Week 4 Results!

Congratulations to Indiana, USC, UCONN, and Stanford. They are the winners of a $25 Visa Card and recieve 2 points!

Knowing your competition

It is important to know your competition.  Everyone on the staff should be shopping the comps on a quarterly basis.  This should include your maintenance staff as well.  Market surveys should also be done a consistent basis so we always are aware of what is going on in our market.

Having a good rapport with the comps can mean several things for your community.

1.  It is a great way  to share information regarding traffic sources.
2.  Where is your traffic coming from?
3.  What community events are you doing to engage your current residents?
4.  It is also a great way to get referrals.

Sharing information can mean that you have friendly competition as opposed to your comps bashing you and not being honest about their current occupancy/specials.

Knowing where the competition's traffic is coming from can better assist you in knowing where to concentrate your outside marketing efforts.

Community events help create excitement and can lead to higher resident retention.

Referrals from the comps mean that we have successfully built a relationship and they feel comfortable sending people out way.

Team Butler

Week 3 Results are in!

Congratulations to Stanford, Bradley, Duke and UNLV!  They each receive 2 points and their prize this week is a $15 Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts gift card.

Top 10 Best Apartment Community Amenities

When it comes to amenities, convenient access to goods and services is highly important. Places like grocery stores, post offices, pharmacies, and gas stations are all important in everyday life. If these businesses are located near your community, you are all set. If not, you’ll at least want to be certain that your prospective resident can get to them easily via car or public transportation.

• Fitness options.
• Outdoor recreation
• Movie theaters.
• Library.

 You’ll want to ensure that your apartment community is located near restaurants.   Look for the dining options in the local paper or on search sites such as the “Not For Tourists” Guide. You’ll find nearby hot spots and where they are located. And don’t forget to check out both fancier fine dining options and lower-cost casual dining ones, as well.

Decisions, decisions! An apartment hunter encounters too many options when it comes to finding the right building to call home. They may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of apartment communities in their city, as a leasing professional you should consider this countdown of the Top 10 Best Apartment Community Amenities* and what your community has to offer. The below prioritizes today’s most sought-after multifamily housing community amenities and may help steer your prospects’ apartment search in the right direction.

Amenity No. 10: Recreational and Social Facilities

Amenity No. 9: Outdoor Green Space

Amenity No. 8: Complimentary Internet and/or Television Connections

Amenity No. 7: On-Site Laundry Facilities

Amenity No. 6: Easy Access to Public Transportation

Amenity No. 5: Convenient Parking

Amenity No. 4: Pets Welcome

Amenity No. 3: On-Site Management

Amenity No. 2: 24-Hour Emergency Maintenance

Amenity No. 1: Safe, Secure Building Entry

Keep this list handy as you tour prospective residents. You may not offer all of these amenities, so we created a list of other amenities you can discuss that are important to most prospective residents:

Goods and services

Entertainment options

You might find that you can negotiate special discounts and perks offered by local entertainment venues or other businesses for your residents.

Dining

Finding the dining, recreation and goods and services conveniently located near your apartment community may help your prospective resident decide between otherwise equal apartment choices. Being close to the businesses and hangout spots will often can make your residents apartment life easier and more enjoyable.

What do you think is the most important Amenity in your market or at your property?

Go Team Duke!

*This information was compiled from Yahoo Voices.com - Associated Content and MultifamilyExecutive.com

Leasing Contest - Week 2 Results!

Congratulations to Bradley, USC, Duke and Butler!
They receive 2 points and the prize this week is 2 hours of paid time off!

Customer Retention Tactics and Ideas

Strong brands have been built on customer loyalty, and resident retention has never been more relevant than today.  It is no secret that the costs associated with resident turnover can be exorbitant. A 2011 SatisFacts study estimates move-out costs average around $3,900 per unit, which includes, among other items, $1,200 in lost rental income, nearly $800 in concessions and more than $700 in maintenance, readying and repairs.

Surveys have found that residents choose not to renew leases based on controllable reasons. Poor customer service, lack of responsiveness and dissatisfaction with maintenance requests were cited as the main reasons for resident turnover. Contrary to popular belief, no matter the property amenities, they will not make up for deficiencies in service. It is critical that all team members address resident concerns as they are brought to your attention.

Resident retention starts the first time you have contact with them, not when you are sending out their renewal letter.  Your leasing team puts their best foot forward when meeting a new prospective resident, that same attitude should continue with every contact made during their residency. Each month, do something for your residents to show them how much you care (a check-up phone call or visit to their door, a half hour of free maintenance, etc.)  Continue this all the way to their renewal date, and keep track of your contacts/gifts in a Resident Retention Book to ensure no one is left out.

Knowing your residents' names, family member’s names and pet names is always a great retention tool.  This makes a resident feel at home when visiting or calling the office which allows for greater retention opportunities.

Remember, your maintenance team is also an integral part of your retention efforts.  Make sure to include them in your team meetings and resident functions and ask them what they are hearing from residents.  Their insight might surprise you and assist in furthering your retention efforts.  Make sure they are given customer service training and prepare them to handle hot situations.

A property's appearance and overall condition has an obvious effect on retention. Residents want to feel proud of where they live.  Their ego and sense of status is often perceived by the environment they live in. Maintaining the cleanliness and upkeep of your community goes a long way toward preserving a property's curb appeal which makes it more desirable and marketable.

Resident complaints offset the morale of the property. Be proactive by providing more frequent interior and exterior maintenance and repairs, which will help reduce complaints. Quality of service is crucial to maintaining residents and should be taken seriously. If you ignore complaints or concerns, you could not only lose your current residents, but also your competitive edge.

Listen to your residents. Build a relationship and get to know them. Above all, let them know you appreciate them living at your community.  Not only is it less expensive to retain a resident than to acquire a new one, but loyal residents spend more and are more likely to refer new ones to your community. The longer a resident is loyal, the more profit you will see.

Team UCONN

Leasing Contest - Week 1 Results

Congratulations to UCONN, Bradley, Indiana and Butler!
The winning teams receive a $15 Amazon gift card!

What’s The Appeal of Curb Appeal?

Great curb appeal, from the road all the way to the leasing office/clubhouse, is our chance to make a great first impression on residents or prospects.  It is a continual effort for both the office and maintenance staff.

Much of the appeal is just being aware of the impression and "sprucing" up the little things.

If your property employs the use of colorful signs or “Now Leasing” banners, you should always ensure that these signs are clean and in good condition.

Balloons and flowers are great eye catchers and can be changed seasonally to give a fresh look.  Pay close attention to your welcome mats, both inside and out. While they are inviting and decorative, they’re also great dirt and debris catchers! Make sure these are washed regularly or replaced when necessary.

Keep trash bags in  maintenance and leasing golf carts so you can easily pick up trash when out on the property.

Encourage your residents to take pride in where they live.  

Remembers to “look up” when walking the property.  This will allow you to see what is present in residents' windows.  Broken blinds can be replaced inexpensively and increase the outward appeal.

Make sure that the inside route to the model apartment is clean and in order, as well. Keep the area clean with daily vacuuming and hall touch up painting whenever necessary. 

How do you all keep your curb appeal up? 

TEAM STANFORD

Welcome to the 2013 Leasing Contest!

Welcome to another exciting DOLBEN leasing contest - we hope you're looking forward to some Leasing Madness! As you work with your team to exchange ideas and best practices over the course of the next nine weeks, please be thinking about topics to post here on our blog. 

While each team will have an "official" week to post a topic for others to discuss (refer to your official leasing contest package for details), we hope that you all will use our leasing blog to share ideas on a regular basis. This forum is not meant to reveal any "trade secrets," but rather to help all Dolben-managed properties easily share some best practices—and remember, in the end, we all work for one company. We've provided a few suggestions to get you started, but please feel free to brainstorm and develop other ideas.

    

• Your Necessary Marketing Tools 
• Customer Retention Tactics & Ideas 
• Utilizing Facebook to Promote your Brand, Educate Current Residents, and Promote your Property to Prospects 
• Overcoming Obstacles – How to get a Prospect to Say YES! 
• Ratings & Reviews: How to Respond 
• Best Property Amenities – Current and Future 
• Community/Corporate Outreach Best Practices 
• There Is No “I” in Team: Motivating Your Team to Success

 
When it is your team's turn to post on the blog, Amy or Sara will be in touch with your Team Leader to provide log-in details.  If you want to comment on another team's post at any point throughout the contest, feel free to do so by clicking in the "Post a comment" box underneath that post, and simply entering your own name in the "comment as" field.

We are looking forward to a great exchange of ideas over the coming weeks. If you have questions on the leasing contest and/or blog, please speak with your Team Leader, or contact Amy or Sara. 

Happy leasing, everyone!