Fill those Vacant Apartments...
...with good tenants
by Pat Sims
For property owners, property managers, leasing agents, building managers & superintendents.
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Pat Sims
All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be copied or distributed to others for any purpose either electronically or by other methods without the written permission of the author. The cover page shows a photograph supplied by Wikimedia Commons and was produced by photographer James Steakley. (See http:/creative commoms.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0).
This eBook is a concise explanation of how to improve the occupancy rate of any apartment building. It provides many proven ways to find and retain good tenants at market rents. This ‘goldmine’ of insider knowledge has been compiled by the author, Pat Sims, who has extensive experience at all levels of the investment property industry. He has been a property manager, a leasing agent and a property owner as well as the owner of a home rental agency. His work as a real estate consultant includes the recovery of buildings in crisis where the owners had become insolvent and the only tenants were illegal squatters and petty criminals.
These marketing methods are universal and are explained in an easy-to-understand personal discussion method. The topics range from primary motivation to the interaction with prospective tenants and to advertising, ‘sale techniques’ and marketing plans. This is all you need to know to improve your present leasing.
Your comments and questions are welcome.
Other eBooks by the Author, Pat Sims
“How to Buy, Sell or List a Small Business”
“How to Buy, Sell or List a Small Apartment Building”
“Your Next 30 Days - the fast track to success in real estate sales”
From a Distance Publishing
http://www.fromadistancepublishing.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Attitude, Professionalism, Preparing the product, Security
Part Two - Keeping what you have
Tenant Retention, Repairs, Talking them out of it, Apartment Inspections
Advertising, Product Knowledge, The phone, Turning calls into showings, Showings, How to Close a ‘Sale’, Asking for the ‘sale’.
Part Four - Achieving your goals
What do tenants really want? Selecting the right tenants, A good leasing person, So what’s next? Your own Marketing Plan, Conclusion
Other eBooks by the Author, Pat Sims
Introduction
In basic terms, the aim of most property investors is to maximize the net income of their apartment buildings. They can do this by maintaining a high occupancy rate at market rents and by minimizing expenses while maintaining the integrity of the physical structure.
In spite of the enormous investments made in residential rental buildings, it is surprising that most of the marketing is left to people who have no training and who have no idea how important their success is to the entire operation. These people are the building superintendents or the leasing agents who, in my experience, are often surprised to learn that a tenant who pays $1,000 per month in rent will pay $12,000 over the course of a year and then a total of $36,000 if the tenancy lasts for three years. A ‘lost’ customer is a high-cost failure. More than one can be a disaster.
For most industries, such a ‘customer’ transcends to a ‘client’ and needs to be treated accordingly. Even the investors themselves don’t always seem to understand that the value of such a property depends not only on its net income but also the historical vacancy rate.
To achieve the optimum performance from an apartment building, every vacancy must be taken seriously and an astute investor will see that preventing vacancies can be almost as important as finding new tenants.
In my experience, a property that has a vacancy problem may have one or more of the following problems - 1/ poor condition, 2/ poor locality, 3/ poor marketing. An investor may not have the money available to fix them all but the fact remains that tenants don’t care who pays - all they want is value for money and ‘quiet enjoyment’.
This eBook is about finding and keeping good quality tenants who will pay their rent and stay there quietly for a long time without making unreasonable demands for repairs and improvements.
Apartments are not so different from many other commodities when it comes to marketing. The business of property investment would simply die if income properties were not occupied by good tenants at good rents. It is just like other businesses that would die if sales of their product at economic prices are not made. There is a supply and a demand which fluctuates according to the economic climate and the amount of new construction within the community. There are times when vacancies can rise to such a level that the entire investment may be at risk and without good management everything could be lost.
The information here will point the way to an improved occupancy rate but the main driving force is the motivation of the owner or manager. Without their wholehearted commitment and the implementation of these marketing techniques, things are likely to slip downwards. Neglect can mean a substantial loss of potential income and capital value.
Even if the market indicates a particular vacancy rate it does not mean that all properties have the same rate. So if your community has a 4% vacancy rate (these figures are collected by government and are publicly available) your building may have something quite different. Individual efforts will have a dynamic effect on the operation and financial success of an apartment building investment. It all starts with motivation followed by a positive attitude and then by implementing an effective marketing plan.
When there is a shortage of apartments or a ‘tight market’, then marketing is simply a job of order-taking but in a market where there are plenty of vacant apartments and not enough people to fill them, it requires professional marketing to achieve and maintain high occupancy. Leasing apartments is a ‘sales’ job to be carried out by trained people.
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Part One - Preparation
Attitude
Attitude is the most important part of being a successful salesperson or leasing person. If a person thinks he/she can’t sell or lease anything, then chances are they won’t. But if a person believes he/she can sell, then chances are they will. To be a successful salesperson, the attitude has to be right.
Most people don’t think they have a problem with attitude, but unfortunately, many of us do. Not everyone is charming, dynamic, convincing and pleasant all the time. They need to be reminded to be that way and it is a skill that most of us have to learn or re-learn. To illustrate the point - do you dare to ask people what they really think of you? How do they see you - moody, authoritative, introspective, or grumpy? We all change our attitudes according to our social situation. In just moments, a person can do a complete turnaround from a rip-roaring spat with a family member to a demure angel when a valued client calls.
People in general do not like to deal with rude, abrupt or unhelpful salespeople. Most often they will not tolerate bad behaviour and will choose to go someplace else. Treat people the way you want them to treat you. As a sidebar to this attitude thing, it is a known fact that if you have a positive attitude in life you will be happier than if you have a negative one.
A person’s attitude has a way of infecting others who they come in contact with. Isn’t it easier to go through the day with a smile and a kind word? Doesn’t it achieve more?
So, what is a good attitude for leasing apartments? It is being positive, courteously efficient and helpful. It is going the ‘extra mile’.
A bad attitude is being rude, disinterested or even obstructive. It is being absent, surly, abrupt and superior. The person you are dealing with may not understand the intricacies of a lease but that doesn’t mean they are not your intellectual equal. Customers, clients, and tenants have an awesome power over you. It is the power to say, “No. I don’t like your attitude and I’ll go elsewhere.”