The sun is out and renters are yet again motivated to make ‘moves’ to a new location. They check all of the regular listings sites like Zillow, Craigslist and others only to be presented with a sea of options. Mainly, at a significantly higher price than what they found over the last couple of years during the pandemic.
As property managers (who also might be justifying big increases in rent prices) attempt to stand out and win leads, what can you do to improve outcomes during peak leasing season?
Yes, does technology help you implement all of these efforts? Yes. Do you have to use in-house technology to do any of the below? No.. but it’s worth noting that there’s an undeniable efficiency to these helpful reminders that technology supports at scale.
Here are three things everyone should be thinking about if you have or are soon to have a vacancy in your portfolio:
- MORE THAN A LISTING
In today’s rental market, consumers have adapted their expectations to the fast growing world around them. Gen Z is electing to order food on demand rather than ‘subject themselves to sit down dining’. So, understanding how to better appeal to your customer is key and just saying, “great natural light” might sell you short of a signed lease. Instead, what modern conveniences are you offering that appeal to a consumer that is on-the-go or working from home and wants those conveniences right now! Things like integrated rewards, services and hospitality that go beyond the mere roof over one’s head is a valuable addition to any marketing effort.
A 2022 NMHC report cites Grace Hill Renter Preference Report, 83% of renters visited a property management’s website or microsite and 73% visited a rental listings site when searching for their next stay.
2. THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Answers here can be variable. For property managers seeking to claw back losses from years prior, the encouragement to go for the significant rate hike is big. However, it’s important to understand that vacancy loss across a property takes a while to recover from. This means both that getting someone in as well as keeping them for an extended period of time needs to be thoughtful. Additionally, a study was done across large portfolios that outlined that if operators assessed their losses not by vacancy but by total capital loss, they almost always see that pricing larger units at a lesser variable rate would have a higher impact on total NOI.
Example: not wanting to price the 3 bed, 2 bath any less than 25% more expensively than the 2 bed 1 bath had a variable net operating income loss of 15% across some portfolios.
The problem was that leadership was only seeing that they had 97% occupancy which told a very different story.
Bottom line, price the units as appropriately to the surrounding market you can and try not to get too hung up on the wrong optics.
3. BE CUSTOMER/RENTER CENTRIC
You worked hard to earn the renter relationships that you have today. Don’t take that effort, or the customer for granted. Unit turns are expensive and the better you treat those you already have within your portfolio, the more referrals they will provide you, the longer they will stay, and the easier it will be to make incremental increases in rent year over year.
Start implementing a monthly cadence. At the very least, check in and do your best to let them know what you’re doing. What you’re doing for the community, for the property and/or for them that they might not see. When it’s a habit, it’s far easier to not let communication fall through the cracks. Maximize positive feedback by providing an open, friendly space for honest communication regularly.
Additionally, when it starts getting closer to the resident’s lease end date, think of how renewals can be more about continued service rather than ensuring “you lock them in”.
With regular communication and active listening, you’ll know what your community ultimately needs and how you can continue to win their business over the long term. This effort will save you and your team tens of hours every month and tens of thousands of dollars per unit per year.
LEASERA is the only rental ecosystem, offering a unified management suite equipped with an on-demand rental marketplace and loyalty program. We integrate connected travel accommodations and direct-to-door services like dog walking, food delivery and ride share to our property management clients and their consumer communities. We enable fast moving property owners and a dynamic renter demographic with benefits and options needed for today. By serving our property management companies, and property investment groups, as well as our partnerships with hotels, travel rentals, investment groups and more, LEASERA has ushered the rental market into a new era.
LEASERA offers our PMC clients added value across their long term rental portfolios with a core, SaaS free, consumer-loyalty, an intelligent leasing-as-a-service platform with an integrated marketplace of supportive tools and service providers. Consumers gain rewards and empowerment and flexibility. LEASERA is a portfolio company of Second Century Ventures, was named Plug and Play’s top 50 Proptech Innovations, CREtech’s Hot List as one of the “Top Companies to Discover in Real Estate” and as a “Leading tech site to discover” and has been dubbed years ahead of the market by industry investors, professionals and insiders.
This is a new life on leasing. Learn more at www.leasera.com
#propertymanagement #ecosystem #rentals #community #leasera
