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10 More Pinterest Tips for Property Managers!

Charity Hisle — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:58:15 +0000

In our last post about Pinterest, we discussed why each property management group should have a Pinterest account. But how do you get creative with your account without being too salesy?

Here are ten more ideas for using Pinterest for your communities:

1. Create an account for your property management group then create a pinboard for every community.
2. Pin items of interest by category, here are a few ideas for categories:
a. Interior design ideas: create a board for each room of the home.
b. Fitness and Food: create a board that emphasizes healthy living and recipes.
c. Shopping lists: create a board as a handy move-in resource for new residents.
d. Create a board for each of your leasing agents with different themes.
e. Share an organization pinboard for unique storage ideas.
3. Have a Pinterest contest! Start a contest for prospects and residents to pin pictures of your community or have a scavenger hunt to find all of the items located on a contest board.
4. Create a board for good books or inspirational quotes.
5. Have a board for local restaurants.
6. Share local coupons and deals.
7. Comment on other pins.
8. Pin pictures of your communities and link to their websites in the description.
9. Add the pin button to your websites so that people can easily pin photos of your communities that they want to share with others.
10. Share photos of community events on Pinterest then share to your community Facebook wall.

Please share a link to your Pinterest page below so that we can all follow one another!

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How to Attract “Generation Y” Residents for Your Rental Properties

Marc Courtenay — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:05:33 +0000

Believe it or not, there are up to 80 million people between the ages of 16 and 29 who will be filling your vacancies in the year ahead. They are often called “Generation Y.” Also known as the “Echo Boomers”, they are the children of that other gigantic demographic, The Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964). Born between 1981 and 1995, they’re already having a huge impact on entire segments of the economy. And as the population ages, they will become the next dominant generation of Americans. So whether you call them “echo boomers,” “Generation Y” or “millennials,” they already comprise nearly a third of the U.S. population, and currently spend $180 billion a year of their own and their parents’ money. They are a force to be reckoned with and not to be ignored.

How to Attract Them to Fill Your Vacancies?

To begin with, you have to reach them on a technological level. They don’t read newspapers and aren’t likely to even read their mail. They are multi-taskers with smart phones, iPads, music downloads, and text-messaging on their Internet-connected devices. They are totally plugged-in citizens of a worldwide community. Communicate to them like their favorite smart phone and computer-tablet company does. Have you been to an Apple store lately? It’s absolutely packed with Echo Boomers! Think about it, do you know anyone between the ages of 16 and 29 that doesn’t have either an iPhone, an iPod,or an iPad?

Go to Apple’s website and see for yourself how they grab and hold the attention of this enormous generation. Watch the videos that they use to speak to the heart of their interests and how Apple motivates them. When it comes to having a place to live, this generation doesn’t mind living with their parents as long as tolerably possible. Yet at some point they want their privacy and independence. What they don’t seem to want is the responsibility or financial obligations involved in owning their own place. My own two (my daughter, a Generation Xer, and my son born in 1981) both have chosen to rent or lease their respective housing.

Forbes recently had a relevant article titled, “Housing the Echo Boomers—Next Big Real Estate Opportunity?” and it is a must-read for property managers who want to attract this age group. In the section titled, “What Will They Want?” the author emphasizes that “…most of Generation Y seem to want modest homes, the demand of which may be indicative of their young age. But it might also represent a demographic shift against large housing that is often overpriced and unnecessary.”

So if you’re using smart phone and online applications to advertise rental properties to this group, make sure you focus on affordability, easy upkeep, and the manageable size of your rentals. The Echo Boomers have been polled in recent years, and they value not only economy, but also ecology. They want to live in as green and environmentally-friendly a home as possible. If your units are energy efficient and have features that show respect for the planet, make that part of the theme for your advertisement. Appeal to their priorities and let them know that you understand what they’re looking for.

This massive generational group is rediscovering the joys of marriage, partnering and raising a family. Again, reach them through their technologies and stress that your rental housing is close to work, school and their kind of social areas. Accentuate the point that housing which is centrally located will save them money so that they can afford other things in the area and be closer to where they work or can find additional employment.

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Should Your Property Management Company Investigate Pinterest?

Charity Hisle — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:48:28 +0000

With over 4 million users, Pinterest is now in the top 10 list of social networks! It is a unique (and public) website that allows users to organize and share images and videos from across the web with one another. Think of Pinterest as an online bulletin board!

Pinterest provides the opportunity to visually demonstrate to others what is happening below the surface – all the while linking back to the original source of the image. People pin inspirational, educational, entertaining and fun photos and videos making each pinboard unique to the individual pinner.

The opportunities for local businesses, like apartment communities or real estate agencies, are endless!

10 Tips for Using Pinterest for Property Management

1. People are more likely to follow full pinboards than sparse ones.
2. Connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts to make sharing seamless.
3. Use the Pinterest ‘Pin It’ extension in your Google Chrome browser to pin on the fly!
4. Add contributors to your boards to bring personality and distribute the responsibility.
5. Don’t forget to “like” pins you may not want to repin.
6. Tag other Pinterest users in comments by typing the @ symbol before their name.
7. Add the $ symbol to the pin description to add a price to the banner of your photo.
8. Download the Pinterest app to your smartphone to pin on-the-go around the community.
9. Search for pins about your local community or sports teams to repin and follow.
10. Go to pinterest.com/source/__________.com to discover all of the pins that originated from a particular site.

Remember: use good keyword-rich descriptions of pins you upload for your communities for SEO purposes. Pinterest is invite-only – please comment on this post for an invitation of your own.

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What is Twitter? Part 1 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

Market Fun Holiday Events For Residents

Mary Girsch-Bock — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:36:46 +0000

While the holidays always make us think about ways to engage residents in the holiday spirit, there are many activities and events that property managers can organize and easily implement that can be used not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year.

Have a balcony/patio/door decorating contest. While a balcony or door decorating contest is a frequent staple during December, creative property managers can implement this activity throughout the year. Decorating a patio/balcony or front door gives apartment residents an outlet for their creativity and a way to express their personality that is frequently limited. But why stop at Christmas? Why not a 4th of July balcony decorating contest? Or a Halloween decorating contest? Offer some fun prizes, and bring in an impartial judge.

Consider scheduling a cookie day and recipe exchange. Who doesn’t love cookies? This can be done anytime, not just during the holidays, and it’s a great way for your residents to connect with each other.

Start a monthly movie night. For those with a media center, consider implementing movie night. While during December, you’ll want to show some classic holiday movies, or perhaps a fun children’s movie, this can easily be done once a month, throughout the year. Pick a monthly theme such as snow/cold weather in January, Valentine’s Day in February, etc. Serve up some popcorn or hot chocolate. You might be amazed at the response.

Offer gift wrapping services to your residents. While this can really only be done during the holiday season, it’s a great service to offer your frazzled residents. Pick a local organization and donate any proceeds to them in the spirit of the season.

Have a raffle to support a local charity. Again, consider giving the proceeds to a local charity. Choose one, or ask your residents what charity they would like to support. Offer a substantial grand prize (one month’s free rent?) and a lot of smaller prizes such as gift cards to area merchants.

While all of these ideas work wonderfully during the holiday season, most of them can also be incorporated throughout the year. There’s no reason to reach out to your residents only one month of the year. Staying engaged with your residents creates and maintains a real sense of community while likely raising your resident retention rate, come renewal time, in a fun and relaxing way.

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What is Twitter? Part 1 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers

Charity Hisle — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:53:15 +0000

“Fish where the fish are.”
Believe it or not, the world has not abandoned Twitter, in fact, just the opposite. While Facebook and Google Plus use are declining, Twitter is gaining users globally. The average user sends a half a Tweet per day and the site has reached 360 million registered users.

What is Twitter, Anyway?
Twitter has been called a micro-blog but I like to think of it more like a bulletin board for the world. Everything from natural disasters to in depth discussions takes place on this public forum. Brands are using Twitter to communicate with prospects and customers, provide timely customer service and even to increase revenue.

Conversing on Twitter:

Twitter will allow you to share your messages in 140 characters or less.

Create user-friendly usernames: keep the name as short as possible, make it memorable, avoid punctuation. Consider something like AshleyParkRockStars, ParkPlaceCares or something that would inspire a human response.

Use a picture of real humans in your profile picture, perhaps in front of your community or in the leasing office.

When you “follow” someone, you’re essentially subscribing to their status updates.

Listen, look around, before you start tweeting.

Ask questions, reply with personality to questions that are asked.

Rather than following everyone at first, develop the right list of followers so that you are having real conversations with real people online.

Who to follow:

Follow residents and prospects

Follow local businesses and hometown celebrities

Follow employees and prospective employees

Search twitter for keywords including neighborhood + apartment, city + “looking for an apartment” and follow their accounts – reply to their questions if they are asking for recommendations on where to live

Follow your competitors – know what they’re doing and who they are talking too… while you’re at it, follow their followers too!

Here is a list of 100 more must-follow individuals and companies in the multifamily and apartment marketing industry (link 4).

Stay tuned for our next posts, 30 Tweet Ideas: Part 2 of the Twitter Series for Property Managers and Twitter How-To’s.

Sources:

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/06/12/facebook-sees-big-traffic-drops-in-us-and-canada-as-it-nears-700-million-users-worldwide/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_plus_traffic_drops_1269_gains_erased.php

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/160712/average-twitter-user-sends-half-a-tweet-per-day.html

http://www.sociallyengagedmarketing.com/2010/10/top-100-twitter-recommendation/

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College Prep: Sustainable Off-Campus Living

Jennifer Newton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:05:47 +0000

College and university campuses are increasingly defining sustainable practices for their campus communities. This is, in turn, raising the bar for students’ off-campus expectations.

If your property is near enough to a campus to provide housing to students or staff, take a moment to assess any green attributes that could be leveraged to attract eco-conscious tenants and retain these residents over time. If you discover your property doesn’t have much to boast about, let this exercise be an incentive to you to explore adding a few green assets to your property.

Here are a few simple and inexpensive ideas to get you started:

Public Transportation: This one is completely free. Simply figure out where bus or rail lines are in proximity to your property.

Zero VOC Paints: Opt to freshen walls with a no-VOC paint before a new tenant moves in — it’s better for you, your tenant and the planet.

Non-Toxic Cleaners: Put together a basket of non-toxic cleaners as a move-in gift to a new tenant.

Community Garden Access: Where is the nearest community garden space to your property? Find out how to rent a plot and see if any are available for the next growing season.

Green Space: Where are the nearest parks and green spaces to your property? There are five major green spaces in my neighborhood and no two are alike. Lake Phalen rivals Central Park in size, beauty and diversity of activity; Mounds Park sits high above Saint Paul with six sacred ancient burial mounds still intact; Swede Hollow Park, a secret garden of sorts, connects major bike routes; Skidmore Park boasts a newly developed community garden; and Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a recently converted brownfield site, connects my neighborhood to the downtown area. It pays to know nearby green spaces and the unique value they can provide your tenants.

Recycling Hub: Create a designated recycling hub at your property. Consider a pantry, garage, porch or even a corner in the kitchen. Keep it simple and organized.

Bike Routes and Storage: After you research public transportation, find out if your town has any designated bike routes. Then, install bike hooks in the basement, porch or garage for tenants’ bikes. If bringing bikes inside makes you cringe, install a small lockable shed on the property.

Kitchen Composting: Food scraps create a lot of garbage. In fact, the average gruesome amount is 475 pounds per household every year. New to the idea of composting? Learn the basics of kitchen composting.

Believe it or not, solar panels are making an appearance at rental properties. I recently drove by a small apartment building about a quarter of a mile from the University of Minnesota and noted several solar panels installed on the roof. A little research later revealed an entire green marketing campaign for the property. A little more digging showed me that this property is not unique in its eco-conscious promotion. Clearly there is a considerable demand for green attributes to make solar panels and other green investments worth the up-front costs for property owners.

Did you ever think a worm box would be part of your marketing campaign?

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More Than 1,400 Attend RealShare Apartments Conference 2011

Bryan Ives — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:48:46 +0000

The latest RealShare Apartments 2011 Conference drew over 1,400 executives from the multifamily industry. Many industry leaders presented throughout the daylong event, providing some valuable insights regarding current market influences and trends. The consensus from panelists from the beginning was that the multifamily market is heading in the right direction.

The Director of Customer Relationships for Fannie Mae, Phyllis Klein, said she expects rents to increase 2% to 3%, while vacancy rates will continue to drop. According to Lew Feldman, a partner of Goodwin Proctor LLP, and Paul Angle, Western Regional Director of Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac is active in refinances and in acquisitions, while sustaining a record pace with tremendous capacity. Angle said he enjoys any market where rising rents and job growth are prevalent. Some of the cities he says are benefiting most from these market conditions include Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Denver, all of which are experiencing incredible growth. Regarding the long term, Angle suggests that places like San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles will experience similar vitality. Klein emphasizes the fact that the underwriting process has remained the same over the past year. Their continued focus on maintenance and overall property condition through the loan term remains a priority. Klein adds that they are not looking to underwrite on a future repositioning but rather on the current market values.

One panel titled: “Outside Influences: Where Things are Going,” moderated by Tom Bannon, CEO of California Apartment Association, touched upon the significance of the troubled single-family residential market. Managing Director of the Reznick Group, Richard Hollowell, observed that single-family foreclosures are fueling the multifamily market, with over 800,000 foreclosures on single-family homes this year. Paul Habibi of UCLA agreed with the strong growth assessment, observing that there remains an extensive and growing demand for rental housing in general. Jeffrey Meyers, principal of Meyer LLC may have summed up the bullish apartment market forecast best, enthusiastically opining that it’s a good time to really get behind multifamily investment, as it will have a “strong run.”

Source: http://www.globest.com/news/2016_2025/losangeles/315029-1.html

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Protecting Your Brand Online

Charity Hisle — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:05:12 +0000

When I was growing up we lived near three grocery stores in Pensacola, Florida but were only allowed to shop at one. My Dad was the assistant manager at a grocery store chain called Delchamps. (Don’t worry, the Delchamps brand has been out of business for a long time!) If Dad wanted to keep his job, the rule was that we could not shop at another grocery store. If we, the family, were seen shopping at another grocery store, he could be fired.

By having this rule, Delchamps was attempting to protect their brand image. They wanted to make sure that no one got the wrong idea about why an employee would choose another grocery store to shop. This is back in the days when loyalty was expected from employers and employees, before Enron and WorldCom.

Things have changed today, and most businesses do not put purchasing requirements on employees. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that brands are still worried about how employees represent their company – most especially online. Many businesses do not know where to begin or even recognize a need to set web employee behavior standards.

If Delchamps were still in business, I’d be willing to bet they would’ve done the following to maintain their company brand online:

Written a clear policy which covers employee social media interactions.

Hosted training sessions for employees to ensure they each sign off on company social media policies.

Educated employees on trademark infringement – because even if an employee infringes upon a trademark without your knowledge, your company can still be held liable.

Given employees permission to blog, tweet, Facebook, speak about their company, but would have been very clear about limitations on content.

Set guidelines on how to speak of their competition. Beware of what you say about your competitors online to avoid defamation lawsuits.

Delchamps was big on loyalty, even as a child I understood the expectations. Do your employees understand your company expectations for online behavior? Do you require your employees to sign a social media policy?

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Everything Sends a Marketing Message

Lisa Trosien — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:09:57 +0000

When is the last time you reviewed all of the materials you provide to your prospective renter or resident? And I mean ALL of the materials, including papers left behind after a service request, applications, notices, event invitations, ads, flyers, outreach materials, stationery…the works. Here’s what you need to do:

Take all of those items I mentioned above (and any others I may have missed) and lay them all out.
Review each one carefully. Then ask yourself the following:

Are all of the logos the same on each piece?
Should the logo be updated for a more contemporary look and feel?
Are all of the fonts consistent?
Are the colors consistent?
Are the colors contemporary, or do they need an update?
Are there any typos or misspellings?
Have any of the pieces been copied to death (and show it)?
Is the contact information for the leasing office correct?
Does the contact information include the leasing office email address?
Do the pieces include social networking logos and ‘follow’ information?
Should the leasing office hours be included on any of the pieces? Are they included?
Are there photos on the materials and if so, are they current?
Do the photos contain images of people and if so, do the images comply with Fair Housing?
Do you have the Fair Housing logo on all of the materials?

After completing your audit, you may have some work to do. If so, get started as soon as possible. Find a graphic designer if you need to create the strongest possible statements.

Remember, anything that ‘touches’ the customer sends a strong marketing message. What are your materials saying about your company?

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Ways Property Managers Can Survive a Tough Economy

Mary Girsch-Bock — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:20:52 +0000

Although the economy has started to trend upwards (a little), it’s still a pretty tough economy out there. The question property managers may be asking themselves is “Where are easy places I can save a little money?”

The good news is that there are plenty of places to save money without impacting the quality of your business. It’s also important to understand where it’s okay to skimp a little, and what areas you never want to skimp in, which will be covered in Part II. Below are just a few you might want to consider.

Reduce traditional advertising while strengthening your web presence.
Large magazine ads and Yellow Page ads may have been effective ten years ago, but most people begin their property search on the web. Instead, consider doing the something like creating and optimizing a Facebook page, or opening a twitter account, where you can post daily tips and trends related to property management while highlighting your business. Another great option is starting an e-magazine or newsletter. All of these can be done at a fraction of the cost of traditional print advertising, and will likely produce better results.

Cut down on the paper.
One of the biggest money wasters in any office, particularly the paper-driven property management office is an over-abundance of paper. Larger property management offices can find themselves spending the equivalent of a full-time position on cartons of paper and peripheral items such as ink and toner. If you recycle paper in your office, you know exactly how much is wasted daily. Consider investing in document management software, which typically costs far less than purchasing a year’s worth of paper supplies. You’ll be more organized, and will save money in the process.

Reduce your gas expense, along with the wear and tear on your vehicle by simply arranging property visits geographically.
Divide your week into sections; North, South, East, West, or however your properties are divided and schedule visits accordingly. Due to the nature of the property management business, this won’t always be possible, but even property showings can be arranged according to your schedule. While unscheduled visits will sometimes be necessary, if you stick to your schedule for the most part, the time and money saved will be impressive.

Lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer.
Adjusting the temperature by just a few degrees is unlikely to make anyone uncomfortable, and it will both conserve energy and lower your utility bills.

Next: Where you should never skimp.

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