Topic: Small Town Renting

I have a 40 unit complex in a very small town with a population of about 5,000. I have 10 vacancies and it driving me crazy. I've never had a property with this type of problem. Ive had 110 units with 1 vacancy and what I did there is not working here. I have placed flyers in the surrounding cities, I update my craigslist everyday and I put flyers out to residents for referrals, I've gone to local businesses and put flyers. Does anyone heave any suggestion for me? I've pointed out all of what the city has to offer(close to beach, centrally located to Stockton, Sacremento, Oakland, Fairfield etc, all schools within walking distance, library and parks 2 mins away, fishing pier and downtown within 1 mile. I really need some ideas.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Demi

Are you able to offer resident referral gifts? If the pop. of the area is small, then i would rely on your current residents to feed you referrals. Make it worth their while.

Move to a bigger community.... JUST KIDDING :)!

Try doing a few market surveys on your small town and surrounding areas. Ask around and discover if everyone is having the same occupancy issues that you are. If not, then conduct a poll with your residents. Do you have a high turnover rate? If they are not happy with the complex as a whole, then you are not going to get referrals... no matter how many flyers you distribute.

Get out on the small town and complete some successful networking relationships. Join a few organizations in the area and get a feel of what type of people you are selling units towards. Coming from a large area to a smaller district, using the same marketing techniques are not going to work. In a more quaint setting, you need a much more homey and quaint approach. So call around and bug the other complexes in the area for a start... and good luck :)!

I understand how you are feeling. Here a re few suggestions that have not been listed. Have a themed open house for example one of our communities had an open house based on Movie Stars...Some phrases we had on bootlegs and our marketting material are "Live Like A Star at Deer Meadows Apartments", "Now Showing 2x2 starting at $625", "Star Quality Community", " Now Showing Deer Meadow Apartments Open House". I even had flyers made up in the shape of a star and tag ATM's., Public Bathrooms, Movie Theater Restrooms, Bussiness etc. I live Twenty minutes in a small suburb outside the city so I would markett for them over on my side of town. There open house was successful they had 8 leases that day. They have also have been busy non-stop sense the open house. Now I know they are in Jacksonville and the population is larger than yours but the community is small and in an odd location for some. But it really not has a nice suburb feel just no one knows its there.

If you are close to the Beach go to a dollar store and get a bunch of beach toys,sunblock, flip flops, water bottles, tag your flyers to them with a cute saying and had them out to the patrons of the beach. Everyone from everywhere go to the beach so you never know who will respond. You may fined some one who is looking for the quite life of a small town but dose not want to be to far from the city.

Also check out your walkability of your community. Include in an information packet that you hand to ryour prospect a map showing how close you are to everything.

I'm alos for the moment trying a theme for all our community called "I LOVE THIS..." Print out some 5x7 or 8x10 color pictures ( go to Toni Blake Facebook Page or Faboulus Leasing Ideas) of the heart that says "I LOVE THIS..." for your residents. Have a contest with the residents by asking them to take a picture of there favorite theing in your community or around the Town they love with your heart picture. They submit the picture in a digital format, if they dont have acess to that then a print. Who ever has the best picture will get a gift certificate to where ever ( if money tight seek help from vendors). Then make a digital love story book for you on

line marketting and then a book for your leasing office. Also get a poster that says I LOVE THIS... have the residents of your community write what they love about your complex and the area. Leave this up for prospects to see. Take qoutes from your residents and put them up in your amenities and your show model. Put the resident qoutes on your marketting material.

Also everyone in your area knows who you are so market outside the area. Look at where your approvals are comming from and markett that zip code. You will be amazzed at the response you will get.

I hope this helps you in anyway.

Good Luck!

Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
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Yes I offer referrals of $200 to my residents and to any businesses that refer.

We have a 20 unit property in a small town and had a similar issue. There are a lot of variables beyond what you have explained I believe, and some questions I would need to ask.

- Is there someone there everyday in an office on site?
- Where do leads come in?
- Other than advertising, how do people know who to talk to/call?
- What does your signage look like?
- What are the condition of the apartments? Well kept, old, etc.?
- What's the general reputation of the property?

These are all questions I would need to know before giving specific advice, but in general I believe Signage (Both standard and Temp Mktg), Condition of the Units/Property, and a certain form of communication (either on site or easy to call and get an answer) are the basics needed. Beyond that relations with the local community is the way to go. There is most likely one or two main businesses that are influential in the area. I know in the small town of our property it's the local bank. They know everyone and know just about everything that goes on.

Good luck!

I am in the office from 10:00am-5:00pm M-F, its a very nice property, grounds well kept, newly renovated units. i advertise on craigslist and mynewplace.com. most of my leades come from stockton, sacramento and other surrounding areas but they call but never actually come in to see a unit. Im so open to any suggestion that can turn this place around. Its a beautiful complex, i'm so amazed that it has a vacancy issue.

I just spent the last two hours marketting two community that are having the same problem with Vacancy. You have been lots of great tips for marketting and resident retention. Have you tryed staying open on a saturday when people are generally off? They may becomming but your not open on satudays. Your hours are the same as the working population hours. So how can they come view if you are closed when they get off. We have one property that stays open till 8p.m. durring the summer months one for the residents and the prospects. It is working really well for them. Have a resident fun day on a saturday and invite the community and local bussiness to participate. Build the community relationship.

I did suggest that to my supervisor about opening on saturdays and she wants me to do that. I will take monday off and work saturday to see if that helps. I willing to try anything that will generate some traffic.

Been there . . .

Contact every church, school district HR, City HR, Hospital and clinic HR within 25 miles. These need housing units to attract and encourage new employees. I have found that folks don't mind traveling up to 25 miles one way.

This has worked for me on FmHA projects in towns of 1,500 in the middle of no-where Texas.

Good luck.

Hello :)

Have you looked at the demographics on your property? Take a look at your residents and where they are employed...is there a particular concentration of people working at the same one or two companies? If so, work on a marketing plan for that particular employer or group of employers. Call your resident(s) and tell them you are showing the love to your residents and want to take them and their friends lunch at their office. (Pizzas are always a fun and cost-effective way to go!) While you are there having lunch with them, take the time to network with their friends, hand out marketing materials, and put a friendly face with the place. You will set yourself apart from everyone else!

Happy Leasing, Andee Beltran

I have no idea if it is a problem, but since we have to be so careful online about religious language, I'm wondering if anyone knows if it's OK to market to religious institutions.

I can also tell you that based on our experience, you need to rely on offline resources when you are marketing in small metros. Even in mid sized places like Harrisburg and Allentown, print is still very important. The online search volume isn't as high, even adjusting for population size.