Dear St. Louis apartment managers,
Hello on this beautiful fall Friday afternoon! Wanted to update you on current topics and trends we are seeing in the St. Louis apartment industry. Here are a few recent tidbits I found particularly useful and/or thought-provoking:
A new idea for a community event — ‘I’ve always wanted to try something like a speed dating event on a property, just mostly without the whole dating part. Three minutes to meet your neighbor, develop common interests, trade phone numbers, etc…foster that sense of community… especially for newer residents. just thought it would be an interesting way to join together a group of people.’
Another good suggestion – ‘And don’t forget about variety. While you have your standard monthly events, like a Saturday Breakfast or Resident Dinner, you have to keep trying to find things that appeal to a wide variety of people. Some ideas: Knitting Clubs, LAN parties for the gamers, Tea Time, Halo Tournaments, Chalk Art Contest, Movie Nights, Game Nights, etc.’
The communication value of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. — ‘The reality of Social Media is most apartment managers (who are doing their jobs anyway) have been doing it all along. Only not via the internet. And they were calling it something different. The truth is you should simply think of Social Media as Customer Service, Outreach, and Retention marketing supported by the internet. That is right! The three tasks you’ve always been working on are actually made simpler via tools like Twitter and Facebook.’
I took the last one to heart and set up accounts on all three under the name stlaptsearch. Search on Facebook and join the group, where I post topics and links regularly. If you have a fan page, send it to me so I can join you! Communication is so key today; I welcome every opportunity to exchange ideas and participate in discussions relevant to our industry.
One recent news item which will affect the rental market through next spring is the feds’ extension of the first-time homebuyer incentive program until April, 2010. Home sales are up this year by double digits in 46 states, with almost half (47 percent) of the sales coming from first-time homeowners.
Recent conversations with area property managers listed home purchase among the top three reasons for their renters’ breaking leases (the other two were job loss and job transfer). And with hiring for college graduates at a record low (only 20 percent of 2009 graduates left school with employment, versus 50 percent in 2005) the steady audience for new leases is greatly diminished.
Which leads to my last news article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch – national apartment occupancy is currently at 86 percent, with St. Louis faring slightly better than the nation at 87 percent. So if you’re in the mid-80’s, you are definitely not alone! Free rent continues to be the big marketing incentive in St. Louis, but there are other ways to attract and keep renters.
Suggestion — focus on money savings in other areas (gas savings with close proximity to work, gym-membership savings with a fitness center, utility savings, wi-fi savings, cable savings, whatever you uniquely have to offer). Then calculate a dollar value for the savings, subtract it, and show the net rent figure to your prospects. Everyone is bottom-line conscious these days. Use your positives to your benefit!
I could go on and on (but I won’t, thank goodness). Bottom line, these are by far the most challenging times I’ve experienced in my 23 years in the apartment business. Common sense and creative applications are two essential tools to successfully weathering the current slump in our industry.
Hang tough, focus on valuable resident retention, expand low-cost or cost-free services to residents, engage your community as a whole, and wait. You know the old saying, ‘If you don’t like the weather in St. Louis, just wait – it’ll change.’ The same can be said of current rental market conditions.
Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
Kathryn
Kathryn Wood
Founder and CEO
Apartment Search, Inc.
www.apartment-search.com
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