Archive for the ‘Find Latino Residents’ Category
Monday, 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.
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 »
Friday, 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.
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 »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
The Apartment Marketing Blog has a very interesting and actionable post on salesmanship ideas that can improve close rates. We all benefit from attending to ideas like these and others such as:
- Dress codes,
- Name tags,
- Fresh cookies in the office and
- Many others
Good luck and good leasing.
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Marketing Website, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Find a Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding, Tenant Getting | 1 Comment »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
I recently wrote an article highlighting some key points for lead generation online on ezines. The address is:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Online-Apartment-Leasing-Leads—How-to-Find-Them-and-How-to-Win-Them&id=2884453
You will find this article different because of the focus on what the process is in the prospect’s head while working with the Internet during the apartment search. I’d recommend checking out the UrbaneLab for some good ideas regarding how to further decipher this process. Their address is:
http://www.apartmentveteran.com/
Posted in Apartment Management, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Marketing Website, Apartment Rental Application, 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 More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, Housing Demographics, Housing Market Facts, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Latino Prospects, Leasing Management, Leasing Support, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Online Property Management | No Comments »
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Great Article by Garland Pollard at BlackCow Press
So you have an apartment to lease. Either a weekly lease, monthly or yearly. And you’ve done all the things, including newspaper, CraigsList, local apartment guide, even a few fliers to neighbors. And you still have some un-rented inventory.
What’s next?
Make sure your web site and total online presence is where it needs to be, from email to website to Google Adwords to Search Engine Optimization for Google, Bing and Yahoo. A few ideas:
- Make your photos real. So often, websites show canned or old photos, and have non-descriptive language. If you can’t afford a professional photographer, get out there with a camera yourself and take lots of creative angles. You can hundreds of photos with a digital camera; shoot away. Be creative. Yes, you want images that show the room, but you want the images to POP out at the reader.
- Show floor plans. Potential tenants want to imagine what they will be getting.
- Make sure the right numbers are on your website. Yes, you want the office number on the site, but do remember to keep the rest of the telephone numbers on your website. A few minutes delay might mean you miss out on a tenant.
- Make it Melrose Place: No, we aren’t saying that Heather Locklear will need to be there. Instead, what we mean is that you need to “brand” the name and place as a community and way of life. If your clientele is just out of college, you want to play up the social aspect. If it is mid-life folks, then there is another approach to take. Go around and talk to the people who have lived in the apartments the longest, and like it. They will give you the scoop on what makes your place unique. Remember, outside of the signage and the architecture, your “brand” is the people who live and work at your complex. Consider having a web-page where you only list former tenants and what they loved about the place. “I lived there in 1973. Gosh those were some great days at Piney Apartments!”
- Meet the staff: Do you have a lawn company or maintenance man? Show them on the site. Not only does it give them a boost, it tells the potential tenant that this complex is a place where the staff is valued. That message will translate to the potential tenant as this is a place that will take care of me.
- Talk to Realtors. Realtors who do relocations might be a good source of referrals.
- Use Google Adwords. With Adwords, you pay for clicks, not exposure. That means that your apartment community or resort gets exposure even if you don’t pay.
- Use lots of noun-based copy. Search engines can only find your information through words, and adjectives are not as important as nouns. So use lots of words and descriptions for your apartments. Don’t use lots of descriptive words. Instead, use facts, such as size, color and amenities. For instance, you would say “oleander-lined walks” rather than “pretty” walks, or you might say “brick-lined paths” rather than just nice landscaping. This might sound extreme, but you can even mention paint colors, flower beds and the like. Read our tips on Search Engine Basics for ideas.
- Have faith! While the economy is in an awful spot, everyone’s in this mess so just keep at it and you just might even build up a waiting list.
- Know your architecture: At some point, someone designed your apartment buildings with a vision, however modest. Make sure you know that. For instance, if it is a complex built in 1962 by a local architect or developer or contractor, mention that on the site. People have confidence in other people; you are trying to differentiate yourself and every tidbit of information helps.
- What are the benefits? Find benefits where you don’t think there are benefits: If you have shaded parking, that’s a benefit. If you have a pool, make sure that it is an”intimate” pool or a “jungle” pool or a pool with “dozens of deck chairs and card tables where residents play chess every Tuesday.”
- Take advantage of Social Media. You can spend a lot of time in social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, promoting your apartments. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not. But even a little bit of effort helps to get search engines like Google and Bing to find your name, and associate your apartment name with keywords.
- In the neighborhood: Don’t be afraid of old fashioned shoe leather. Yes, the web is powerful. But make sure you make yourself known to other nearby apartment communities and businesses that are near to your apartments. They will certainly be able to refer people if they know of someone.
- Post the rules but be flexible: When new tenants are hard to find, you need to keep the ones you have. Better to train an old tenant to be a good tenant than to have to find new ones. That being said, a person who finds your apartment over the web wants to know some of the expectations. For instance, are guests quiet at the pool after 9 p.m., or is there a Friday night pool party? How many parking spaces?
- Make sure your site is running properly. Look at your site on different computers and browsers. Does it load quickly? Do you have analytic software installed so you know where your traffic originates and what they are looking for? Do you have all the pages up that you need?
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Tenant Qualification, 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 More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Housing Market Facts, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Online Rental Application, Property Management, Property Management Service, Property Management Services, Property Management Solution, Property Management Solutions, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Finding | 4 Comments »
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
The responsibility of renting a property is critical, but simply generating traffic and having a trained sales staff will not rent units. We are operators in a commodity market. By definition, this implies that as owners and managers we have to provide some basic underlying conditions to rent.
First on the list, as operators we gain nothing by trying to sharply under price the market and if we over price the market, we will not rent. This is a delicate item because if we price too low we lose money and if we price too high we will not rent at all. Further, this means we have to be competitive on concessions as well as basic price. With all this in place, if as owners and operators, we can establish a position of greater value we will have a sustainable edge in the market.
Next, our property must be priced to compete with properties on amenities. Visits and calls are generally determined by bedrooms, bathrooms, and amenities. Pricing to fit against the competition in this area is critical.
A clean well maintained property is another basic point. Property management processes and procedures that assure this are critical to renting units. As always, customer service wins the day.
Finally, social condition will kill renting and can be a great rent enabler. If resident prospects see a clean area, late model vehicles, quiet and low key resident interactions, etc. Residents and resident prospects need to feel safe in the neighborhood. The probability begin increasing quickly that they will choose your community as their new home if safe, clean, and friendly conditions.
Blake Ratcliff – The apartment marketing guy
Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Find a Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Tenant Acquisition | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
We’ve hit many times the fact that Hispanics are the fastest growing resident demographic. However, did you know that Hispanic Internet usage is growing 50% faster than the general market? Do you have a strategy for this market area?
If not, keep in mind that most Hispanic searches are in English. The fact is Hispanic marketing in fact any demographic marketing focus is a cultural item. For example are you aware that a Hispanic household is 3.5X more likely to respond to a direct mail item than a non-Hispanic Household. This is particularly important when you understand that they only receive 10% of the mail other households receive.
About 55% of Hispanics respond well to ads in Spanish. Also, Radio and television is generally the best mode of advertising based on selling results.
When you considers Hispanics are $860 billion dollar market segment, ignoring this segment is at your own risk. This will be an even greater fact as the segment is expected to grow to over $1 trillion by early in the coming decade.
Good sources for this post were:
MK Blog
The Latino Journal
Online Hispanic Trends
Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Tenant Qualification, 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 More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Get Tenant, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, Housing Demographics, Housing Market Facts, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Latino Prospects, Latino Renteres, Latino Renters, Leasing Support, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Online Property Management, Online Rental Application, Property Management, Property Management Service, Property Management Services, Property Management Solution, Property Management Solutions, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding, Tenant Getting, Tenant Placement Service, Tenant Placement Services, Tenant Screening, U.S. Housing | 3 Comments »
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
A Demographic Housing Seismic Shift
At apartmentmarketingsolutions.com, we’ve identified some key areas where properties can differentiate themselves. One of the least exploited is ethnic differentiation. Over the next decade this is an even more significant fact as more than 72% of new households will be minority according to the 2009 Joint Housing Study. This implies a seismic shift in the proportion rental homes for the nation. For the first time since records have begun U.S. homeownership is on track to move below the historic average of 62% toward a low 50% range (and this does not consider impact of the housing crisis driven recession on homeowner trends).
Since minorities have lower incomes and in general rent at a greater rate than whites. In fact, if we break this down further, U.S. census data shows that blacks rent at a greater than 50% rate compared to home ownership. This jumps to more than 60% for the Hispanic Latino population.
Where does this lead? It turns out that of new households, Hispanic Latinos are 36% (50% of the 72%) of the total. If we extrapolate from this point we know that of total household figures:
If this trend holds, homeownership will fall below 50% over the next decade or two a fact no study has explicitly recognized. Should this trend hold the course, besides indicating drastically reduced single family household growth there will be a equally large rise in multifamily housing requirements. Further, management companies that do not address winning larger portions of this demographic will struggle to maintain occupancy. Apartmentmarketingsolutions.com sees Spanish leasing and marketing tools as a critical step to address this trend. Further, apartmentmarketingsolutions.com believes that beyond the steps taken that research understanding these trends are key competitive differentiators.
Posted in Apartment Investing, Apartment Marketing, Find Good Tenants, Find Latino Residents, Find Renter, Find Renters, Find a Tenant, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Get a Tenant, Getting Tenants, Help Rent Apartments, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, Housing Demographics, Housing Market Facts, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Latino Prospects, Tenant Acquisition, U.S. Housing | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
The past year has seen a rapid decline of the U.S. economy, taking home ownership with it. With foreclosures on the rise, the multi-family housing industry is getting a great boost. Apartment living appeals to people for its convenience and affordability—it lacks the need to maintain your own home and outdoor space, it is easier to relocate yourself and your family should the need arise, and rental homes are generally located in areas that have suitable access to transportation as well as shopping, schools, restaurants, etc. It’s no wonder that the tenant trends in renting span across many demographic profiles. In terms of income, a diverse group of people tend to rent—there are those who can afford to purchase a home and instead rent pricey apartments and lofts with upscale amenities in high-end neighborhoods, and there are those renters who do so out of financial necessity. Many young professionals rent near employment centers and metro/subways in order to improve their commutes. Empty nesters often rent in the suburbs to free themselves from the burdens of homeownership, as well as to be able to travel and explore the world following their children’s departure.
In general, immigrants tend to rent more often (and longer) than those people born and raised in the United States. Young adults from the ages of 18-30 also tend to rent more often due to their newly found freedom from the homes of their childhood, their lack of funds due to student loans, and their general inexperience when it comes to homeownership and all the bureaucratic paperwork that comes with it—renting is a much simpler option, and often much less of an investment for young adults just starting out in the “real world” not knowing where their lives will take them. The “echo boomer” generation (the children of the “baby boomer” generation) at 75 million strong, is one of the largest populations of renters in the United States.
It is safe to say that there is not one specific type of renter out there. Though immigrants and young adults tend to rent more often, all people in all stages of their lives can be influenced to do so through a specifically tailored marketing approach. Occupancy100’s staff is here to help you create a marketing design that can attract all types of renters whether they are college graduates or empty nesters. Renting is an experience that everyone can enjoy!
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Find Latino Residents, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, Tenant Acquisition | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
The staff at Occupancy100 has invested a lot of energy into researching what works and what doesn’t in the world of multi-family housing marketing.
We have come to the conclusion that inquiries and applications that are responded to within an hour are more likely to result in leases (close to 50% of the time). Many properties find themselves tied to their operating hours—when potential tenants call or email after these set hours they do not receive responses until the next business day, often resulting in them continuing their research and looking elsewhere. By the time their inquiries are responded to, the likelihood that they have found some place else to live has increased exponentially.
It is a proven fact that many potential tenants do most of their apartment hunting after the five o’clock hour—once they’ve arrived home from work. Multi-family renting is a business in itself though, with most properties ending the work day at five o’clock, as well. You see the problem, and so do we! Because extending office hours is often a hassle for many businesses, Occupancy100 offers an after-hours call service that guarantees a response from our professional leasing agents at our central office to more than 90% of all applications submitted between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2a.m. We ensure that responses will be made within an hour of receipt of the inquiry or application so you can rest easy—and of course, you only pay per result! Even more of a reason to rest easy—there’s nothing to lose!
Posted in Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Support, Find Latino Residents, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Get a Tenant, Getting Good Tenants, Help Renting Apartments, Hispanic Market, Latino Prospects, Latino Renters, Tenant Acquisition | No Comments »
