Recently, I had the privilege of being asked to shop my sister’s property’s local comps.  I was extremely excited because I am always interested in borrowing new ideas and seeing how others do their job which in the end can improve mine.  Unfortunately, this was not the case; I was sourly disappointed with my findings and somewhat shocked.  I thought it would be a great idea to share my findings with all of you to see how many of you are guilty of these findings (hopefully none of you) and to show how important it is for owner’s or management companies to stay focused on getting their own apartments shopped every year.

The phone calls:  I called 10 different comps in the area to set up appointments, my findings:

·         Out of the 10 called only 3 answered my call.

·         Out of the 7 messages I left for a return call; 0 returned my call.

·         Out of the 3 I spoke with; 0 managers asked my name or told me theirs

·         Out of the same 3, none of them invited me or committed me to a time to visit.

The visits:  We visited 10 places all together including the 3 that we contacted previously

·         Out of the 10 only 5 were open (out of the 3 appointments one was a no show)

·         Out of the 5 that were open zero of them asked me to fill out a guest card or ask for ID

·         Out of the 5 only one person asked me my name

·         Out of the 5 only one person prequalified me

·         Out of the 5 none of them were able to answer basic questions regarding square footage.

·         Out of the 5 all of them took phone calls while I was there.

·         Out of the 5 only one I would say was professionally dressed.

·         Out of the 5; 3 managers used inappropriate language (curse words) or called me a term of endearment which disturbs me.

·         Out of the 5 only one actually attempted to take control of the tour.  The rest just opened the door and stood in a corner while we walked around.

Visit 1:

The manager agreed to meet me at noon to show me the community.  She arrived at the office at 12:10 and then proceeded to take a phone call as we entered the office.  We finally began the tour at 12:15.  The manager was dressed professionally but looked annoyed that we were there.  She couldn’t answer basic questions in regards to square footage or security problems in the area and knew very little about her competition except she had something negative to say about all of them.  She described her apartments as being old but soundproof, the elevators work the majority of the time, security is available nightly although it is not really needed, and that we can paint whatever color we want and even draw on the walls in the unit if we’d like as long as we put it back to a neutral color, when asked what was neutral she said she didn’t know.  She kept us hostage by not answering questions we had until we returned to the office despite the fact that we were already running extremely late to our next appointment.  While in her office again she answered the phone multiple times and had two residents complain about unfinished work orders which she blew off and made comments to us about how they just don’t know how to use the items correctly.  Grade C-.

Visit 2:

The office was the manager’s apartment so we were greeted by 3 cats and a cigarette smoking gentleman.  We also walked into what seemed to be a dispute between the two people which was very awkward considering she was screaming at him from the bathroom (or as she put it so elegantly on the toilet).  The apartment was flea infested, less than clean and maintenance was poor.  I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  The manager kept using terms of endearment towards me such as sweet girl, honey, sweet darling, and sugar.  It was disturbing.  If I was alone and not with my supervisor I would not have gone in an empty apartment with him alone.  Also when asked who lived in the community he told me who lived there and even made a comment about a minority group that lives there not being as bad as they normally are around these parts.   He was unable to answer any basic question we had about square footage, security, making alterations, or rental increases.  Grade F.

Visit 3:

Can you believe a no show on an appointment?  Believe it.  Grade F.

Visit 4:
The woman explained to me that I would not qualify nor would I want to live there because “by the looks of me I make too much money”.   I never even got to the office because she was leaving for the day (at 2pm) and when asked when she would be returning she said maybe tomorrow.  When asked if I could see an apartment anyways she said she was going to the park with her daughter and to set up an appointment.  Which I did call earlier in the day to ask for an appointment but received no call back which I expressed to her, she just shook her head and said it would be a waste of HER time because she can tell I don’t qualify.  GRADE F.

Visit 5:
The woman did an excellent job showing us the apartment until the Fair Housing issues started to take effect.  She said she would place me in a building for more mature people (I’m in my early 30’s and probably can pass for maybe 25) away from the college kids where there are a lot of kids and not many minorities.  She also advised me that my credit didn’t matter that they only go by the “guy” since they are the ones usually with bad criminal history.  Even though, she was understood that my husband was not going to live with me that he was staying home and I would be coming back on the weekends.  She consistently took phone calls while on the tour and back in the office.  The majority of the tour was spent waiting to ask her a question once she was off the phone.  Majority of calls were work orders which were bad work orders like water coming in the ceiling, no electricity again in rooms, no air conditioning again and when calling maintenance said some not nice things about her residents.  She was the only person that actually took control over the tour (when she was not on the phone) or at least tried because she kept getting calls so we would walk away.  She was also the only person that began to prequalify me by asking me what I was going to be doing in the area, how long I would be staying, etc.  Grade:  D+

Visit 6:
Very professional!  Minus taking calls while I was there and having nothing to show.  Couldn’t' really give me square footage or when an apartment would be available.  She did fill out a guest card with my name and phone on it.  She didn't attempt to prequalify me though.  Overall B- (would have been a B+ if I had seen a unit).

Follow up:  Out of the 5 people I visited no one followed up with me.  Out of the 10 apartments I called no one returned my call or followed up on me.  Out of the 5 I visited only one community gave me a brochure.  None of the apartments advised me about their websites or any other way to make communication with them once I left. 

I was happy that I got to see this and it made me realize how important it is for management companies and owners to do a yearly shop of their communities.  Even if it is something as simple as sending another manager to shop your other community it can save you thousands of dollars of lost profits.  I was honestly in a state of shock as to how or why an owner or a management company would invest money in a sinking ship because that is what these communities are.  How many of you have been shopped?  How many management companies actually have a yearly shop scheduled?  I am interested to know the findings.

The background of the city I visited:

The city that I visited was in Ohio and it has fell on some harsh economical times to say the least but overall it is still a functioning and vibrant city.  The median household income is less than the U.S. average at only $41,318 per year and the population has stayed consistent with approximately 54, 000 people living there.   The population does consist of higher than normal ratio of whites or non-Hispanic which encompasses 80% of this city’s population.   The black population is also much higher than the national average at 14% of the population.   The graduation rate is higher than the national average but the population that applies for college is much lower.  This is a blue collar area where the majority of men work in factories where the women work in administrative areas.  The divorce rate is average but the single parent ratio is higher than the national average.  There are approximately 8,000 renter occupied units in this city with 1500 remaining vacant during the last survey in 2009.