This is a PAY per RESULT Apartment Marketing Solution.
We have found that potential residents fill out applications after work once they have gotten home. This means that rental applications are submitted after your leasing office has probably closed. Our research suggests that applications that are responded to within the hour lease more than 50% of the time. Because of this we have professional leasing agents at our central office between the hours of 8am to 2am which ensures that more than 90% of all applications are responded to within an hour. Even if your leasing office is not open, you ...
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Apartment Marketing Solutions
Difficult Economic Times Have Affected the Apartment Industry
With difficult economic times... Unemployment is rising... Delinquencies dog revenue... more and more potential renters are doubling up... Traffic is slow... Occupancy is edging downward...
Apartment Communities need more resident prospects:
Calls - with so many renters doubling up we can't afford not to generate as many as possible,
Visits - statistics show that results are much stronger from online contacts if responded to within the first hour,
Emails - increasingly resident leads do not want to talk on the phone or otherwise interact. Some properties we serve have closed over 10% of their leases without a ...
Finding Better Residents
Finding better qualified residents is essential to the success of your multi-unit property. Increasing apartment occupancy can be done through two main methods:
The first method for finding good, qualified residents is to heavily advertise your apartment so that you capture as many potential residents as possible, and then weed out the many unqualified rental applicants. This method of resident acquisition brings you a plethora of potential residents but heavy advertising is expensive.
The second method for finding great qualified renters is to only advertise to renter prospects who are more likely to qualify. Acquiring renter traffic though this method of resident ...
Occupancy100 Blog
Related posts:New Occupancy100 Video
Resident Lead Generation
This is a PAY per RESULT apartment marketing solution.
Our Resident Lead Generation solution generates 2-3 daily new calls. How do we do this? We have identified some of the Internets leading web presence companies. We place weekly updated ads of every floor plan on each of these companies' websites. Craigslist, Whitepages, Google Maps, Yahoo Local, etc...
Customer Feedback - Beckie Foust
"Occupancy100 generates 1-2 qualified leads per day"
"Currently Occupancy100 generates 1-2 qualified leads per day, and 3-4 new applications a week. We love it. Most of our new tenants have come from occupancy100s services."
Beckie Foust Property Manager - ...
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.
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?
Hopefully, we all understand very clearly how critical the move-in process is for establishing a positive resident relationship from Day 1. However, in the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, an astonishing figure has come to my attention:
According to 2nd Quarter 2009 data from SatisFacts Research, only 73% of residents indicated that all appliances and fixtures worked properly upon move-in!
That means more than one-quarter of all new residents had an appliance or fixture that did not work!
Are we okay with this stat? I hope not, because unresolved issues at move-in reduce the percent of residents “very likely” to renew by one-quarter!
So, what to do? Let’s re-evaluate the make-ready inspection process. One tip I learned from Bill Nye is the concept of “walking right,” or “follow the wall.” This means, for the final inspection, the maintenance team member enters the apartment and follows the wall to the right stopping to check each light switch, outlet, phone jack, window treatment, doorknob, appliance, light fixture, etc. Eventually, you end up at the front door again.
Rework is always costly – whether in time, materials, customer patience, or all of the above. Ensuring the resident’s new home is truly in move-in condition will be the first critical step in assuring the resident they have made the right decision in making their home in your community.
What make-ready inspection tips are effective for you?
We have been working hard to create as many helpful videos for you to enjoy as possible. Here is a video that explains our apartment marketing solutions, and offers a great overview on Tenant Lead Generation, and the Online Rental Application.
In the past few weeks, we have made several great improvements to our Online Rental Application and our Application Management Software. Please take a moment to watch our 4 minute video:
Physiological responses to visual stimuli that make you feel (Psychology) happy, secure, and calm.
Lets explore the simple psychological and physiological responses in humans and apply these to how we can improve customer experience.
Physiology is what the body physically does (the phys- part of the word) when stimulated by the environment.
Psychology is how your brain interprets physical stimuli or in other words how it makes you feel.
Psychological and Physiological responses are completely different and separate responses to stimuli from the present environment (sound, colors, people, room arrangements, sitting vs standing, and many other factors are part of the environment) although physiological responses affect psychological responses. It is important to be able to differentiate between these as an understanding of such responses will help you create an effective environment to deal with all sorts of problems. An effective environment will help your leasing consultants close more leases, your staff will be happier and more comfortable at work, and it will even help calm angry residents.
So I will give you this scenario: A resident in your multi-unit property is furious because they have had a maintenance request open for 3 weeks, and no one has even contacted about them. Oh oh! This could mean trouble as an angry resident will not only cause you a personal nightmare, there is a distinct possibility that it could cost you a lease or more!
What if your leasing agent is in the process of having a potential new resident fill out a lease an application, or even a lease agreement?!
So what do you do? How do you set up your leasing office environment to calm an angry resident or help promote trust to get more applications and leases?
Today lets look at the visualcomponents of the environment:
Light is the first and most important component, not just the amount of light but the type of light can make a big difference. There are several types of light, but the best and most calming light is natural light. The human body natural physiological response to light is general awareness and the general psychological response is happiness. But why is this?
Physiology – When your eyes and skin are exposed to light several sympathetic (or rather in simple terms, excitation) responses are triggered. The stronger the source of light the more this response is elicited.
Psychology – The physiological excitation elicits a psychological response of happiness. The best way to explain this is: What is a nice day? Sunny and warm or dark and gloomy?
The sun’s light is the strongest and best source of light (plus its free!). Having several large windows will allow you to utilize this beautiful natural resource.
Good light = happy and focused staff + happy prospective residents + helps create happy calming feelings in an angry resident.
Colors are a second important component of the environment. Dark colors and red (fire-like) colors are the worst choice. You will want to have light colors that promote calm and secure feelings. The color of your apartment community leasing office can have a big impact on leasing success. Click on Apartment to read more about the psychology of color.
Physiology – Light colors reflect more light or rather “light up the room”. Again like above this triggers the excitation of the human nervous system.
Psychology – Like above, excitation of the nervous system caused by natural light promotes feelings of happiness.
Light or rather pastel like colors reflect more light, and promote feelings of happiness. Here is something to think about: Do you remember your high school yearbook? What color were the eyes of the superlative winner of “the best eyes”? Almost all of the time they are light blue.
Light pastel colors have higher light reflectance = happy and focused staff + happy prospective residents + helps create happy calming feelings in an angry resident.
To read more about how colors affect your staff’s mood and concentration click on apartment marketing.
Look for our post tomorrow on how sounds can help your customer’s experience.
The short answer many properties are being thrown into default by these changes. Properties meeting LTV, DSCR, and other required metrics are suddenly underwater.
Consider the effects of these changes plus increasing capitalization rates on owners and investors. Projects that made tremendous sense a few months ago now are struggling. Over the coming months many more will face the same issue.
As this situation comes to its full head, properties will sharply reduce expenses in numerous ways cutting repairs and maintenance, staffing, marketing costs, and almost any area they can pursue to push up their value before the appraisal, improve DSCR results, and many more.
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?
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.
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.