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The Ultimate Apartment Management Companies’ Guide to Renting to College Grads: 10 Tips

Image of a recent college graduate lifting his diploma in a salute to the city skyline in the background, an image for the apartment management companies guide to renting to college grads.

Marketing apartments to recent college graduates poses unique challenges and opportunities for savvy apartment management companies. Fresh grads are members of the fastest-growing contingent of renters nationwide, with 4.5 million entering the rental market in the past 5 years.

Gen Z renters have specific preferences, communication styles, and even shopping styles to consider. If you’re going to attract them in this competitive market, you must know how to speak their (online) shopping language and appeal to their social life and values.

These are our favorite top 10 trending tips for marketing apartments to recent college graduates.

1. List Properties on the Right Sites

Two highly popular apartment listing websites among Gen Z renters are Zillow and Apartments.com.

Zillow, with its user-friendly interface and extensive apartment inventory, allows grads to browse various listings, filter according to location and budget, and contact property managers directly. Apartments.com, known for its modern design and detailed listings, provides comprehensive information on amenities and nearby attractions, making it a preferred choice for Gen Z.

Apartment management companies without a large management portfolio and self-listed rentals should consider investigating which listing site is the most popular with younger renters in their market.

2. Emphasize On-Site Amenities in Ways That Connect

Younger renters want apartment communities that offer more than just living spaces. When you create ads or website content, add virtual tours of highly desirable community features such as fitness centers, study rooms, rooftop lounges, and communal spaces.

3. Prioritize Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Features

Gen Z graduates are increasingly concerned about environmental sustainability. Promote your community’s green initiatives, such as renewable energy sources, recycling programs, and energy-efficient appliances. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability will strongly resonate with this environmentally conscious demographic.

4. Market Apartments with Open Floor Plans to Younger Renters

Young tenants prefer open floor plans that promote a spacious and modern living environment. Focus on listing images and virtual tours that emphasize open-plan flexibility and a seamless blending of living, dining, and kitchen areas. This layout caters to Gen Z’s desire for multifunctional spaces that can be used for work, relaxation, and entertaining friends.

5. Optimize Your Community’s Social Media Presence

To effectively engage with first-time renters, establish a strong social media presence on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Post visually appealing content that showcases your community’s unique features, events, and resident testimonials. Be responsive to inquiries, encourage user-generated content, and use these platforms to build a sense of virtual community.

6. Highlight Local Attractions and Connectivity

Recent college graduates often prioritize lifestyle amenities and proximity to entertainment, restaurants, and public transportation. Illustrate your community’s convenient location, walkability to local attractions, and easy access to public transit routes. Showcasing your apartment community’s connectivity will resonate with Gen Z’s desire for an active social life, with or without a car.

7. Know if Your Property is in a High-Growth Market

When marketing to those who’ve just taken their first job out of college, high-growth markets will offer the most opportunity to target recent graduates who are moving to where the jobs are. Cities such as Austin, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, and Nashville provide vibrant job markets, cultural opportunities, and a youthful atmosphere that appeals to young renters. If your property is in a similar location, focus your marketing efforts on attracting Gen Z graduates moving to the area.

8. Leverage Virtual Tours and 3D Visuals

We can’t say this enough: offering virtual tours and captivating 3D visuals of your apartments is essential for connecting with today’s online shoppers. Provide potential residents with an immersive experience by showcasing floor plans, amenities, and community spaces. Utilize technology to cater to Gen Z’s digital expectations and empower them to explore your community remotely.

9. Facilitate Seamless Digital Communication

Young renters prefer seamless digital communication methods such as online chat, email, and text messaging. Ensure your community’s website and online portals are user-friendly and mobile-responsive. Streamline communication channels to maintain prompt and efficient communication, ultimately enhancing their renting experience.

10. Offer Flexible Lease Terms and Move-In Incentives

Younger renters value flexibility and control. Consider offering flexible lease terms and move-in incentives like reduced security deposits or waived application fees. Flexibility and affordability are key considerations for this demographic, and these offerings can help attract and retain Gen Z renters.

The Right Apartment Management Companies Create Vibrant, Youthful Communities

Effectively marketing apartment communities to recent college graduates requires an understanding of their specific preferences and needs. By leveraging popular listing websites, highlighting desirable community features and amenities, understanding ideal apartment layouts, targeting high-growth markets, and embracing digital communication preferences, property managers can attract and retain Gen Z renters successfully.

Meet them where they are and show them the home and community where everyone their age will want to live. Follow these tips, and you won’t have any problem improving occupancy with the latest generation of energetic young professionals.

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Market Your Property on a Shoestring With 8 Free Options

Market your property on a shoestring budget

Multifamily is one industry that is especially dependent upon integrated marketing. But, it doesn’t have to be a budget-busting endeavor. Use technology to market your property at little to no cost with the following productivity-boosting tools:

  1. Websites used to cost big bucks. But these days, WordPress offers free themes that are easy to set up and maintain. Plug photos and text into your chosen template, and your site is ready to go. (Pro tip: Using a pro to build a professional WordPress site means less time and effort on your part, and doesn’t have to be budget-busting.) 
  2. Set up a free Twitter account and send short-and-sweet messages to your target audience(s). Build your profile carefully, and customize with great pictures of your properties. Follow industry leaders like Multifamily Housing News and connections in your local community. Use hashtags that include the name of your city to keep your message circulating locally.
  3. Post photos on Instagram, but link your account to Facebook so it automatically posts to both social media accounts. Use photos that build your brand message: highlighting your property, staff, and the “day in the life” type photos.
  4. If a picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how valuable great videos can be. Create video tours of your property, post them on your YouTube channel, and watch your foot traffic increase exponentially. You can even make your videos with a cell phone; just make sure they’re good quality and to the point.
  5. Establish a Facebook presence to capture the local who will look for your property there, but don’t expect a lot of reach unless you’re willing to pay to promote your posts. Facebook has become an ad-based platform, so as free promotional tools go, you need an account; but don’t lean on it too heavily for messaging.
  6. 1-2-3 Press. Write great press releases about property improvements and promotions. Tag your property name and city, and publish to a site like 1-2-3 Press for some extra publicity.
  7. Mail Chimp. Use a free online email platform to communicate with as many as 2,000 recipients. Mail Chimp is one that has a full, free library of customizable themes. With a one-click unsubscribe link in every e-mail, using the service will keep you within the letter of the law that prevents spam.
  8. Volunteer. Have your staff organize a team of volunteers to build a Habitat for Humanity home, or run a race to raise funds for a charitable cause. Volunteerism is the total package: free publicity, relationship-building, and branding, all in one.

The take-away from this list is that it doesn’t have to cost a lot to get your market your property to the best tenants. Instead of being great options, these tools are essential to your marketing mix, and to your bottom line.

The professionals at Class A Management know marketing. It’s our passion. Let us go to work for you and your property. Call us today at 817-295-5959 or send us an email to info@classamanagement.com.

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Building a multifamily strategy from the ground, up

Multifamily strategy development

Real estate investing carries a daunting learning curve. But relax: you don’t need to know everything. If your focus is multifamily investing, we’re about to straighten out that curve a bit by taking you through this tri-level approach to building a multifamily strategy.

The Foundation: Know the Market

Rents in your area will be based upon local demographics and demand for apartments. Do a little research to find out which properties are the “hottest” in your area, and find out why. Do your local renters want luxury, or are they looking for walkability and convenience? Start looking for properties according to what renters want, and what’s forecasted to remain in demand for at least 10 years.

The Ground Floor: Choose Your Scale

Multifamily doesn’t only include apartment complexes with a few hundred units. Smaller complexes with fewer than 50 units, and even properties with 2-4 units, offer the economy of scale that makes multifamily so lucrative for investors. More units involve a larger initial investment, more liability, and more potential income for the investor. Decide what level of financing and risk you’re most comfortable with, and go from there. A good financial advisor can really help narrow down your choices at this level of planning.

The Top Floor: Buy, Sell, Flip

Again, decide how involved you’d like to be in the daily ins and outs of multifamily investing before you decide what you’ll do with your investment. In its purest form, real estate investing is a “buy and hold” proposition. You’ll build wealth from tenant rent, and eventually, if you’ve made a good deal, you’ll sell your property for a profit. Flipping properties is popular these days thanks to reality television, but the scale is much bigger, the investment more substantial, and the timeline longer for multifamily flips.

Whatever your approach to developing the best multifamily investing strategy for your portfolio, take that research and turn it into a workable business plan that includes viable exit strategies for every situation. That guarantees that you maximize income and profit by knowing when it’s time to buy more property—and when it’s time to sell.

The Super Special, Secret Floor

This floor is when you realize the best multifamily strategy involves working with a property management company that knows these investments and helps you get the most from the investment. Reach out to us at Class A Management today to learn more.

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Tenant Laws of Attraction

Tenant laws of attraction

When it comes to getting the attention of potential tenants, it’s important to remember the laws of attraction. Renters are going to look at every option from three different perspectives: property attraction, professional attraction, and experience attraction. Understanding this and how to increase the level of attraction in each area will help increase the odds your property is chosen as the favorite.

Property attraction entails everything from groundskeeping to office and building maintenance. When the grounds are well maintained, tenants notice. It’s called curb appeal for a reason. Trimmed hedges and well-kept lawns give prospective tenants an idea of how attentive management will be, long before human interaction occurs. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This will likely be it. So, we encourage you to make an ongoing investment in grounds maintenance.

Professional attraction is exactly what you think it is… Does the prospective tenant like those who are in charge of managing the property? Having a team of knowledgeable courteous professionals inspires confidence. This is where it can be really beneficial to work with a property management company. Their staff are often trained in customer service and know how to interact consistently with both prospects and tenants.

Experience attraction should give the investor and property management team the upper hand in the competition. The right property management company will start by utilizing online tools, like apartment finders and other reputation management strategies, to attract tenants. They will know how to handle every situation so the prospect leaves the encounter feeling heard, answered, and confidently make decisions. Successful management requires putting the prospect first, listening to all questions and concerns, answering as thoroughly as possible, and being compassionate.

Need a solid property management company in your corner? We know all the tenant laws of attraction and are here to help your property enforce them. Contact us today to get started.