10 Ways to Rent Your Apartment
Building Fast
by Liz Uible
Two weeks ago I met some colleagues at a 60 unit building we purchased in
a war zone in the Midwest. When we bought it, it had a huge amount of
deferred maintenance, a large crime and drug problem, and was about 50%
occupied. Now, three months later, we have removed the bad element, worked
with the police to install a small sub-station on site, and rehabbed all the
vacant units.
So now we have a gorgeous, safe, family-friendly, newly
renovated apartment building not far from a college. And a really bad
reputation problem. No one wants to go near the place. Now what?
Time for a plan. Here are ten things you can do
immediately to increase your occupancy at a higher than market rate:
Change the view from the
street. This is one of the least expensive ways to get people to
notice your apartments. People drive past your building every day and have
no idea you are leasing. Put out flags or bandit signs along the street.
This will generate interest in the neighborhood and excitement in your
complex. Visual changed make people think “I wonder what is happening
there.” And will translate into calls and leases.
Offer Move-in incentives.
Incentives make people move. For as little as a $50 or $100 gift card,
people will start move their family and give your apartment a try.
Generally, it is better to have a delay between the time they move in and
the time they receive the incentive. That allows you to make sure they will
be good tenants and stick around.
Offer tenants referral fees.
Give current tenants $50-$100 to refer people they already know and like.
This tactic requires that you want more tenants like the ones you already
have. Then again, if someone is referred by the town drunk, there is always
a way to find credit issues, etc.
Offer referral fees to tenants
or the community. There is no faster way to build a buzz
inexpensively than to tell all the grocery store clerks and neighbors that
you are offering to pay them cash to refer people. It requires a tracking
system, but this is an easy way to maximize your tenant referral program.
Offer something that is nicer
than they are used to. I have a friend who offered a
washer/dryer unit in each of his C class buildings. This was an unheard of
amenity in that area and drew high quality people excited about living there
rather than the place down the street.
Advertise for your market.
People looking for C and D level apartments are not looking at the large,
expensive-looking ads in the paper. They are looking at the little
classifieds that include price and number of bedrooms when they know it is
in their price range, they will call to get more info.
Market to your Ideal Tenants.
Where do your ideal tenants work? If they work at Walmart, go to
Walmart and ask an associate to put up your ‘for rent’ flier on the employee
bulletin board in the staff lounge. (If one won’t, ask another. Someone
will eventually do it and people will start calling you within minutes.) If
your ideal employee works at a college or university nearby, flyer staff
areas there. This allows you to find the people YOU want rather than hoping
they come to you.
Use the resources available.
Tell the local school board about your property- they always have teachers
looking for a place. Notify a local military base. Talk with government
agencies that try to find housing for people- the local housing authority
can be very helpful.
Hold an open house.
You can learn a lot for the price of a few pizza and some soda.
Advertise it in the paper and tell your tenants they are invited, too.
Advertise in the right paper.
I have advertised in the local daily and gotten No Calls. At an open house
I asked a tenant “where do people find apartments here?” oh, the weekly
paper is the only thing I read. I started marketing through the weekly and
immediately got huge results.
Want to learn more about commercial real estate? The 11-CD program
called
Take The Leap! Commercial
Real Estate Program actually interviews experts from across the United
States to give us a comprehensive view of all the aspects of buying and
owning commercial real estate.
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