MyNewPlace Blog

And now, let us present the first installment of the Apartment Rental Match Game. Put on your MC Hammer pants and blast some Boyz II Men. It's time for some FUN.

As you may recall, a few weeks ago we announced the rules of our contest and offered a practice round for the purpose of example. A quick review: match the person with their apartment and leave your answers in the comments. We will be keeping a running tally of the winners.

Last week, Mr. Will was victorious in the practice round and though he will not yet be awarded any points, we applaud his quick wit, reasoning abilities and hand-eye coordination

In order to be eligible for the cash and prizes, send us a picture of yourself as well as a picture of any room in your apartment for rent.

We'll be putting new installments every few weeks, so be sure to check back and send your pictures to me at mdichiara@mynewplace.com!

Round 1:

1)		a)
2)		b)
3)		c)
4)		d)
5)		e)
6)		f)
7)		g)

Today, we are doing something totally different with our blog. Instead of bringing you the latest apartment rental news or providing apartment guide tips for renters and talking about apartments for rent in general, we are going to have an interactive contest.

Now, who's ready to have some FUN?

To enter the competition, send us two pictures. One of yourself and one of your apartment. Each week, we will have a contest to see who can best match which person lives in which apartment.

Send your photos to mdichiara@mynewplace.com and the games shall begin.

Here is a practice round to prepare you for next week:

(leave your answers in the comments)

1)		a)
2)		b)
3)		c)
4)		d)
5)		e)
6)		f)
7)		g)

Don't forget to send us your photos and come back next week to play!

We saw a very interesting article over at the Sellsius Real Estate Blog that detailed some statistics on the effectiveness of including photos with real estate listings. The study, done by Point 2 Technologies, show that, not surprisingly, the amount of photos and the number of views, interest and leads are directly related.

What is surprising, however, is the statistically significant jump in listing views between having 15 photos and 16 photos. Views, interest and leads jumped 20 percent when the number of photos reached 16.

Also quite notable is the fact that a mere .02 percent of people clicked on homes with no photos; including just one photo increased the likelihood that a homebuyer would click to view details by 20 percent.

Granted, the study was done for homes for sale, but we feel the information does indeed apply to apartments for rent. We have found that renters are much more likely to proceed to detailed listing page and send an inquiry to a rental property if there are pictures displayed.

Renters, without question, definitely want to be able to get a feeling for an apartment rental before visiting. Part of the reason renters use the internet is so that they can cut down the time they need to spend searching for apartments.

Get on renters' short list by providing detailed photos of your apartment rentals!