What is in a name?

The company I work for is aquiring a new community and it has been decided to re-name the community. What factors are most important when picking a new name?

It it were up to me to pick a new name for a community, it would be most important to me that it sound like some place that I would want to live. That rules out names like, "The Dump," or "El Cheapo Apartments." I would also look for a name that would be easily identifiable with the apartments or the surrounding community. Going with a name like, "The Oaks" does not make sense to me if all you see is a concrete jungle.

I am no expert on this, but picking a name that has the area included in the title may help drive more traffic to your website during an organic apartment search. Example, Dunwoody Oaks.
I also like names that are less commonly used. We worked on a very succesfull lease-up called "4 Marta" It's different, but it stands out.

Hi Tammy,
Are they re-naming the community as part of a branding campaign or because of reputation?

I like names that start with A, B or C. That puts you near the top in any advertising that you do! Relate the name to a landmark or road that is near by (or in the community).

Good luck.

The community is being re-named due to a poor repuation. Thank you for all your comments! Would love to hear more!

Before picking any name do a search to see if the name is available for websites etc. This is VERY important. There is nothing more aggravating after you pick an awesome name for your community you start to develop your website and Boom the domain name is taken and all similar ones are taken as well. You also want to make sure after you pick a name to make sure there are no similar names in the area (within 50 miles or so). I get calls here all the time for a subsidized community about 25 minutes from here and we are conventional (don't take section and I spend a lot of time filtering calls and emails. Hope this helps!!