Posts Tagged ‘Apartment Marketing’

5 Great Apartment Marketing and Management Ideas

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Hey everyone, after reading several reports provided by the National Apartment Association and the National Multi-Housing Council,  I have extracted some of the most valuable apartment marketing ideas and tips. They are listed in order of importance, and if done correctly will help you get more leads, double or triple applications, and significantly improve leasing success. I hope you enjoy!

  1. ALL marketing materials must have your main contact information (This means your online rental application and website address too! – see #2, #3): Let me explain this a bit further. Many people have the misconception that advertising and marketing are the same thing – they are not. It is true that successful marketing will pay huge dividends when advertising, but it is not the same thing. Marketing is the act of creating brand recognition and “buzz” about your company. So, when I say that all of your Marketing Materials must have your main contact information, it means that everything that you produce (news bulletins, surveys, signage, and of course your ads).
  2. You must have a strong Apartment Marketing Website: Your community website should be geared to both your current residents, while catering to new prospective residents. Here is a good example of an Apartment Marketing Website. Your website should have helpful information for your current residents, such as online rent-pay, resident work order request, community news, and a directory of local schools, services, shopping, recreation, etc. Most importantly your website should have well organized and direct sales information for your prospective residents. Floor plans, apartment amenities, discounts, maps/directions, and MOST essential every single page of your apartment marketing website must have a link to a web based rental application (see #3). Here is an example of an Online Rental Application.
  3. Apply NowA link to your Online Rental Application on every page of your Apartment Marketing Website and every single website advertisement: This point goes along with #1. An Online Rental Application will allow your prospective tenants to “contact” you and thus it is part of your contact information! All ads and other online marketing materials should include a link to your website AND a link to your online rental application. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have your own Online Rental Application, and it is not encrypted, you are liable! You are collecting sensitive renter information, and it is your job to keep that information SAFE!
  4. Respond to prospective resident leads and Online Rental Applications within 60 minutes of being received: Think about your potential resident leads and rental applications as milk left out on the counter. You only have so much time before the milk is sour and can not be salvaged. In our personal experience, Online Rental Applications responded to within the hour they are received, close over 50% of the time if they qualify
  5. Re-adjust office hours: It is a wonder why apartment leasing offices are open during “regular business hours” – 8am-5pm, it just doesn’t make sense. Why is this? After 3 years of research (over 700 Online Rental Applications, and countless leads) and compiling data, we have found that over 50% of leads and Online Rental Applications are received after 5pm! So this means that all of those leads and rental applications are not being responded to within the 60 minute time frame. Also, many people chose to look for apartments after work, after 5pm, and if your not in your office, you are losing leases. The office hours we suggest are 9am-7pm.

I hope you enjoyed it,

Sergio Navarrete

Apartment Marketing by Occupancy100.com

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Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Apartment Marketing Support, Apartment Rental Application, Find Renters, Find Tenant, Finding Good Tenants, Finding Renters, Finding Tenants, Get More Renter Traffic, Get More Renters, Getting Good Tenants, Housing Market Facts, Increase Apartment Occupancy, Increasing Apartment Occupancy, Marketing Apartment, Marketing Apartments, Multi-family Renting, Online Property Management, Online Rental Application, Property Management | 17 Comments »

Understanding renter demographics can provide a decisive closing edge.

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Did you know that www.census.govprojects that 72% of renters will be minorities. And, that 36% will be Hispanic / Latino? Did you know that in the Southeast 1% of renters and 3% of move ins are from residents coming from outside the region.

This implies websites, signage, and other items in Spanish can increase results.  Investing ILS or pay per click focused on the worst hit economic areas could prove fruitful for stronger local economies.
Understanding these points or engaging someone to manage these issues can significantly improve your renting results.

Blake Ratcliff
www.apartmentmarketingsolutions.com

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Posted in Apartment Marketing, Apartment Marketing Ideas, Obtain More Tenants, Tenant Acquisition | 152 Comments »

Why 60% of Hispanics Rent

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!

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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 »

Introducing, Apartment Marketing Solutions!

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Hey everyone,

We at Occupancy100 are pleased and proud to announce that our new website, Apartment Marketing Solutions, has been completed and is ready to serve all of your marketing needs!

In these hard economic times, we know how difficult it is to generate potential renter traffic, let alone sign leases.  Having previously struggled with lagging occupancy in our local renter market due to the military “surge” overseas, our staff had to create new and innovative ways to generate traffic through our apartment complexes. Having already experienced our services’ success for ourselves, we’re now here to help you! Check out all of our services, proven to generate leads and sign those ever-elusive lease agreements, and you only pay if it works!

Our Tenant Lead Generation solution generates 2-3 new calls per day by weekly updating your apartment ads on various websites such as Craigslist and Whitepages, and other forms of targeted marketing. If you sign up now, you get 10 leads for free — a great way to test our expertise for yourself!

We also offer an Online Rental Application–a secure, rental application that potential occupants can fill out online without using a pen, printer or fax–and you receive it immediately. This service option has proven itself time and time again, offering 3-5 new applications per week to our customers! Try it now and receive your first 4 applications for free! Additionally, our Online Rental Application is accompanied with our “Know Your ROI” feature that allows you to gauge which advertisements are creating the most traffic through custom pie chart displays.

Through our experience, we have learned that rental applications that are responded to immediately produce a signed lease at least 50% of the time. Since potential tenants often fill out rental applications upon returning home from work, we offer After Hours Leasing Support from 6pm-2am to field any incoming applications during this time! Potential renters are happier (and more likely to sign leases) knowing that they are responded to in a timely manner! Get your first 2 responses free if you sign up now!

Accompanying these amazing services are our auxiliary services, including search engine optimization, monthly reports, and more! To view everything for yourself and/or to contact an Occupancy100 representative for further detials, visit www.apartment-marketing-solutions.com.

We look forward to serving you and your apartment rental business!

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Posted in 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, Tenant Placement Service, Tenant Placement Services | 70 Comments »