So how do you ensure that it’s your lease that gets signed?  As a Desperate Housewife once said, “perception is reality.”  If your apartment looks and feels like a home, renters will perceive it as a home.   According to Jessica Fiur at the Multi-housing News Blog, staging should be your #1 strategy.  Some (tasteful) art on the walls, some well-arranged furniture, and the blank canvas transforms into a place they could imagine living.  It’s a cliché, but remember the old baking-cookies-in-the-oven trick.  Everyone seeks comfort and relaxation, especially at home.  Create the illusion of it, and they will do the rest.

Close behind comfort comes bragging rights.  Tell the apartment’s story—does it have a sordid past?  Was it designed in a special way?  Did anyone famous ever stay here?  Make people familiar with the place.  It’s not unlike adopting a puppy; he’s just another slobbering canine until his prospective parents know how well behaved he is and how he likes his belly rubbed.

And learn from your successes and mistakes.  How have you sealed the deal in the past?  Is there a pattern to the times people walked away?  If it’s not your first time finding a tenant, you already know something about making it work.

Have some good tricks for achieving a signed lease?  Let us know what! We’d love to hear from you – here or on our Facebook page.

#1:  A new resident paying higher rates is better than a current resident paying current rates

If you factor in likely vacancies and time (i.e. wages) to re-rent an apartment, it will 6.5 years to recover the loss of an old tenant, assuming you charge $50 more per month than you did previously.  Put another way, Property Management Insider estimates that a property loses almost $4,000 every time a tenant does not renew her lease.  So if you’re looking to maximize revenue, keep your residents happy.

#2:  Tenants want a “sense of community”—and whether or not they have it will influence whether they stay

SatisFacts reports that, although community sounds good in theory, it’s not a real factor in the decision to renew a lease.  Focus instead on high-quality and efficient maintenance and satisfactory customer service.

#3:  Thanks to the recent economy, fewer residents are “Very Likely” to renew

This depends on the property manager.  A manager who responds to resident concerns can actually increase the number of people who are “very likely” to renew their leases.

#4:   As a property manager, I only need one, solid way to communicate with residents

Although the majority of residents communicate by email or phone, nearly a third would prefer to rely on text messages.  Make sure you’re not alienating a group of residents, making them less likely to stay on.   Conduct a survey to determine both how residents prefer to communicate and how they are able to communicate (e.g. do they all have email?).

#5:  Appearance of an apartment is the main factor in deciding whether or not to renew a lease

In fact, staff responsiveness is more important to residents.  Property Management Insider recommends fostering an office “culture of responsiveness” to maximize resident satisfaction and thus resident retention.  See our blog post on the subject!

Ashton Couldn’t Make Up His Mind

There’s nothing like giving up your bachelor pad right before giving up your marriage.  Ashton Kutcher traded in these sweet digs for $2.4 million, right before everyone in the tabloids and their moms caught him cheating.  We know she’s older, Ashton, but anyone who can play a Charlie’s Angel after forty and look good with a shaved head is probably worth keeping around.  Guess their home of wedded bliss isn’t the only thing on the market.

Bruce Willis Is Still a G

Bruce Willis’s house is selling for $15 million, more than five times what Ashton Kutcher’s did, so if it comes to a round of Demi’s exes playing Whose Is Bigger, it seems clear who’ll win.

Someone Sleeps Right Down the Hall From Where Elizabeth Taylor Died

Divorce isn’t the only reason to move real estate in Hollywood—death can also do the trick.  A mysteriously unnamed buyer scored Elizabeth Taylor’s house—the one in which she died last March.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Girl Who Had Everything sticks around to haunt the place.

Not Even an Investment of Millions Can Keep Perry Tied Down

Although Friends ended years ago, Matthew Perry’s still as twitchy as ever.  Bought a home in August, put his apartment pictured above on the market, listed his Malibu residence and his “primary” (although who can keep track) L.A. home—all in the course of two months.  I don’t buy eggs that often.

What do you think of these high-end cribs?  Tell us here or on Facebook.

1. Greater Mobility

The main benefit of renting a furnished apartment is that it helps you remain mobile. If you’re not sure where you’re going to be living in 6 months, moving an apartment full of furniture around with you can really drag you down. When you’ve got a furnished place you can easily drive or fly to your new destination and move in to a new apartment right away.

2. You Have Everything You Need

Even if you’ve lived in apartments for years, it seems that there’s always something you need to run out and buy right away. Maybe your new place doesn’t have a microwave or a lamp in the bedroom. You can’t do without so you wind up running back and forth to the store for the first few days. There’s no need to worry about this in a furnished apartment; everything you need will already be inside.

3. Decorations

Many apartment renters wind up going without pictures, sculptures, flower arrangements and other decorations in their apartments. After all, these things aren’t essential and they’re usually not very cheap. Unfortunately, living in an undecorated apartment can make you feel like you’re place of residence is temporary. When you rent a furnished apartment, the decorations will come with the place, and though it might not be exactly your style, your apartment will feel more put-together. It’s always possible to go out and buy a few decorations of your own—it’s much cheaper than having to decorate the entire unit.

4. It’s Good for the Planet

Carting an apartment’s worth of stuff around with you as you move across town or across the nation is costly in terms of energy use. It takes a lot of gasoline to move all those boxes, the couch, the chairs and the pots and pans from one apartment to another and if you move frequently, moving has an even larger carbon footprint. Just about everything you’ll need is already in a furnished place and it’ll probably stay there until it’s time to replace it, which will be a lot further in the future than it is for furniture that gets tossed around in the back of a moving truck.

5. It Makes Moving a Breeze

Moving is one of the most stressful activities in a person’s life. There are a million things to remember to do, it takes weeks and weeks and it always costs three times as much as you thought it would. If you’re renting places that are furnished, you don’t have to worry about packing up an entire moving truck full of stuff. You won’t have to dig through 20 boxes to find your can opener—it’ll be in the drawer already. When you don’t need to move an apartment’s worth of stuff, you’ll be able to focus on moving yourself and getting your paperwork in order. It’ll also take you a day or so to settle in instead of a month or more.

Are you living in a pre-furnished apartment? We’d love to hear from you – here or on our Facebook page!

Other Kids in the Complex

If you’ve got a small child, one of the best things you can do is move into an apartment complex with lots of other children. Arranging play dates and signing your kids up for activities is great but kids also need time to play in an unstructured environment. Playing with other kids helps children learn to get along with others and problem solve. Kids who have lots of free-play will grow up to be more secure and independent than kids who spend most of their time in structured-play. If there are lots of kids around, there will be more opportunities for your little one to make new friends and free-play.

Proximity to Parks, Libraries and Schools

Being within walking distance of the park or library will make it easier to visit these places more often. If the school is around the corner, when it’s time to send the kids off to kindergarten there won’t be any need to worry about busing or battling the morning traffic each day. As a bonus, walking to these places will help improve your child’s physical fitness. You may also want to look for an apartment community with a park onsite.

Distance from Roads

With little kids, you can’t be too careful when it comes to roads. If you’re going to let your child play outside, which is almost always a good idea, make sure you choose a complex that is offset from the main, busy roads in your town.

Plenty of Sidewalks

An apartment complex with plenty of sidewalks around will make it much safer to walk around with your child.

Gates around the Pools

Pools are a lot of fun for kids but they are almost always unsupervised. If you would like to live in a complex with a pool, make sure that the gates lock properly so that your little one can’t wander in accidentally.

Railing on the Balcony/Well-Enclosed Patio

If you’re on the second or third story of your complex (or above if you’re in a high rise) be absolutely certain that the railing around the balcony is child-proof. This means that the bars should be close enough together that a child can’t slip through (or slip a head through, getting stuck in the railing). They should also be free of horizontal bars so that toddlers can’t climb up to the top of the railing. If you’re on the ground floor, look for a unit with a well enclosed patio and a gate that locks. The walls should also be high enough that people walking by can’t look in.

Steepness of the Steps

If you’ve got a new walker and you’re apartment is up a flight of stairs, make sure that the steps aren’t too steep so that your toddler can climb up and down on his own. Stairs should also have a rail that keeps a toddler from slipping off the sides.

Are you a parent with experience finding an apartment for you and your young ones? We’d love to hear from you – here or on our Facebook page!

1. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Though the recession has hit the entire nation hard, Texas has weathered it better than many states so it’s no surprise that the metropolitan area of Dallas-Fort Worth shows up near the top of the list of cities with the most new apartment construction. Unemployment isn’t as high in Texas as it is in other states either, so new units may fill up quickly as they’ll likely attract renters from out of the area who are hoping to find work.

2. San Francisco and San Jose, California

The tech industry of Silicon Valley has had its ups and downs over the past years but it looks like things are starting to even out again. There’s no doubt that we are a nation that loves its technology and there is a growing market for electronics and software so, over time, San Francisco and San Jose are bound to see an increase in the number of jobs available. New apartments are under construction in many cities around the Bay Area, which has seen some of the highest rental prices in the nation. These new units should help keep rental prices more stable as they attract more tech-savvy professionals to the area.

3. Indianapolis, Indiana

Over the course of the past few years, Indianapolis has remained one of the most affordable large cities in the nation. New apartment construction will help keep rents down, attracting people from around the nation. Though the job market in Indianapolis is still a little shaky, there are plenty of people looking to move to The Crossroads of America. Renters looking to move to Indianapolis don’t need to wait for the new construction to be completed, either; there are lots of units available now and at quite reasonable prices.

4. Tampa, Florida

With low vacancy rates and relatively high-priced rentals, new construction in Tampa will help stabilize prices and attract more people to the area. Though the job market is tough in Tampa, new construction projects, such as the creation of new apartment buildings, creates many jobs and helps put money into a local economy. Once the buildings are ready for renters to move in, the influx of money into the Tampa economy will have hopefully improved to job outlook in this city enough to support the new people moving in.

5. Salt Lake City, Utah

People who have lost their jobs in other parts of the nation may be able to find work in Salt Lake City. It has one of the best markets for professionals such as teachers and a reasonable cost of living. The new apartment buildings going up in this city will help keep the cost of living down while attracting new people to take on the available jobs in the city.

Are you building or seeking an apartment in any of these areas? We’d love to hear your thoughts – here or on our Facebook page!

Given the lag time embedded in commercial real estate, this increase in building could mean good news for years to come.  Investor’s Business Daily quoted Mark Obrinsky, chief economist with the National Multi Housing Council, as saying, “At this point, there is some noticeable pickup in new construction, but a lot more pre-construction activity is going on.” This is a welcome change from the past two years of building only 100,000 new units a year (compared to 300,000 units a year between 1998 and 2007.)

Why the sudden upswing in the real estate market? It’s a classic case of economic supply and demand.  In the lagging economy, fewer people buy and maintain their own homes, so more renters enter the market.  Furthermore, as the economy starts to recover, Gen Y is starting to find jobs and rent property for themselves. With both groups scrambling for apartments, vacancy rates are falling fast.  Manhattan rental vacancy hovers in the low single-digits, and Los Angeles boasts a 96.4% occupancy rate.  A great demand and a small supply mean that property owners can ask more money for their rentals.

In fact, rents have continually and steadily increased throughout the past two years .  Though the national average increase was  4.2% in the past year, some regions are much higher—such as San Francisco and San Jose, where have risen over 13%.  MPF Research, one of our sister companies and a consulting firm for the apartment sector, estimates that rents will climb another 4-5% in the next year.  This doesn’t mean bad news for renters, though. With all sorts of units in short supply, builders and developers are sure to expand the market for affordable (and new!) rentals, too!

Have something to say about the boom in apartment rental construction?  Comment here or on Facebook!

What is it?

A VIP club in an apartment complex is an exclusive group of very important renters. While all renters are important in an apartment community, these VIPs have done something to set themselves apart from other tenants in the complex.

Why is it a good idea?

People like to feel that they are a part of something special. Forming a VIP club for the renters in an apartment complex is a great way to make renters feel important. Many complexes already offer perks for renters who have lived in the community for a long time or who have gone out of their way to welcome new renters. Creating a club for these renters to join can make these perks seem more special. A VIP club can also help some of the apartment complex’s most valuable renters connect with one another. In this way, VIPs, who are often largely invested in the apartment community, can discuss issues in the complex and come up with ideas to help improve life in the community.

How does it work?

A complex can initiate new VIP members for a variety of different reasons. VIPs can be selected based on the number of years they have lived in their apartment or by their involvement in community activities. They may also be nominated by other renters for being good neighbors. A complex can choose to use one or all of these criteria or can develop other criteria to use to determine what makes a renter a very important renter. VIPs can be initiated at a yearly, biyearly or quarterly ceremony or they may receive their status in a more private ceremony.

How do renters benefit?

Many VIP programs offer a number of benefits for their VIPs. They may receive reduced rent, gift cards to local stores, tickets to the theatre or to local sporting events or they may be invited to participate in special, members only events. In many cases, the perks of being a VIP may already be offered by an apartment complex, such as reduced rent for tenants who sign a new lease once their first one is finished. With a VIP program, renters receive all the benefits they would normally and a title that separates them from the crowd.

How do landlords benefit?

Making tenants feel more important makes tenants want to stay in a complex for longer. This helps an apartment complex immensely. It saves owners money having to clean, repaint and change the carpet on units and helps save money in the long run by decreasing the need for advertising. When renters stay longer on average, new renters may also see that as a sign that the complex is a great place to live and may be more inclined to choose to live in this particular apartment community.

Do you have experience with a resident VIP program? We’d love to hear from you – here or on our Facebook page!

While it remains to be seen whether or not Google+ will be able to compete directly with Facebook or even last into 2012 (after their initial mass-joining, their momentum seems to have decreased by quite a bit), for the time being we are joining the bandwagon. Why should you join us?

1. SEO

As TechCrunch posted on Monday, “is a lot like Facebook Pages, but there’s one major difference: Google is baking some elements of Google+ Pages deep into its bread-and-butter search product.” Simply put, as we’ve always suspected with Facebook and Twitter, social affirmations (or Plus 1′s in this case) might very well be directly correlated with search results.

2. Direct Connect

Advanced Google queries have allowed a ‘+’ for years, to add a specific term to search results. However, now it seems that an individual searching can add +MyNewPlace or +Muppets (etc) into their search window, which will immediately add these terms to their Circles. This means they will receive updates and information in their individual news feeds automatically. This feature seems a bit comparable to a Twitter instant follow. Enabling this feature requires linking your Google+ page to your home page – Google+ will walk you through the process once you create your page.

3. Another Social Sharing Platform

Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube seem to have staying power…MySpace…not so much. If Google+ does stick around, its enhanced SEO and consumer-connect aspects seem worth the early investment. Those of us who have been paying attention to social media for the last decade or so have learned that early adopters often experience greater success than those late to the party. It takes a minimal investment to get involved now, giving it a chance seems worthwhile.

Questions? Comments? Doubts? We’d love to hear from you – here, or on our Google+ page

All this is staying riiiight where it is

The study, conducted by University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute, backs up previous observations that migration is slowing, and concludes that 2010 domestic movement struck an all-time since first measured in the 1940s.  Arizona, Florida, and Nevada in particular are seeing their influx of residents dry up.  On the other side of the coin, New York, California, and Massachusetts have experienced a 90 percent drop in the number of people leaving their borders for good.

No new southern home for you, my friend

What does this mean for Americans, and the states they inhabit?  Warmer locations in the Sun Belt that experienced substantial population growth are now seeing that growth level off and, in some cases, reverse.  A similar trend also appears within states:  suburbs, which have been booming, have slowed in growth, and dwindling city populations are losing fewer residents.  Younger people, typically big movers, are also less likely to move south—although the Times article did not speak to this issue, it’s possible that age distribution in southern locales will shift as a result.

The data are indicative of what we already know; when times are tough, people sit tight.  What analysts cannot tell is whether migration changes are temporary—or whether they, along with the economy, will be effected for years to come.  When things do change, however, some experts expect serious moving about:  a flood of pent-up desire for change, unleashed.