Archive for the ‘Hispanic Market’ Category
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 | 239 Comments »
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 | 23 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 | 21 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 | 81 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 | 31 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 | 43 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 | 76 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 | 80 Comments »
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
The Hispanic community in the United States has an incredible $800 billion worth of buying power, even in today’s economy, proving to be an incredibly lucrative investment for the multi-family units willing to tailor their marketing approach in order to meet the needs of the Hispanic renter community. Home ownership proves to be incredibly challenging among the Hispanic community, with lower average education levels, large family units, the general lack of Social Security Numbers for applications and background/credit checks, and a relatively lower average age of individual households deterring most from being able to possess their own homes.
The majority of the Hispanic community is of foreign birth, opting to make their way to the United States by way of major cities such as New York, Miami, and San Francisco. These densely concentrated metropolitan areas are generally home to few owners, and more renters, thus making home rental among the Hispanic population a popular option. The road to home ownership is often lengthy and bureaucratic—60% of United States Hispanic residents opt to rent their homes, and take pride in doing so. Studies show that Hispanics take pride in paying their rent on time and are often more eager to keep a clean living space and uphold tenant/landlord requirements within their homes. Because of this, many multi-family complexes are reaching out to the Hispanic community and adapting the general structure of their renting process and marketing approach to accommodate these eager renters’ needs. In a world where identity theft is happening all around us, a vast number of apartment applications no longer require Social Security Numbers, and many complexes are making concessions for large families. Apartment marketing efforts targeting the Hispanic market can bring you many qualified and eager renters.
At Occupancy100, we employ Spanish-speaking staff, ready and able to help you market your apartment to these thriving populations by translating and tailoring advertisements to reach your Hispanic target market. By talking to one of our staff members we can help you to customize your approach in order to gain this lucrative and profitable tenant population.
We have even created a Spanish/English Online Rental Application!
Tags: accommodate for hispanic tenants, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, getting hispanic tenants, hispanic tenant buying power, hispanic tenants are clean, hispanic tenants are great, marketing to hispanics, marketing to the latino market, Renting apartments to hispanics, the hispanic tenant market
Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Tenant Qualification, Find Good Tenants, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Tenants, Get Good Tenants, Get More Tenants, Getting Good Tenants, Hispanic Market, Hispanic Tenant Finding, How to Find Renters, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Finding | 32 Comments »
