@mbrewer
Apartment Leasing: The Friendly Factor
Short and sweet post today – could have been a tweet but really looking for a comment or two on the subject.
So here it is –
How much is unfriendly costing you?
I wish I could suggest that this post was inspired by an experience of mine outside this industry but it was not. It was inspired by a couple of emails I received this week suggesting as much about our firm. Yikes! But but but… In my position – it is sometimes hard to separate the juiced up aggressive nature of a hostile prospect or resident who just had a bad day and or the position of the – more times than not -pushed to the limits on-site leasing and management heros. My bias always leans to the on-site team and in the same breath I would say – I have read some compelling prospect and resident statements that made me wonder. That said, it all comes down to delivery – in my opinion.
More times than not – the statement: they are not friendly – comes up.
So, I wonder – How much is unfriendly costing you?
And, have a very friendly day –
Also, a quick shout out to the NAA bound folks from the Multi-family world. Have a great week in NOLA –
Apartment Case Study: ZAZ Apartments
With agreements in place and logistics worked out Mills Properties started to manage ZAZ on June 16th, 2010. ZAZ is an 80 unit community in Maplewood, MO located right across the street from City Hall and Maplewood High School. It is a distressed asset boasting a physical occupancy in the teens. If you factor in the delinquency of the current base – well let’s just say there is a ton of upside.
The property has zero amenities outside of it’s location which is just minutes from good shopping and killer night life venues. It’s aesthetically unappealing having been fashioned after a road-side hotel – exterior entries and all. It’s brick construction, has tons of asphalt and has a name and signage that would fit as a good frat house.
With occupancy in the tank and amenities as sparse as water on hot summer day on the Sahara – Mills Properties has its work cut out for it. But on the downside of any adversity lies the seeds of greatness. As long as you know how to look for them. The good news is that we don’t have to look to far in this case. Just eleven months ago we transitioned management of an asset right around the corner from ZAZ called Oxford. I like to refer to it as the Oxford Files. The occupancy was not quite as bad – sitting at just over 70% when we took over in August of 2009. It took us just over seven weeks to put on 20+ points of occupancy and swing the cash flow positive. The coolest part – $0 real dollars were spent on traditional means of advertising. Demand was created nearly 100% by Craigslist posts which were done on a daily basis without fail. I have a strong feeling that the results at ZAZ will be no different –
Hold tight for this ride – as we intend to record the ups and downs right here on the M Brewer Group Blog. Call it an exercise in real time results with the world watching. My hope is that we end up calling it an exercise in results on a shoe string.
As we roll along feel free to chime in using the comments section –
[Disclosure: I work with Mills Properties]Apartment Marketing: Where is your money going?
While 2010 has been the year of dipping more than just your toe in the SM waters – it looks like 2011 will be a year where mass adoption might be a more appropriate description as it relates to small business taking the plunge.
As it pertains to Apartment Marketing – I would say the trend is in concert.
Apartment Blogging
When I started blogging in 2003 there were very few Multifamily types in the space – today, it seems like everyone has a blog and Twitter is a near household name. We were also early adopters of MySpace as a way to market apartments [back then we were still in post your floor plans, features and benefits mode].
Apartment Facebook Marketing
At the time, I recall seeing very few people participating in that space – today Facebook rules and the masses are adopting the platform as a way to market. [As an industry we still have to work on setting it up via FBs TOS]. Nonetheless adoption is happening and now the dollars are flowing that way as demonstrated by the stats below. All that being said, I still think it is interesting to see newspaper with such a high mark -That is not to mention that five out of the seven spends are print media related…
Enjoy the stats – would love to hear your thoughts and I hope the balance of your week is compelling!
Survey Says: Businesses Spending More on Marketing, Tech – AOL Small Business
Forty-two percent of small-business owners are likely to spend more on marketing and advertising this year, according to the latest FedEx Office Signs of the Times national small-business survey. So where will most of their money go?
* Improving online presence (46 percent)
* Print materials/newsletters/direct mail (44 percent)
* Brochures (43 percent)
* Yellow Pages listings (39 percent)
* Fliers and signs/banners/posters (37 percent each)
* Social networking sites (36 percent)
* Newspaper advertisements (32 percent)
Apartment Marketing: Cinema on the Lawn – Redux
We wrote about this idea back in the summer of 2007 when we experimented with it at Park Station Apartments in Saint Louis, MO. It was a big hit not only our residents but with the community at large. Park Station is set in the historic DeBaliviere Neighborhood near the popular Central West End. It is surrounded by condominiums and 100+ year old mansions. The one amenity the neighborhood lacks is a reason to get together. There is no cool factor.
Create the Experience And They Will Come
That was and still is the reason we host the outdoor movie series in the summer time. We team up with the neighborhood home owners association, DeBaliviere Place Association along with Frontyard Features to organize and execute the event. It’s set one of our parking lots near a large grassy knoll with provides for comfortable seating. Our team also provides chairs, drinks, popcorn, pizza and hot dogs to movie goers. The movies are new release features which we purchase license for via Swank [make sure you get the license as the fine is very hefty if you don’t].
Invite The Neighborhood
In the spirit of marketing apartments – Cinema on the Lawn was a project targeted at the neighborhood at large. The implied effect that we were after was to get the neighborhood together – stimulated by a cool experience that they would have reason to talk about. It worked as evidenced by the growing number of attendees. The last movie we presented was attended by over 100 people more than half of which did not live in our apartments. While I can not prove out a number as it relates to leases, I can say with confidence that we enhance the experience of living in the DeBaliviere Neighborhood and as such we were raved about.
Build Your Own
I caught this on my train ride back from Chicago on Sunday – it’s not all that hard to build your own outdoor theater.
What kind of things are you doing this summer to draw in the community at large?
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Apartment Marketing: Share the Moment
Have you every kicked yourself for not writing something down because you wanted to remember it later? How many times have you been in the middle of something else and thought of the greatest thing since sliced bread and then failed to document the moment? Or, you keep 43 tabs open on your browser because your crazy cool Twitter friends keep sharing crazy cool blog post links and FREEZE – I hate this one with a purple passion.
Facebook as a way to capture apartment memories
One way I like to think about Facebook as it relates to Apartment Marketing is as a way to capture memories – be it your residents, yours or otherwise. Think of it as the time-capsule that never gets buried only to be of use later. The memories are there and always accessible by anybody and everybody.
Think of those memories as powerful little marketing messages that never rest. It’s that whole theory of your most influential evangelists selling your apartments on your behalf. Dare I say, it’s the most powerful form of an ILS out there today. And, you want to capture as many relevant, thoughtful and meaningful messages as you can.
Give your residents a crazy cool and awesome place to capture their apartment living memories and experiences – you will love them for it. It’s not just about creating memorable moments anymore – it’s also about capturing those memorable moments in a manner that is useful for all involved.
Where are you capturing memories?
