Memorial Day is the official start of the summer season!  Instead of just entertaining your residents with parties this summer – rally them for a cause that gets your community noticed.  Why? There are so many great reasons, including building relationships, contributing to a cause that is important to your residents and great publicity for your community.  Follow these steps to get your charitable event off the ground:

1.  Select your cause – Engage your residents early to determine a cause, so you generate ideas that are not only creative, but appeal to your community. Read More

As the class of 2012 turns their tassels and leave campus life, savvy grads are finding they still have some homework to do to identify the cities that offer the best opportunity for employment, a place to live and the best quality of life as a young professional.  To help give these newly minted grads a leg up in both a competitive job and rental market, Apartments.com and CareerBuilder teamed up for the fifth year in a row to reveal the Top 10 Best Cities for College Graduates list.  Backed by our expertise in apartments and jobs, we tailored our list to what matters most to new grads—a place to live that affords them a lifestyle they can enjoy and the best overall opportunity.

Check out the infographic below to see the top 10 cities for new grads, average cost of rent for a one bedroom apartment, hottest jobs and more.  Did your city make the list?  Even if it didn’t, tell us why your hometown is a fabulous place for new grads to settle down in the comments section. Read More

This post was originally written by Brandon Hollembeak, Product Manager – Advertising Products & Services

Jim Davoren of Apartments.com buying lunch from a food truck by swiping his credit card on an iPad.

This post was originally written by Omer Navaid, Online Marketing Specialist at Apartments.com

In this day and age, technology has given us a plethora of communication channels at our disposal – both in our personal lives and in the business world.  From the staggering popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, to the now commonplace practice of text messaging due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones.  These days, it sometimes seems like a technology that’s as old as email would no longer be relevant to us as marketers and as people. Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

May is the perfect time to start thinking about container gardening at your apartment community, so we asked our friends at Gethsemane Garden Center for some advice.  Check out these five tips for keeping your property blooming this season. Read More

We are delighted to announce the launch of the first ever Apartments.com Training Series Live! webinar on reputation management was a success!  The 30 minute session was presented by Ben Watson, vice president of marketing (a.k.a. Social Media Ninja) from HootSuite, a popular social media management system.  The attendee registration was full and we had a lot of great feedback come through! 

If you missed it, you might have some unanswered questions running through your head, like: Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

With social media constantly changing, it can seem like the options are endless, so where do you start?  Look no further!  Here are 25 things you should be doing with social media right now: Read More

In response to recent U.S. Census data revealing homeownership is at a 15-year low, Apartments.com VP of Product Management, Chris Brown, addresses the impact on the Chicago rental market on NBC Chicago. 

Watch the following three-minute segment where Brown discusses the current state of the rental market, cost-cutting tips for renters and neighborhood-specific information for Chicago. Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

Whether you are just getting started with your social media strategy or you’re paving the way for others in the industry, it is imperative to have a policy in place.  In this digital era, your employees need to be well versed in appropriate online behavior when they are representing, not only themselves, but also the brand.  Policy can be a scary word for employees, which is why your social media policy should really be more of a set of guidelines.  Here are a couple tips to get you started on your set of guidelines: Read More