Help Leasing Up a "C" Apartment Community

I am in need of some help. I just started a job as a Property Manager at a "C" property. I have been doing this for 9 years. I need to come up with some great ideas to lease up this complex. They have been without a manager for about 6 months. It is in need of some SERIOUS help. I'm trying to think of ideas I have used in the past, but I'm looking to be different. I need to stand out. Any help would be much appreciated.


(This question was shared from Toni Blake's " Apartment Leasing Ideas - Fabulous Fundamentals " Fan Page!)

[Moderator Note: Trish is not asking to hire a lease-up company. She is looking for ideas to help her lease-up, so please no advertising your service.]

Hi Trish,

Thanks for reaching out. Can you tell us a little more about your community? Where are you located geographically? How many units is your community? Can you give us a bit more information about your demographic? With a little more background, I am sure you will get some fabulous ideas from the MFI crowd.

To good conversation,

Melissa

Piece of cake....since the residents have had no manager, I'm sure most of them are glad to see you there. I'm guessing your occupancy is low, residents have been neglected and there's been no preventive maintenance....am I right?

Take a deep breath girl...you are getting ready to be the hero for the residents and the ownership.

One thing at a time. If you haven't already, walk every vacant unit with a notebook and your maintenance head..... make notes as to what you've got to work with. What each unit needs to be made ready.

Guess what? If the unit is made ready...you will lease it. Kinda like, if you build it, they will come.

If you have a ton of vacants, my advise is to hire an outside paint contractor to knock them out and have your maint go in behind them and get them ready.

I ran an ad on craigslist needing contract painting done and was bombarded with people, fighting to outbid eachother for the work...I'm payin $110 per unit to get it painted, with me supplying the paint, caulk, sheetrock, as needed. They're knocking them out and doing a great job.

Now, for the marketing....Clean the place up....curb appeal, plant some flowers in the front...make the property look as appealing as you can.

I ordered a bandit sign for each property exit....."RESIDENT REFERRALS....earn 300 for referring a friend". Look to existing residents to refer business. Yes, they might be complaining about workorders not being completed, especially since there had been no manager in place....however, $300 is $300.

I also put a notice/one page newsletter.....introducing myself...let current residents know there's a new sheriff in town....be friendly, let them know you have an open door policy, let them know how much you appreciate their patience while you "get a handle" on things, invite them for coffee, have doughnuts in the office...since you're new, they'll tell you everything that's going on...just listen, no need to even say a word. They've had no one to listen to them for 6 months. Assure them, you will take care of them and honesty is always the best policy....tell them you need their help in referring new residents. Explain that as the revenue on the property goes up, they'll start seeing huge improvements and right now, the only way to do that is get the occupancy up. They can't read your mind...just ask them to refer a friend!

Marketing for new leases is the easy part. First, place ads online to all "free" internet sites....Craigslist, etc. Print flyers out and spend at least one hour every day outside marketing. Start in your neighborhood, introducing yourself to surrounding businesses....leave your flyers, take theirs with you to distribute to new residents. Everyone loves to network.

Go to closest grocery store, leave flyers in their breakroom, ask to place a flyer on the outside of the building or on bulletin board, to laundry mats and my favorite place to hang flyers.....at the bus stops!!! I leased 4 apts in one week to people who ride the city bus.

Find out where the big call centers are in your town...hundreds of people working different shifts at call centers....take a ton of flyers and flooplans and a huge basket of cookies and place in breakroom. I offered a 5% preferred employer discount to large companies. Makes them feel special and in your eyes, they are.

If you can hang banners....do it. Attract the drive by prospect.

My banner read "BAD CREDIT, NO CREDIT, NO PROBLEM...NOW LEASING!!" Now hold on a minute....don't freak out. The name of the game is getting people in your door. Once you get traffic to stop in....you can always qualify them..if you have no traffic, there's no one TO qualify.....I assure you, most people THINK they have bad credit....By no means am I saying lower your criteria....you will find out that most people don't have as bad of credit as they think they do.

Young people with no credit are happy to pay a double deposit to anyone who will give them a chance to establish rental history. I sit them down, like I'm their mother and carefully explain what I expect from them. How this is their first rental experience and it will make or break their future rental history and their credit.

At our "C" property, we dont hold medical bills or student loans against people....if someone has questionable credit....here's where you have an option....offer to approve them if they pay first and last month's rent or a higher deposit. Hello? Your getting double rent on a unit that's not collecting any rent at all, I'm sure your owner will agree with you.

I got my idea from watching Car Dealership commercials.....drag, push, pull it in...bad credit, no problem, anyone approved....yeah, anyone can be approved but the interest rate goes up to 25%....I used the same mentality....they need a place to live, you need to rent an apartment...tell them you'll give them a second chance but they have to pay a double deposit or first and last month's rent up front....but never lower your criteria when it comes to felony convictions or previous evictions....if they've been evicted before, they'll do it again.

Remember, the name of the game is to get them in your front door.....then you can qualify them. Make sure you have refreshments to offer them while they wait....bottled water, cookies. Make sure you have a ready unit to show, make sure it smells good. I always put frozen apple pie in the oven in my model unit and put the oven temp on low for slow cook all day....smells like home when they walk in the door!!!

When showing the unit....point out...here is where you can put your sofa, you can put a nice rug here....look, we have space above the cabinets and you can put vines, antique tea cups, etc......ask them about furniture, what they have and then point out decorating suggestions, thus, creating a mental image in their minds that this is their new home!!

One day at a time...you can do it, girl!!! Have fun with it....people lease from people they like...make them feel welcome, lighten up, laugh and have some fun.

Jump up from your desk when they walk in the door, shake their hand, meet them half way to the door.....welcome them, smile and listen to what their needs are.....ask lots of questions so you know their "hot buttons". Tell them about your resident referral program.....once you become a resident, if you refer a friend, I'll give you $150 off your next month's rent...Oh, you're single, wow, I've got a one bedroom unit by the pool....most of our other single people live in the one bedroom units by the pool. You'll have a great view of the pool. New to town? You'll make friends in no time at our property, we have pool parties and get togethers at the clubhouse.....find out their hot buttons...that, my friend, is how you market your "C" property!

Happy Leasing!!!

Dee

Dee, you better want to be careful w/ "single people by the pool area" that can be a Fair Housing dilemma later on. You don't know how is listening!

Trish, I work at a "C" property and what works for me is (1) Craig's List (2) Flyers at the grocery stores (3) Outreach marketing at other apartment complexes (4) Mini-models.

You have to know your product and have it available. I love to do mini-models. My new thing is getting ingredients for spaghetti, a pasta cookbook and a pot or a drainer. Put some toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, and drinks inside the fridge, give the apartment life.

My new mini-models include free pizza, chips and salsa, drinks and a free On-Demand movie from Comcast.

I also bought a multi color polka dot piggy bank to place at one of the apartments for people to remember MY apartment first. I noticed that prospects start looking at my complex FIRST and don't come back, well I have to make my apartments memorable because I can't compete w/ other complexes specials of 2 months rent free.

My manager and mentor is fantastic at outreach. She buys gas cards, dunkin donuts cards, ice scrapers, even candles to give out to prospects. I do doggie treat bags and deliver them to local groommers on a cute basket. Target has the best baskets depending on the season!

Thanks to my manager for the ideas and I further develop them, I am undefeated on my region's marketing plan contest!


Happy Leasing!
-Nathalia

I was in your situation almost 4 years ago. I was out of the business for almost a year to stay home with my daughter and took the first job that I could find in the industry. I walked into a property that was neglected for years due to old management. Sure, the majority of the apartments were occupied but we were still at a 10% vacancy and terrible word of mouth. In four years, with the help of my corporate office, we have turned our F property into a high C property. Unfortunately, we will never be more than a C property due to our location but we do not allow the location to hinder us and give us excuses why we can't be the best!

The first thing I did when I was hired was go through with a fine tooth comb and really examine who was living at the property. I set up a resident profile and then I began cleaning house. Every person that paid rent late or was a nuisance to other residents I cleared them out and by doing that the current good residents saw the difference and began renewing. Prior to me starting here they had over a 100% turn over rate and several evictions each year. The second thing I did was send out a letter to everyone introducing myself with a survey of what they felt needed changed and I got great feedback. Once I got all the feedback I sent out another letter with all the feedback in it and asked the residents for help fixing the issues. I had great response. This helped me in so many ways... a) it told the residents I cared 2) it told the not so good residents that they are no longer getting away with what they have been getting away with 3) it started an open-door policy for the residents as well as opened the lines of communication.

Once great feedback started coming in I started to use it to my advantage. I started advising people to get on apartmentratings.com and give us a good rating, which has helped my leasing in so many ways. I have people taking advantage of our referral program ($200) and I sit back and let the good word of mouth provide me with great leads. I set up a mini-model and give them welcome packages when they move in. I find out as much as I can about the residents and use that to my advantage. If I know my resident always walks her dog at 4pm I make sure I randomly show up outside at 3:55 w/ a dog treat in my pocket to make it seem like a happy coincedence! If I see one of my residents cars being towed away due to car troubles I will leave a simple note on their door with a few numbers to call for taxi's in the area and and I'm sorry you are having car troubles. It shows the residents that our eyes and ears are always open and it gives them a sense of security. The number one thing that people want in a home!

The best thing that I ever did was really love my property. We might not be the newest but we will be the cleanest! I might not be the hottest property manager but I will be the nicest! I started ordering from Welcome Home America instead of Peachtree or Great American because they had exciting fresh ideas for signage that set us apart from our competition! We have great fun at our property now with cook outs, open houses, and just a fun laugh in the office! That's how we set ourselves apart from our competition... we might be a c property but my residents would never know it!

Wow, you absolutely nailed it -- how to turn a 'C' (old and neglected) into an 'A+' (highly desirable to residents) property. Everything you said, everything you did, leads back to one thing -- you truly care about your community and your neighbors.

Caring is the critical ingredient for truly successful property managers. Congratulations! You have the magic, unteachable key. That, plus your positive attitude and willingness to develop/implement, will assure long-term success with any and every property you manage.

Your story is awesome -- very helpful (complete with step-by-step instructions), the results are measurable (occupancy and renewals), and best of all, it's positively inspiring. Okay if I share it with every property manager I know in St. Louis?

Thank you for writing. I would wish you luck, but with your winning attitude, you won't need it!

I like some of Dee's ideas, I find my traffic is mostly drive by, so curb appeal is number 1.
Depending on your market will depend on what concessions you are giving, in Texas we don't get 2 month's rent as deposit, or even 1.
What I do for bad credit is raise the rent 10 or 20 dollars, if you get extra deposit, it sits in your deposit account, if you get extra rent it goes to your bottom line. That's what the car people do right.
I also use banners, and what I do is write 1 bdroom, starting at $.... phone number, this week only. I hang it usually on the week we get most traffic, and the price I use is $100 less than what my rent is. I give that rent as concession for 3-5 months. In my market concessions are from 50% off 1st month, to 2 free months, I get rent from day 1, and only slightly discount it. much better than the average, and much much better than it being empty. I have never had a resident question why they pay a different amount. It drives traffic like crazy from the area because it tells them we are so much cheaper than where they live.
I use the 3-5 months I mentioned as motivation, usually we will start at 3 or 4 at the concession rate, and use 1 extra month to get them to bring back their app, or on call back the next day say, the manager/owner just said the first app back in the door today gets an extra month at concession price. use it to help close the deal...
The leasing person has to be strong, and drag that traffic, from the calls to walk ins, the have to pull it in.. follow up, they have to be good at sales, and believe in what they are selling.
Do not neglect current residents, they are gold... if they leave, then you have 1 more vacant to fix ,and rent.

Chrissy, you friggin' nailed it! CARE!!! I love that you surveyed your residents and got them involved. It is extremely hard to turn around a property that's been put in a bad spot. Kudos to you!!! Everyone should just take this advice.

Carlos,

Great Ideas I love the banner idea and how it shows a sense of urgency! Although, I do have a concern, increasing the rent for people with bad credit seems to be working for you but I personally wouldn't suggest it to others and the reason for this is because by offering different rental amounts could lead to Fair Housing concerns. As we all know credit is not a protective class but there is a fine line between what can become a problem when it's regarding fair housing. If you have a majority of a protective class that falls under the credit problem area and you have increased their rent it could be seen as something entirely different, although your intentions were not to discriminate, it could be seen as such. With proper documentation and with specific guidelines this could be a great tool but you would still need to treat everyone the same and give everyone the same increase for it not to possibly come to a fair housing issue. It only takes one person to scream discrimination and a big headache to follow but if you have the documentation and you have treated everyone equally with bad credit you won't have a problem. I just wanted to throw that out there just incase people are going to implement your idea.

Wow! Such great ideas as always from this site! Trish, it sounds like you have so many wonderful opportunities and ideas to start from. I want to remind you to remind yourself that this will take time and you will exceed your goals, but don't try to do it all yourself. Get your team involved. I bet they are equally as excited as your residents are about you!

Try an incentivized achievable bonus program.

Partner with local restaurants to host happy hours and invite your staff as well as current residents and prospective. I found these to be a great way to team build and attract new residents with a no pressure sales atmosphere.

Once your curb appeal is up to par, work with non profits to host events like 5K runs, pet adopt-a-thons, blood drives, clothes drives, etc. The event will be a hit and you will receive free press!

Another tip I would strongly suggest is to switch up your online advertising. Google yourself to see any feedback out. Some free sites crawl other sites and have incorrect information. Make sure your photos are crisp with a high resolution. Check with your vendors to learn how their sites search. Many have ways to pull up higher on a search results page with out spending any more money.

I hope this helps! Please keep us informed on your community's results! If you'd like more information on anything I mentioned, call me any time 248-935-0133 or email me. I'd wish you luck, but sounds like you don't need it!

Let me know what town you are in, and I may be able to help you with some resources. You can email me at almosthomeinkc at yahoo, or call me at 913-514-4663. I own a property management company in kc and I have been in the industry since 1980. I have lots of campaigns, so send me a note or give me a call. Pam, Almost Home in KC.

Thank you for your kind words! You brightened up my day! Feel free to share with your collegues. Hopefully, it will help them with any problems they are having. The majority of my stuff I do here is free to do... just takes some time and patience but the reward is great! I seriously, LOVE MY RESIDENTS, and that is awesome to announce! Doing this for 14 years (4 years here) you don't get to say it very often so I am loving it right now!

Hi Everyone,

What a great thread we have going here. I sure hope the original poster of the question, Trish, comes back to check MFI because there are some great responses filled with EMOTION.

Would you all agree that an emotional attachment to the task at hand is often the missing element? You have to have an emotional attachment to anything in order to find success.

To good conversation,

Melissa

Agreed. Emotion, caring, loving what you do -- being emotionally invested defines a great manager; it's the six degrees of separation between good and great. In any industry.

I do, however, believe our industry has a higher percentage of 'greats' than most. Great managers do what they do because they truly care about and want to help others. It's certainly not the hefty paycheck that keeps the greats in the biz (but that's a topic for another day). Just keep doing what you're doing!

"We cannot do great things; we can only do small things with great love." Mother Theresa

Kathryn

Dee.....some EXCELLENT input and ideas here! You obviously gave this a lot of thought.

As a professional Landscape Architect (33 yrs.), my focus has always been on the EXTERIOR aspects of marketing a multi-family
development. Curb appeal, etc. It's the same concept for single
family homes....if the property does NOT look good to people who
drive by...doubt if they will want to stop and look inside.

The Owner of a "C" property doesn't have to spend a fortune on
exterior upgrades, but, walking the property during the day and
at night and "evaluate"...can be helpful. Is the property safe
at night? Seasonal Flowers and flowering Ornamental trees at the entry drive and in front of the Clubhouse can make a big difference. And I have learned over the years, that a very appealing swimming pool amenity area can be a HUGE draw...you'd
be surprised just how many people decide to rent solely based on
their opinion of the main swimming pool adjacent to the back of
the Clubhouse.

Bob
Plano, Texas

Trish,

You need to treat this asset just like any A-B site. Same marketing efforts if not more. The first thing is making your current residents happy, because I'm sure if they havent had a manager for over 6 months, the customer service has taken a hit at this site. You dont want residents unhappy, because they can influance future and current residents in this community. So, first I would do a resident meeting to introduce my self, and get as much items address as possible. Then I would schedule a resident appreciation party, which can be part of your renewal marketing plan. Once I feel comfortable that I have shown my current resident that there is a new manager and cares about them, then I would go full blast with open houses and outreach marketing for new rentals. I would even include a meet our current residents party. Hope this helps!

Dee,
You really had some great ideas, however a few things that you mentioned were against Fair Housing. You may want to brush up on the FH Laws because your property can really be hit if you are in violation. But again alot of the things you metioned are great ways to lease!! Good Luck!

Saying things like your single and we have units by the pool where most single people live is a fair housing violation!!! Its called Blockbusting...DONT USE THAT