Archive for October, 2009

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Consumers Need a Roof Over Their Head

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Apartment communities can capitalize on the current economy.  In the past, consumers who wanted any particular item could rely on readily available credit to simply purchase the item.  This is no longer true.

Consumer credit has fallen 7 straight months.  In July, credit fell $21 billion.  In August, credit fell $10 billion.  In September, credit fell $12 billion.  News reports this week describe consumer spending as weak and focused on necessities.

A multifamily operator with imagination is uniquely positioned to be the value provider to residents.  For one price and some imagination, a community can:

  • Reduce the cost of living,
  • Reduce outlays for necessities, and
  • Provide luxuries that are otherwise unavailable.

Communities can provide services for good profits yet at a discount to alternative sources because your community is captive, your collections process is in place, and your staff is already positioned to provide much of what is needed.

Secondarily, the environment may be right  to significantly increase retention.  And, increasing retention reduces cost.

Blake

Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas | 6 Comments »

Value, Value, Value

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

U.S. consumer debt fell another $10 billion last month.  Current predictions are the average savings rate for  the coming decade will exceed 9%.  Retailers believe spending has shifted long term to necessities and away from luxuries.

So, the question becomes how can we as owners squeeze more into less.  I see a few areas we intend to act upon including:

  • Bunking options with safes for valuables in properties with space for more tenants,
  • Storage options for folks downsizing from homes,
  • Fixed income rent plans with utilities built in  (reimbursed by the tenant is our plan), and
  • By the bedroom leases and roommate management.

Managing in this environment is challenging, but with some imagination, these type changes may offer higher occupancy and higher margins even as pressure on price is increasing.

For folks looking at new units, I believe smaller floor plans are likely to regain  a great deal of luster as total cost of living including rent and utilities become more important.

Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Website, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding | 8 Comments »

Great Apartment Marketing Tip from Urbane Apartments

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Urbane Apartments offered a great tip for operators.  Instead of asking where resident prospects found out about your community, ask what search terms they used as well.  In this way, you can improve your competitive position on the web.

Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Marketing Website, Apartment Rental Application, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters | 15 Comments »

An Apartment Marketing Site is not Equivalent to a Great Website!

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Why would a great website not necessarily make an effective website for an apartment community?

Prospective renters don’t consider renting apartments in the same way they look at purchasing a good book, a computer, or perhaps selecting a dry cleaning service.  There are some similarities.  Once a consumer purchases a computer, they are commited for an extended period of time to make use of the product along with its weaknesses and strengths.  However, a computer is a decision that is not impacted by many external factors.  Choosing a computer doesn’t create a need to know where you will go to the doctor, or how far it is to the grocery store, or where the nearest fast food may be, etc.  On the other hand choosing to rent an apartment can and should raise all these issues for prospective multifamily residents.

While over 50% of apartments searches begin on line and over 70% if they  are moving in from out of town, as individual complexes achieving Internet visibility can be tough.  This has led many apartment communities to conclude that they do not need a website.  Instead they rely on the ILS community to provide web visibility.

Allowing the ILS to be your initial Internet contact is a reasonable approach to gain access to consumers, but it is not reasonable in a world where the consumer increasingly would like to make a decision without speaking to anyone that this is all the consumer will seek to know.

Consumers and therefore renters are seeking providers that will show them what they need, clearly explain what their service offers for their need, and allow them to purchase without further use of their time.  The ILS is not and should not be positioned to do this for you.  As the apartment manager, operator, or  owner, you are uniquely positioned to provide robust and compelling community information.

Because of this the website for an apartment community is NOT equivalent to a typical “great” website.  Because of this, the Apartment Marketing Site is a bit different animal.  First, there is no need for glitzy high cost web design for a strong multifamily community website.  The key is well organized information that allows the consumer to fully understand the services, shopping, sites, etc. that the community offers.

Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Website, Apartment Website, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Hispanic Market, Housing Market Facts, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting | 123 Comments »

What Do You Know About Your Tenants?

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

As the economic downturn has continued to worsen, I’ve watched  deliquencies grow worse at several properties,  I believe we are seeing more crime on our properties, and I am sure I could  find other effects if I looked closer.  All of this has caused me to consider our  tenant screening process.  The fact is a background check and credit check provide little information.

In the future, our company will be looking for subtle ways to strengthen and broaden our tenant screening process. The results of that effort will focus not only on tenant selection, but also on tenant retention.  Consider that if using this information you can change your base as little as 5% per year that the results will become compellingly positive over a few years time.

Our focus is going to be on learning more about lifestyles, education, interests, and social choices.  From these, we will focus on tenant retention and tenant incentives.  We believe these are excellent way to develop tighter communities where the incentive to rent will overcome the desire to own as residents become more focused on cash producing asset acquisition than homeownership.

Posted in Apartment Tenant Qualification, Housing Market Facts, Market Analysis, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Property Management, Property Management Service, Receive More Tenants, Resident Retention, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Evaluation, Tenant Finding, Tenant Screening | 9 Comments »

Deflation – Apartment Marketing and Operations

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Today, Bloomberg ran an article that states an expectation of deflationary pressure throughout 2010.  The principal driver behind this conclusion is the weakened employment environment throughout the United States.  As a results as owners and managers we have to consider how this effects are operations and asset choices.

From a leasing perspective, this is extends the pressure households are under to accept living situations that were not acceptable in the past.  Rebuilding America’s wealth means lower fixed cost choices for a large percentage of us.  Owners should be considering rental options that will reduce tenants total cost of living decisions.  Our affiliated properties have been developing fixed income solutions and solutions to increase the tenant density in our units taking advantage of our generally abundant parking, often good access to public transportation, and other factors supporting this.

From an operations perspective, we must be reviewing our labor costs and assure that we remain competitive.  Additionally, as a sector that is likely to  recover more quickly in this economy, we may have talent opportunities that don’t often exist.  Also, expect and pursue significant reductions in costs for supplies and contract services.

As potential property investors, good deals today must offer extremely strong fundamentals as market conditions may continue to erode property values over the next 24 months.  And, for properties already owned, lower leverage is the choice path.

Posted in Apartment Acquisitions, Apartment Evaluation, Apartment Investing, Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Purchases, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Apartment Website, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Leasing Management | 63 Comments »

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