglected my kids on this tour, refused to ask their names and even told them “Now don’t touch anything, girls.” My kids’ reaction “I don’t like her face.”
Comp #3 was beautiful. Aggressively priced, good floorplan, great property and an excellent customer service standard. Completely catered to the girls. Right until we walked into the apt. that this leasing agent said “You guys are going to love it. Plenty of room for Nada and Frankie {my girls’ stuffed panda and dalmation} to play!” Nobody could get past the smell of mildew, damp, and obvious hidden water damage. My youngest said the apartment smelled like poo. At which point the leasing agent completely lost his cool and said “Sweetie, why don’t you just let me talk to your mommy.”
At this point you may be wondering why I blatantly used my children to evoke reactions in this shopping trip. The answer? I seem to get the most candid and transparent reactions. Yes, I used my children to see if the properties were “child proof” in their ability to cater to ALL their prospects, not just the ones with an active credit score. And I would (and probably will) do it again.
And what did we learn? Parents pay attention. No different than speaking to just one member of the couple that walks thru the door. Or refusing to acknowledge a pet that someone brings with them to the appointment. If you want to sell, then sell to every aspect of your prospect. You sell to their needs, wants, potential concerns, etc., so sell to their lifestyles, families, friends and whoever else joins them in their shopping. If you don’t, you may just get the thumb’s down from two four year olds, whose final pronouncement was “Mumma, those places were crappy crap!” Couldn’t have said it better. Now if only they could type this blog themselves.
The original blog article can be found on the Multifamily Insiders Blog.
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Posted in Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Find a Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Leasing Management, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Property Management, Resident Retention, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Evaluation | No Comments »
