Archive for the ‘Get More Renters’ Category
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 | 188 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 | 7 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 | 19 Comments »
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Submitting a rental application is a HUGE step for both the potential renter and property manager alike. Once the potential residents have submitted a rental application, they have made a conscious buying decision. It is a fact -phone leads, email leads, and walk-ins are great, but completed rental applications are golden. It’s a wonder then, why so many multi-family properties still use only paper and PDF applications when it comes to leasing their apartments! In the age of technology, it has been proven time and time again that electronic submissions are faster, easier, and more organized than a long paper trail.
I’m sure you’re thinking, “I have a PDF application that potential renters can print, fill out, and bring back or fax it to me; what’s the difference?”
The difference is huge!
First, ask yourself, “How many of your PDF rental applications have you received from your website and internet ads in the last 12 months? 1, 2, 5?”
PDF applications don’t work because they are essentially the same as a paper application that is picked up at the office. In fact, in most cases it is the exact same paper application, just uploaded to the Internet to be printed. Applicants still have to fill it out and bring it to you or fax it. We’ve learned that the less running around people have to do, and the more convenient their application process is, the more likely they will be to rent with your property. Convenience is key!
We personally own ten multi-unit apartment properties in the Southeast. Our properties, receive an average of 2-5 new rental applications a week from their websites and internet ads! One of our properties had 29 sight-unseen leases last year!
Online Rental Application
Tags: Online Rental Application
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, Finding Good Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get More Tenants, Getting Good Tenants, 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 | 12 Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Many apartment complexes have web pages and with over half of prospects beginning their search on the Internet, this figure will grow (according to a National Multhousing Council Report). Making good use of those pages is an important skill.
You may find the attached websites a useful source for the purpose:
http://streetguidetocopywriting.com/blog/writing-copy/10-steps-sales-page
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-for-Building-Great-Sales-Pages&id=779658
Looking forward to sharing new ideas.
The Apartment Guy.
www.apartmentmarketingsolutions.com
Posted in Apartment Marketing Support, Get Good Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Get a Tenant, Help Rent Apartments, Help Renting Apartments, Marketing Apartments | 1 Comment »
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 | 15 Comments »
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 | 32 Comments »
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Leads and leases are the name of the game for multifamily owners, managers, and leasing agents. Good advice on specific ways to WIN WIN WIN in the leasing game is rare.
You need new apartment residents. As important, they need the homes you can offer them.
I am offering FREE help unraveling the renting puzzle in the Internet Age. Simply fill in your email address in the box just below:
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, 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, Get More Tenants, Get a Tenant, Tenant Acquisition | 54 Comments »
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
More traffic… more qualified traffic… better closing techniques are the name of the game for owners and managers.
However, achieving this is a complex task. A significant key is recognizing that the American demographic is a changing thing. Did you know that 72% of new tenants for the next 10 years are expected to be minorities and that half of these will be Hispanic/Latino? Also, did you realize that this year American schools will graduate the largest class in history? Or, what about the fact that seniors as a part of population will grow disportionately over the next 10 years.
What about economics? How does the loss of wealth from the recession impact you? Or, how will increased savings impact renting?
As owners and manager, studying our markets is critical. This implies studying our local market and market trends. This means understanding global trends. Finally, this implies coming up with techniques to capitalize on these factors once understood and quantified.
Blake Ratcliff – CEO of Pallaton Properties
Posted in Apartment Management Service, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Find Good Tenants, 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, Getting Good Tenants, Getting Tenants, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Online Property Management, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding, Tenant Getting, Tenant Placement Service, Tenant Placement Services | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Advertising your multi-family property may seem like an arduous task considering the myriad of options (and expenses!) available these days. At Occupancy100, we’ve learned that online advertising is the most practical option when pitted against print advertising in terms of ROI and the infinite number of potential renters these types of advertisements are able to reach.
Print ads tend to be incredibly expensive and with a low return on investment. Brochures, pamphlets, newspaper/magazine ads, billboards, etc. require high monetary investments in order to fund design, printing, distribution, storage, and postage, and potential error modification. After such an outflow of money, the geographical restrictions for distribution are incredible—often these types of advertisements are seen mainly by the older generations who are less likely to use the Internet, and skip over those younger generations who rely mostly on the World Wide Web as their main source of information.
In comparison, online advertising costs are often limited to website hosting—which costs a minimal monthly fee—and the individual advertisements can be seen by any person with a computer, whereas print ads are generally limited to their specific geographical locations. Online ads are capable of reaching an infinite number of potential tenants with a larger overall profit margin per consumer in contrast to print ads. Additionally, errors can be easily corrected with online advertising whereas correcting any printed mistake requires an entirely new printed product—re-establishing the original costs.
After trying print advertisements for ourselves with minimal results, we tried our hand at advertising on the web, and what a difference it made for us and our company! We want to help you utilize these tried and true techniques for your own business! With our Successful Website, Search Engine Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization services, we help your business gain the top spots in organic and paid search results and we help you to expand your properties’ marketing opportunities as a whole. We even gather monthly reports so you can track the progress and traffic of your advertisements in conjunction with tenant acquisition at your properties. The best part? You only pay for results! Check us out today!
Posted in Apartment Management Service, Apartment Management Services, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, 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, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Leasing Support, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Obtain More Leases, Obtain More Renters, Obtain More Tenants, Receive More Renter Traffic, Receive More Renters, Receive More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding, Tenant Getting | 7 Comments »
