Tips to Full Occupancy

In multifamily property management, there is always more to do, but there are certain things that must be done. In the effort to maintain full occupancy, these five tips are in the "must be done" category.

1. Renewals! The straightest line to maintaining high occupancy in multifamily is focusing consistent attention on renewals. Ignoring this makes maintaining full occupancy near impossible.

2. Be Ready! Never show a unit to a potential tenant that is not ready to occupy. This includes "almost ready" and "gonna be ready next week" multifamily units. It's either ready to occupy or... wait.

3. Know Thy Competitors! Know where you can compete and where you cannot. Wendy's restaurant has tried many times to get in on McDonald's breakfast revenue. They just cant do it. Know thy competitors and what concessions they are offering in the present tense. Leasing agents should know amenities of competitor properties and how/where your property can out-perform. Example: older units almost always have greater square feet than newer product. Accentuate the positive!

4. Social media is a mainstay! Integration of Internet based advertising/media is a must no matter how small the multifamily market. The renter market is younger people (still). Young people are glued/stuck/fastens to their smart phones.... smart phones with connectivity to available apartment homes.

5. Two-way communication! Leasing Agents are far from order takers- they are the front line representing your asset. A potential tenant coming to your Leasing Office is looking for a place to live and insight on the lifestyle represented. A big part of leasing, then, is to dialogue and convey to potential tenants what they are buying.

This is accomplished best by creating two-way communication. Leasing Agents should be asking open-ended questions that draw information from potential tenants to better understand their needs and wants. This allows Leasing Agents to provide information on features and benefits offered by the development that meet potential customers lifestyle desires. People may look for features, but they buy benefits. The only way to know what benefits they are looking for is to ask.

Do not discount property presentation is an owner's initial visual contact with current and potential customers. There is just no getting around an un-kept parking lot or peeling paint, over-grown grass or broken window screens. These items are examples of low-cost repairs that should be eliminated as barriers to entry for new tenants and to assist in retaining current customers in a multifamily property. There are of course two things that a multifamily property owner never has enough of; cash and customers. The tools suggested here will hopefully assist you in gaining both!

Multifamily Insight is dedicated to assisting current and future multifamily property owners, operators and investors in executing specific tasks that allow multifamily assets to operate at their highest level of efficiency. We discuss real world issues in multifamily management and acquisitions. This website is intended to be informational only and does not provide legal, financial or accounting advice. Seek professional counsel. We discuss best practices in multifamily management and methods related to how to buy apartment complexes. Our focus is sharing strategies and tactics that can be implemented and measured.

Posted in: Full Occupancy