Apartment Leasing

To all you property mangers, regional mangers, COO’s and property owners – here’s a secret - the success of your property lies within the brand and managing it accordingly. Just as Coke and Apple create brand awareness for their products and devote an entire team just to branding and each one of us is our own personal brand that needs to be managed on a daily basis, so too does your property.  If your property doesn’t have a distinguishable brand that your staff live and breathe every day then how will your property stand out from its competitors?  You will be no different than the property down the street or the next town over.  

For example, if your property’s brand is to be “social” then your managers, leasing agents and maintenance staff need to manage it accordingly.  They need to have the brand in mind as they perform their respective roles. In other words, your property manager needs to be planning resident events and updating the property Facebook page and Twitter account, your maintenance team needs to know everyone’s name and have a constant smile on their face and your leasing agent needs to be vocalizing the brand to every prospective resident. It’s truly amazing when you change someone’s mindset to manage from a brand’s perspective, not just from a “this is my job and this is where I work perspective,” how you can enhance and distinguish the property.  

For the bulk of my childhood (from 1980-2001, in fact), the slogan of the United States Army was, “Be All You Can Be!” It was a tremendously successful marketing campaign created by E. N. J. Carter while at the advertising firm N. W. Ayer & Son. I remember seeing posters in malls and on college campuses. There were television commercials—tons of them— radio spots, t-shirts, and even action figures of unnaturally endowed men proudly sporting the sexy slogan. What contributed to its success was that the phrase mirrored a greater societal trend emerging in the late 80s: one that affected every child born in that era and still continues to resonate today. It’s what I like to call “The American Idol Syndrome,” or basically the idea that for whatever reason, our society has gotten it in its head that simply by trying, you too can “be all you can be:” get famous, find happiness, and die rich…just because you want to.

            But something happened in 2001 that challenged this idea that had shaped an entire generation; the Towers fell, and people changed. For a while, people were colder, darker, and more nervous about what the future had in store for them.

            Suddenly “being all you can be” wasn’t good enough. After all, what if all I can be falls drastically short of ending the war on terror or bringing the nation out of a recession, let alone running two consecutive miles or doing fifty push-ups? And so the slogan changed to “An Army of One,” and the catchy but cliché jingles of the Cosby Show era banished into the obscurities of YouTube, along with the theme song to Thundercats and “Crossfire.”

If there is one thing that property managers know, it’s that we are exposed to risk in all that we do. This “risk” comes in all shapes and forms; some are more evident than others. I am constantly reminding my employees to be careful of their actions as to not expose the property and our owners to possible litigation. Some of the greatest potential risks, as I have found, are in the very small details. Here’s a few that I wanted to point out.

First, consider the “golden rule” of leasing—treat everyone consistently. Consistently being the key word.  I have often instructed my leasing agents to use caution when asking where people are from. Generally, in life this is a great conversation starter, but in the realm of fair housing when we open that door and are inquisitive on a prospects nationality this could be construed as discriminatory (if an allegation were to ever occur). The curiosity of national origin presents a very strong basis for a suit if one were ever made against the defendant (i.e. leasing agent). Think about it: why does it matter where they are from? You are trying to lease them an apartment—its best to stick to questions that qualify the prospect. As an alternative, the leasing agent might inquire about the prospects interests, hobbies, etc. While it may seem like a harmless, amiable way to personally get to know a prospect, its best to leave this question alone.  

Secondly, the guest card. The guest card is an all-important leasing tool whose purpose is to gather bona fide, relevant data pertaining to the apartment preferences of a prospect. Not only does this tool aid in the selling process of the leasing agent, but its auxiliary purpose is to ward-off fair housing claims by providing a record of the tour—time and place, apartment shown, follow up, etc. Consider if the prospect has children. I have been to a few properties where the leasing agent will report the familial status of all occupants (i.e. if they are a child, minor, etc.)—this is a bad idea. It’s best to stay neutral and simply state the number of occupants that will be living in the apartment. Remember that familial status is a protected class.

In what may be our most controversial survey result to date, we analyzed the role of model apartments and whether they were actually effective in the leasing process.  Several interesting results came out of the survey, such as how much apartment communities spend on decorating their model apartments, and how often they change that style.  However, the most interesting results revolved around their effectiveness as leasing tools.

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We have covered the true first impression for our Prospects is our online presence, aka our Website (if you have not, begin here), after which, we would assume the second impression would be the community itself as the person is driving in.  If they don't like what they see, they will turn around and drive away (this is true statement, I have been guilty of it myself).

So, we have got them all the way in the front door, and they are about to make their third impression, which is the Leasing Agent themselves. 

 It's funny how must people don't stop to realize the apartment home itself is actually the LAST impression made to the prospect.   Furthermore, that multiple third party companies have spent many years, and countless dollars doing massive amounts of studies, to come to the very true realization that more often than not, people base their buying decision on the person, NOT the product. 

I can't express enough how important a GOOD, MOTIVATED maintenance team is in the success of your property.  This is not an epiphany, I am not a genius because I'm saying this - I know this!  But, what are we doing day to day to keep our maintenance teams motivated?  Although I hope I don't have to tell you why it is important to keep them motivated but I will so we are on the same page.

WHY keep them motivated?

• Motivation builds loyalty and engagement - what they deal with daily is a challenge - I mean when was the last time that YOU unclogged someone else's toilet?
• We frequently forget when we have events or meetings to include maintenance so they are forgotten
• They know what is happening on your property and in your units -- if you connect with them and make them feel like they are part of the team then they will feel more comfortable telling you what is happening on site.

I want to give you all a few quick activities to help you get started in maintaining good, motivated teams:

• Have a make ready contest - take a perfect make ready and stage some things in it that are out of place, i.e.,  missing vent, minor leak in sink, lights out, missing rod on blinds, etc.. then have a timed race for who can find the most errors in the make ready - give gift cards, etc..
• Attach customer comments to the work orders and give away gift cards to the team member that gets the most positive ones returned wins something
• Have a vendor come in and host a training meeting and then give them lunch
• Trading Spaces for the day -- have the leasing agents work in the maintenance shop and the maintenance work in the leasing - make sure the entire teams don't switch on the same day but have them change jobs for the day so they build a level of respect for each other and appreciation
• Host a mini maintenance mania
• Let the maintenance teams train your office team on basic maintenance troubleshooting

In the early days of my leasing career, I was fortunate enough to work for a company that realized the benefits of offering a ‘hefty’ reward for perfect leasing of the property. The goal – 100% leased.  The reward – dinner.  Not just any dinner, but dinner for the entire leasing team, anywhere in St. Louis we selected and we could order anything we wanted.  Shazaam!!  This was a big deal.  Such a big deal that we pushed daily to achieve this goal.  Often the 100% leased status only last a day or two, due to applicants being denied or the inevitable cancellation, but we were still maintaining incredible leasing percentages and occupancy; all on a property with harvest gold appliances and chocolate brown carpet!  The entire team would be talking about where we would go, what we would wear and what we would order and cheering each other on to reach that goal on a daily basis. 

The cost to the owners of this extravaganza?  For a staff of 5-6 team members, at most $1,000.00 and that’s probably on the high end.  Heck, we were dining at places without prices on the menus!

The payoff for owners?  Thousands and thousands of dollars, for years to come.  At an average rent of $500.00 per month on a 400 unit property maintaining an average of 97% occupancy, tip to 100% leased, that’s a lot of revenue. But just for old times’ sake, let’s do the math.  400 units leased/390 units occupied x $500 rent per month x 12 months lease term = $2,340,000.00 annually.  More when they renewed.

Hola! Aquí estamos. Are you ready, or not?

So who contributes to the on-site strategic marketing plan?

The recent tough multifamily years in the Houston area brought a certain focus back to the industry for many of us.  With job losses, cut work-week hours and reduced benefits for many renters, the need to get back to the basics was dreadfully apparent.  There existed a segment of leasing personnel who had only worked during the golden years just before the downturn.  Essentially, you could offer an apartment in a take it or leave it attitude.  Follow-up and effective closing techniques were not stressed nearly enough in many communities (especially at class A communities).  Emerging from the many ill-effects caused by the recession was a re-energized focus on leasing fundamentals.

This need to make it through the concession period was highlighted in many of the marketing plans being used on-site.  Admittedly, I started in the business when print shop flyers were king and raising locator fees constituted marketing for the week.  Alas, with a few years under my belt and countless hours studying the subject, I have a true respect for the intricacies of multifamily strategic marketing.  It is easy for a disconnect to exist between the various role players inside a management team.  All too often, the corporate management executives, corporate marketing personnel, owners, property manager and leasing team will each have various views and feelings about creating and executing a good marketing plan.  While my future blogs will cover some of the many aspects of a strategic marketing plan, I wanted to take this opportunity to write about the key players in its execution.  First and foremost, the on-site management team should have a unified and coherent positioning and vision statement from the owner and/or management team executives.  Next is the understanding that we are really marketing to prospects, residents, the public, vendors, management team, and owner.  Marketing is not all about advertising or promotion.  While this is an important component, the true purpose of marketing is to create, enhance, rebuild, and communicate value in relationships.  Positive relationships with vendors can help you pull strings to turn the vacant apartment that got left off the leased unit list and is scheduled to move-in within two days.  Positive relationships within the general public means that you have a good reputation and strong brand awareness.  These are important aspects of a multifamily strategic marketing plan, but we usually focus on the prospects.  So, in terms of who markets who on a daily basis, I would argue that the entire on-site team does.  Everyone from the property manager to the housekeeper is a valuable part of the marketing plan.  Whether it is apparent or not, their appearance, demeanor, and level of selfless service are constantly being communicated verbally and non-verbally. With that said, the next time you hold a marketing message meeting or begin to construct one, make sure you have the input and commitment from the entire team.

As property owners, managers or leasing agents, you understand the need to conserve energy at your apartment community.  By installing energy-efficient appliances and windows and using eco-friendly alternatives for floors, countertops and paint, you are not only significantly reducing your carbon footprint, but also banking significant savings on energy costs.  If 10,000 owners of large apartment communities change to Energy-Star appliances, the energy saved could power each of your TVs for 1,640,625 years!  While the people on the property level are doing their part to protect the environment, we want to provide you with four sustainable tips you can share with your environmentally-friendly residents—leading up to Earth Day on April 22^nd—that they can put into practice today.

1. Be a Savvy Shopper