Apartment Hunting... Not So Fun

Chances are I'm not the only person who lives on both sides of the apartment hunting game. I am both - an apartment hunter and by profession an "apartment marketer". I've done the drive-in-circles, shop online, call all my friends, can't find an apartment game. And I've also coached clients on how I think they could best market to their prospects and retain existing residents. So, this morning when I saw a headline in my twitter stream "Apartment Hunting... Not So Fun" I was of course very curious.

I am not at all surprised to find that this apartment searcher, Heather, is frustrated and discouraged by apartment rating sites.

Right now, I'm scouring the internet for apartment listings and talking with friends about recommended neighborhoods.  I was feeling pretty good about our search.

Well, that is, until I started reading the online reviews about apartment complexes.  And that took me down an entirely different path.  Pretty much every apartment complex, with the exception of those completely out of our price range, has received dismal ratings.  Ugh.

Once again, ignorance was bliss.  Back to reality.

As an industry we talk a lot about the best way to respond (or not) to review sites but my question to you is, have you ever thought of how much apartment hunters become discouraged because of how easy it is to find negative reviews?

My suggestion - make sure all of your online marketing materials are up to date and consistent. If I can find all of the information I need about your property on your website or on an ILS I won't have to keep searching. Also, if you receive positive reviews via email or in person direct those people to Yelp or another review site that can be your go-to-source for reviews of your property. Sidenote - if you know of a property in Seattle (where Heather is looking to move) reach out to her on twitter or comment on her blog.

Do you have any other suggestions to ease the "not so fun" part of apartment hunting?