In response to the news that apartment vacancies are the lowest we’ve seen since 2001, we conducted a survey of Apartments.com visitors to find out about their moving plans for 2012, including reasons they are moving, why they are opting to rent versus own property, when they plan to move and which tools they value most during their apartment search. To help break down the results of the survey, we created the infographic below. You can click the image to enlarge it.
If you have any questions about the survey or have noticed any moving trends in your area, tell us in the comments section. To learn more about the survey findings, check out our press release. Read More
Most people know that SEO is important, but not many know how to get started. In this episode of our Got a Minute? video series, I am going to walk through the SEO and SEM tools I use every day to monitor Apartments.com. Hopefully some of these work for you, but there are lots of tools available, so you can find something that fits your needs. If you have any questions after watching the video, please leave them in the comments section below.
The social media panel discussion I participated in at the 2012 TransUnion Property Management Summit last week in Denver was astonishing for what did and didn’t happen. What did happen: The audience of multifamily professionals seemed surprisingly – if not a tiny bit begrudgingly – accepting of property ratings and reviews. They’re here to stay and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, was the prevailing attitude. Begrudging acceptance will never be confused with warm embrace, but what I witnessed was a giant leap from the outright resistance prevalent in the industry up until now.
And that’s a good thing. There’s plenty of research indicating how important reviews are in making a big purchasing decision, and there’s none bigger than deciding where to live. Read More
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we asked our 2011 Roommate of the Year, Jesse McLaughlin –who recently turned his cohabitation into a happily-ever-after by proposing to his girlfriend, Lisa Harbin–for his advice on successfully sharing space with a significant other. If you have any couples living in your apartment community, they may enjoy the following five tips to make living with their sweetheart a success:
1. Talk money before the move
Discuss finances up front, even before you start looking at apartments, to make sure you establish what each person is comfortable contributing financially. When you have this discussion, remember to include the cost for internet, utilities, parking and any other fees that may arise. Read More
Moving into a new apartment can mean so many decorating opportunities for enthusiastic residents! While hanging pictures, painting walls, putting up window treatments or even stapling the area rug in place (EEK!) might be exciting and innovative to residents, it could mean disaster for your maintenance team. Here are five tips you can share with residents to help them decorate within the guidelines of the rental agreement, ensuring a happy living situation at your community
1.) Offer to do it for them – Whether it be painting or hanging items on the wall, give your residents the VIP treatment—and avoid potential disaster–by offering up your professional services. Before a new resident moves in, ask them if they would like to pick out a new color for the apartment and offer to paint as long as they front the supplies. As a result, your happy resident will feel more at home, while you control the quality of the paint job. Read More
These days, people are accessing your website through any number of ways, including desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones and more. It’s not safe to assume they’re looking at a nice, large display of your website on a 15-inch laptop. In fact, according to Read Write Web mobile internet usage has doubled every year since 2009. Think about the differences in what a person can actually view on a screen when using any of those devices. A web page viewed on that 15-inch laptop with several paragraphs of decorative-font text and large photos mixed in is going to be a struggle to read when squished down and viewed on a 3.5-inch phone screen.
So what are some ways to simplify and optimize a website to provide the most value on a mobile device? Read More
This post was originally written by Omer Navaid, Online Marketing Specialist at Apartments.com
Here are three quick tips to help your email messages reach your subscribers’ inboxes, avoid spam complaints and maintain your status as a reputable sender: Read More
This week the staff at Apartments.com paid a visit to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to present them with a check for $15,000 to culminate “Raising Awareness. Taking Action: A Campaign to Help End Homelessness.” During the two-month campaign, kicking off in November to coincide with National Homeless Awareness Month, Apartments.com promised to donate $1 to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless for every Like we received on our Facebook page. While we are so pleased to announce over 6,000 Facebook Likes were earned in response to this important initiative, the team at Apartments.com wanted to go above and beyond the number of Likes and present this well-deserving organization with a check for $15,000.
This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com.
It may have taken a while to get here, but winter is upon us. If you are lucky enough to live in a warm climate city, you don’t have to worry about snow removal. But for the rest of us, winter means investing in a durable pair of boots, warm gloves and a shovel. Read More
This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com.
According to a recent study done by SatisFacts, move-out costs are estimated to average around $3,900. When presented with figures like that, you have to think what can we do differently so our residents choose to renew their lease instead of leave. You may be surprised to find that 54% of residents choose not to renew their lease based on controllable reasons such as poor customer service and lack of responsiveness. You can find simple, inexpensive fixes to reconcile these issues and keep your residents coming back. Read More
