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Property Management with Pizzaz: Properties That Attract Residents

Posted on 17. Aug, 2010 by Marc Courtenay in Business

We all want to attract and retain good residents to the properties we manage. That assignment is challenging today and requires some enthusiastic creativity. So my question for you is, “Are you up to the challenge?” I believe the answer is “Yes”, because you are visiting this web site and reading these articles.

Hope that doesn’t sound condescending. It really is powerful proof that you’re willing to “think outside the box” and that you are open to suggestions and answers. So, begin attracting quality residents by thinking like a resident thinks. A quality resident wants to live in a property that makes a positive, first impression.

Start With The Outside
Begin by making the outside, a.k.a. “the façade” of the property you manage or own look as sweet as that proverbial “gingerbread house”. It needs to look special, uncluttered, and well maintained. I’m talking about low-cost steps. Start by cleaning up any messes, hauling away abandoned cars, bicycles and trash. Show potential residents that you are running a well-managed, squeaky-clean place where people enjoy living. Clean the windows, the hardware and the porches. Make them shine like the top of the Chrysler building in NYC. Buy some nice-looking window planters at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Fill them with geraniums, miniature roses or some other hardy flowering plants. You can even install them so they are hard to tamper with or steal.

Make It Secure
Residents, especially women, want to live somewhere that they feel secure. So spend a little money on deadbolt locks and install window locks as well. Check out your local hardware store and see all the inexpensive security hardware that is currently available for doors and windows. When potential residents see that you are thoughtful enough to have security items in place before move-in day, they say to them selves, “This is a property manager that really cares about the residents and has some empathy”.

Declutter
If you are trying to find residents for a single family unit, duplex, or triplex, make sure the outside as well as the inside is uncluttered. Address resident hoarding issues if they exist. The uncluttered look starts with your front yard. Make sure the yard is mowed and edged, and remove toys, junk piles, empty flowerpots, and debris. An evenly cut yard is pleasing to the eye. Fertilize the grass a month or two ahead. Overgrown or half dead shrubs give an old, tired look. Trim or remove them. Don’t allow bushes and shrubs to cover windows. They block light on the interior, and create an additional security risk. De-clutter flower beds. Mulch is inexpensive (about $2.00 per bag), and does wonders to simplify garden beds, especially in winter when plants are thin. Again, add flowers on the porch or in beds if weather permits. Too many flowerpots are distracting – use a few large pots with healthy plants. Never have empty pots or dead plants sitting around.

There Are Rules
Last but not least, make sure your parking area is clean and neatly marked off. Show potential residents your carefully crafted list of rules and regulations to help insure a safe, orderly, and clean environment. You’re a property manager with “pizzazz” and “flair”. That’s because you really care about your work and the well-being of your residents and your owners.

I’ve said it before and it bears repeating, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” That’s the kind of “pizzazz” that attracts reliable, longer-term residents.

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