Multifamily

How to Attract New Residents to a Multifamily Property?

If you are a property manager or are part of a property management team, a constant challenge facing you is how to attract good residents to multifamily properties. This isn’t a simple task by any stretch of the imagination. While the number of people renting in the United States continues to grow every year, there is stiff competition for multifamily properties to attract and retain residents as part of rental housing.
It is important from the beginning to understand that retaining existing residents is just as important as attracting new residents. When you are looking for targeted ways to improve your property to attract new residents, also think of how those improvements would potentially impact the existing residents in your community. Don’t think of these categories as mutually exclusive. Improvements made to attract new residents may improve retention rates with existing residents. Similarly, implementing changes to improve a property for existing residents may ultimately attract new residents.

Streamline Maintenance

One thing you’ll notice if you spend some time looking at reviews for multifamily housing is how effective and efficient the maintenance process is. residents don’t want to live in properties where maintenance is slow to fix problems or their complaints are ignored. Those residents are more likely to leave bad reviews, which in turn steers away potential residents. If you want to improve your ability to attract new residents while keeping the ones you have, you might want to consider investing in a software platform that allows you to streamline the maintenance process. Cloud-based maintenance management software allows your residents to quickly submit tickets, which can then be triaged and assigned to maintenance staff. The process is more efficient, easy to use, and will ensure that no service requests fall through the cracks.

Change it Up

If you are having lackluster results attracting new residents, you might consider trying a different approach. Since you can’t really change your location or design, two things that potential renters place great value on, consider changing up your amenities. Think about what sets you apart from other properties, and leverage that to create a more robust sense of community. Plan community events such as yoga, game nights, or even sponsored classes that teach residents some skill. These events bring current residents together and can be a great way to demonstrate to potential residents that your property is warm and open.

Incorporate a Package Management Service

Today’s rental property managers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the quantity and frequency of deliveries. Front-office leasing staff is required to spend an increasing amount of their day receiving packages from carriers, logging and securing those packages, notifying residents, and finally handing off the package when the resident is ready to pick it up. If your residents work extended hours that make them unable to retrieve their package before your office closes, they’re out of luck until the next day.
The way packages are received and delivered in multifamily rental properties is quickly becoming untenable. The entire process is incredibly time-consuming for staff members. Yet, in multifamily buildings where deliveries are made directly to a residents door, the risk of theft or misdelivered packages go up. Couriers don’t want this situation either, as the more doors they have to knock on the higher delivery costs end up being.
A solution that appeals to both new and current residents is utilizing an electronic parcel locker. Multifamily parcel lockers are an effective way to let new and current residents know that you take the security of their belongings seriously. At the same time, parcel lockers can substantially reduce the labor costs and headache associated with handling shipments and retrieval in-house. An added benefit is that parcel lockers allow carriers to directly input packages into the system, improving last mile logistics and allowing your staff to spend more time attracting new customers and less time routing packages. Refrigerated lockers are an added bonus for current and potential residents, as online shopping becomes the future of grocery retail.

Closing Thoughts

There is no one surefire way to attract new residents to a multifamily property or apartment homes. Each property has unique characteristics that make it attractive to certain renters. However, there are some features that all properties share. These include how a management company cares for their facilities, how they ensure the security of their residents’ property, and how they work to create a sense of community. If you want to get a glowing review from a former resident that helps attract new residents, consider improving these and other fundamental areas of your operations.
Integrating technology into many of your daily processes can help you accomplish this. For example, the use of electronic parcel lockers makes your operations more efficient while also providing a valuable service for your quality residents. The same can be said for implementing a software maintenance management system. By following this approach you’ll not only be presented opportunities to attract the best potential renters and residents you can, but you’ll also retain them for a longer period of time.