Advertising Idea For the Industry

I was outside a few weeks ago and my brother-in-law stopped by. As he got in his car to leave, I was just about to start mowing the lawn. He looked at me, got a big smile on his face, and said, "good luck with that!" He's a pretty active guy, so I knew that while I was grinding out my chores, he was probably off to meet friends and have a great time.

And it occurred to me, what a great advertisement for an industry-wide campaign. One of the biggest benefits of apartment living is lack of a hassle with mowing the lawn, calling repairmen, etc. I could definitely see a "Life is meant to be lived" advertisement campaign that shows the negatives of home buying relative to the carefree life of an apartment resident. The goal wouldn't be to stop home buying, as that is a lot to ask, but rather to simply delay it for one year, on average, which would create a mammoth increase in occupancy overall.

What do you all think? Effective marketing strategy to delay home buying?

Absolutely a great idea. We bought our house 3 years ago....on closing day one ac unit went out. $5000. About a month later, the second one went out. We ended up putting all of that on credit cards because you can't live in Houston weather without AC! We didn't expect those additional costs at all...so, in your "ad", I'd encourage them to add to their savings just a little bit longer...all those added expenses add up quick when you own a home!

Yeah, Good Luck With That!

When I managed a real estate office, I wrote all of the ads for our listings. This is the approach I took when advertising condomimiums for sale.

"We'll cut the grass while you play in the pool!"

"No Yard Work!" and "No Leaves to Rake!"

There are a lot of people looking for short-term leases so they can look around town before buying a home. If we could capture these short-term and turn them into long-term by showing them the benefits of renting, we could improve occupancy across the country!

I'm, personally, not looking for short-term renters because my property is too small and I need 2-4 year renters. But, that's another campaign.

Great idea!

Great note about the short term residents issue, Sandy! I think there are two ways to look at this:

1) For a single community, this wouldn't be great outreach marketing because you are completely right - it would target short term, non-profitable residents.

2) For an industry advertising campaign, similar to the "Got Milk" idea, the ad would naturally target those that currently live in apartments (today's prospects are still probably renters at a different community). So from a global view, it would do great to influence overall renting trends.

Definitely an effective marketing strategy, and one I use all the time.

I even take it one step further and make sure my renters know why I think renting is the way to go. And not just for another year- there are advantages to being a permanent renter. People these days are not just looking for equity, they are looking for long term value.

I used to own a home, and I HATED it. The never ending chores of mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, raking the leaves, shoveling snow, and on and on! I want to go camping, shop, or read a book on the weekend.

In the four years I owned my own home, I had to paint the exterior, clear blackberries from the back yard (again and again!), get a new roof, new furnace, new appliances, and new wiring. Plus the city decided homeowners had to pay to replace sidewalks in front of their homes. Then the county decided homeowners would have to pay additional taxes beyond federal, state, and property taxes...

While renting may not be best choice for everyone, renting an apartment can be a huge value. Because we renters spend less on housing, we can afford better cars, bigger contributions to retirement funds, longer vacations, etc.

I am absolutely enthusiastic about being a renter instead of a homeowner. I love my apartment and my community. This attitude has an important impact in my sales pitch and my community's occupancy.

There is a funny end to my home ownership experience. The current owner made a short horror film about the blackberries in the back yard and put it up on youtube.

uhhh... low-production, berry-picking horror film?!? Hyperlink, please! I gotta see this!

Enjoy!

Gotta love Google alerts! That how I came across this. I also use google alerts to keep up with my comps availability & pricing.