For Brian Owen and Lori Snider’s post please visit Aptly Spoken
Forgive me, I lost my password to the blog they posted on , apparently I need to call and get a new one, so I posted here.
Brain and Lori, In adding to your posts…Let me ask you, Do our residents and potential residents know more about our apartments and communities than we do? Do you know more than the salesperson when you walk into a store to purchase an expensive item?
In many I repeat MANY cases YES! Why? We have done our research and so have our residents and potential residents.
It’s a trend that will continue for years to come and will only deepen, you can expect informed consumers to have even more transparency sites at their disposal, as reviews and price comparisons move from the usual suspects (reviews of hotels and restaurants, price transparency for books and electronics) to other sectors that thought they were immune. Transparency is the BUZZ word of 2009 and moving forward will only intensify for this trend. In short: every business category, every business to consumer industry will soon be covered by a price comparison and/or REVIEW site and guess what PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED! Think referrals here! Don’t believe me?
I’ll prove it to you and then show you how to benefit from the transparency trend we as an industry are going to have to start dealing with as marketers and managers.
Let’s look at a few examples. NOTE: When you reach the same understanding that I have and believe in what I am writing, skip the examples and move to the rest of the article:
Real estate:
StreetEasy (http://www.streeteasy.com) is a free application helping users search for detailed real estate sales and rental listings across New York City and North Jersey. In addition to standard information like price, region and number of bedrooms, StreetEasy allows apartment hunters to search listings by neighborhood, building and school zone. The application also offers photos of other listings in a particular building, tools to email or call agents directly, save able searches and availability alerts.
Gentrifire (http://www.gentrifire.com) is a tongue-in-cheek application—still in beta—that shows users how much they’re going to drive up a neighborhood’s rent before they move in by combining data from Craigslist, Yelp and Google Maps. Wealthy house-hunters enter a favored neighborhood, price range and amenities, and then select an apartment on a Google Map. Gentrify will then show how much they’d be contributing to gentrification if they moved in, and calculate a “gentrification percentage,” indicating how gentrified the neighborhood already is.
Introin ( http://www.introin.com/) With introin, future residents can browse listings and find renters who can give them the inside scoop on their community. They connect with existing renters and have their specific concerns answered. Post a free listing and connect with renters who are hunting in your area. Become a resource, share your knowledge, and offer incentives to attract renters.
RentMineOnline (http://www.rentmineonline.com) is a trust based marketplace that connects asset owners and renters and facilitates rental transactions between them. RentMineOnline leverages the power of social networks (think Facebook & Twitter), enabling current residents to refer friends and friends of friends to their communities.
Zilpy (http://www.zilpy.com/) is a free, online rental market facts and analysis service dedicated to help site users make better rental and investment decisions. They collect data from all available sources (newspaper classifieds, online classifieds, apartment rentals, etc.) and filter the data based on selected criteria (proximity, property type, crime rate, population, income, etc.) so that the user can more easily find the right rental property for their needs.
HubBuzz (http://www.hubbuzz.com/) takes the site visitor’s wants, needs and lifestyle into account, then offers relevant community information, neighborhood maps, descriptions and photos. Hubbuzz offers site users places to live that are based on actual preferences, “like a dating site, but the end result is your ideal apartment.” Users get to know the neighborhoods that make up their city - what they’re known for, the main drags, and what not to miss.
Rentometer (http://www.rentometer.com/)
is for both renters and owners and it’s a great tool for renters to find out what median rents are in the neighborhood as well as an opportunity for you to check your rental rates against others. Are you charging too much or too little for rent? Enter the appropriate info into the Rentometer and find out!
RentWiki http://www.rentwiki.com/ advertises itself as “the easiest way to find opinions, advice, and recommendations about neighborhoods and rentals.The site is designed around allowing consumers to contribute content about a neighborhood so users can read peer advice, socially network with others who live in the area, and research to find the right neighborhood before they find the apartment community in which they want to live within that neighborhood.
Apartment Ratings (http://www.apartmentratings.com/) advertises “The most comprehensive database of apartment ratings and reviews anywhere! Find out what tenants say BEFORE you sign a lease.”
Apartment Reviews (http://www.apartmentreviews.net/) advertises “Searching for the right apartment to rent? You’ve come to the right place. We’ll make your apartment search much easier! Read what other renters are saying about the apartments you are considering renting and how they rated the apartments.”
SIDE NOTE: Stop right here open another window in your browser type in ” am I paying to much in rent?” you will discover pages of websites where residents are asking that very question AND apps that are being created to answer that question! Are we to sit back and act like a movie star?
Throw some video in the mix and I am not talking YouTube here I am talking video feedback, referrals, show and tell… real time “here is what I am saying” proof with a real live person on the other end of it VIDEO and we have a full blown “HAVE TO” deal with it transparency that few of us has experienced YET! Well, that was a quick look at what we have in Real Estate if you still don’t believe me that this trend is here to stay read all about other industries. Or if you are a believer skip the next 17 plus examples.
1. Events: Zigabid (http://www.zigabid.com) allows ticket buyers and sellers to interact directly with each other to determine a ticket’s price. This is achieved by treating the tickets as commodities and subjecting them to a series of offers and counter-offers, in the hope of achieving a fair market value. Zigabid also sets itself apart by directing a portion of each transaction back to the entertainers, and a community section allows users to post event photos, reviews and comments.
2. Automotive: OpenCarPrice.com (http://www.opencarprice.com), RealCarTips.com (http://www.realcartips.com) and PriceHub (http://www.pricehub.com) offer reader-submitted information about what previous car-buyers paid and tips on how to get the best deals for future shoppers negotiating prices for themselves.
3. Venturing: cmypitch.com (http://www.cmypitch.com) describes itself as “Dragons’ Den meets YouTube”: the video site lets start-ups pitch their ideas in short videos to attract funding, and also provides other services for entrepreneurs, like directories of business opportunities, franchises, businesses for sale, etc. Although the site is somewhat hamstrung by British financial regulations, entrepreneurs in search of funding will no doubt welcome an additional opportunity to reach out to potential investors.
4. Law & education: Avvo (http://www.avvo.com) profiles legal professionals, including their experience, areas of practice, and ratings from clients. Ratemyteachers (http://www.ratemyteachers.com) does the same for teachers: the site features over 10 million ratings for over 1 million teachers. Also check out Yollege (http://www.yollege.com).
5. Medical:PatientsLikeMe (http://www.patientslikeme.com) empowers patients to manage their care and share information. The website enables collaboration between patients, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, research organizations and non-profits. Its operating costs are covered by partnerships with healthcare providers who use anonymous data from the PatientsLikeMe community to drive treatment research and improve medical care.
6. Skiing: Liftopia (http://www.liftopia.com) lets ski resorts sell discounted lift tickets online. Visitors simply choose dates and regions where they want to ski, and then scroll through a list of budget-priced lift tickets. Resorts are able to charge lower prices for tickets sold in advance—which can’t be cancelled—and keep prices for on-mountain sales at a higher level. The site also incorporates up-to-the-minute weather data and trail maps to help skiers make their choice.
7. Hospitality:Taking a cue from timeless SEE THROUGH favorite SeatGuru (http://www.seatguru.com), TripKick (http://www.tripkick.com) provides detailed insider information on hotels including which rooms are oversized, which have great bathrooms, or which are quieter than others. TripKick, which spent a year gathering all of this information, also points out which floors are better, and which to avoid. Guests are encouraged to add their own reviews and upload photos of rooms they’ve stayed in.
8. Finance: Although individuals own more than 25 percent of US equity, only about 20 percent of such investors bother to participate in proxy voting. ProxyDemocracy (http://www.proxydemocracy.org) is a non-profit, non-partisan project that aims to change all that by helping individual investors get the information they need to produce positive changes in the companies they own. Owners of stocks in an individual company, for example, can sign up for ProxyDemocracy’s email alerts providing advance notice of the company’s shareholder meetings as well as information on how respected institutional investors plan to vote at the meeting. Meanwhile, the free site also offers voting profiles on 77 mutual funds: investors can quickly see how their funds rank on the site’s activism scale for director elections, executive compensation, corporate governance and corporate impact.
9. Beauty: Makeupalley.com (http://www.makeupalley.com) is an online beauty social network. Members give reviews on everything beauty-related, from makeup and skincare to hair dryers and perfume. Users who are dissatisfied with a product they’ve already purchased can swap makeup with other members who are curious to try that product. MakeupAlley also includes detailed information about each user’s skin tone, hair color, skin type and eye color at the top of the review so that readers can gauge how well the advice will fit their particular needs.
10. Recruitment: Glassdoor (http://www.glassdoor.com) is a new site that aims to provide a thorough insider’s look at what it’s really like to work at a company, both financially and otherwise. The site gathers real-time reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs in specific companies. Users begin by anonymously contributing a review and/or salary survey for their current employer or any position they’ve held within the last three years. (All users must provide a verified email account, and all reviews are hand-inspected for authenticity by Glassdoor.) In exchange, Glassdoor gives them free access to nearly 32,000 reviews and salary reports for more than 7,000 companies representing more than 80 countries around the world. Users are asked to provide both pros and cons along with advice to senior management, as well as rating companies on a range of workplace culture factors, including work/life balance, fairness and respect, and employee morale. Also check out Australian LiveSalary (http://www.livesalary.com.au).
11. Restaurants:Dishola (http://www.dishola.com) eschews general restaurant reviews in favor of dish-specific advice (!) and information. Passionate eaters can post a “Dish Wanted” query, for example, to find out where to find the dishes they crave in their neck of the woods. They can read smart reviews by Dishola editors, industry professionals and other members, as well as post reviews and photos of their own favorite dishes.
12. Travel:Ad-supported Delaycast (http://www.delaycast.com) tells travelers the chance of encountering delays on a particular trip. Its Delay Profiles tool provides broad overviews of the best days, times and airlines to choose for a trip, based on selected airports, while its Delay Predictions tool provides information about delays and cancellations for specific airports, airlines, dates and times. Delaycast currently includes the top 60 US airports and 11 key airlines. It also makes predictions for trips about four or five months into the future.
13. Tracking: BrickHouse Security is selling the first GPS Mail Tracker (http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/smallest-gps-tracker-letter-logger.html) for USD 699.95 on the company’s website. The device is ¼ inch thin and flexible, fitting into most standard envelopes, and it stores information on a removable MicroSD card that records its location, speed, and altitude anywhere in the world. By enclosing the device within an article of mail the sender can later use Google Earth to review where their mails has been, and even evaluate the efficiency of the travel route by pinpointing inefficiencies or delays via timestamps.
14. DNA testing: In US drugstores, Identigene‘s DNA Paternity Test (http://www.dnatesting.com) sells off the shelf for USD 30. The firm then charges a further USD 120 laboratory processing fee. Results are promised within 3-5 business days.
15. Commodities: To help ensure that retailers don’t pass on a larger portion of price increases than is strictly necessary, Italy’s Department for Agriculture, Food & Forestry is offering transparency by text message. It’s SMS Consumatori (http://www.smsconsumatori.it) service tracks prices for over 80 types of fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, fish, etc and lets consumers access them when they’re out shopping. Shoppers send a text message to 47947, typing the name of the product they want a price for, then instantly receive a reply listing both a wholesale price and average retail prices in the North, Centre and South of Italy. If a product has various varieties, the service sends separate messages for each of the most popular ones. Taking a thorough approach to getting its prices right, SMS Consumatori sources information from 2,200 different stores.
16. Health: 23andMe (http://www.23andme.com) sells USD 399 kits which use DNA analysis technologies and web-based tools to inform customers of how markers in their genomes affect their propensity for over 90 health conditions and inherited traits, trace customers’ genetic roots back to the origin of the human species, and allow customers all over the world to compare their genomes to those of family and friends. Customers can also contribute to the company’s advanced, personalized medical research by filling out online surveys for the 23andWe research program, which was formed in collaboration with the Parkinson’s Institute.
17. Bar codes: Employing Google’s Android operating system, the T-Mobile G1 (http://www.t-mobileg1.com) comes installed with an advanced piece of price comparison software. Shopsavvy allows the user to scan almost any barcode using the phone’s camera, and it will then search both online and local retailers to find the best price. Once the best deal has been found, users can then either choose to purchase online, or use the phone’s built-in Google Maps feature to find their way to the store.
I hope by this point you see what I am talking about! Seriously, as “TRANSPARENCY” invades everything from Aspens ski lift pricing to reviews of specific electronics and apartments, is there any doubt that your company/community will become transparent?
And what are you going to do to make the most of it? Certainly not pretend like they don’t exist!
While the Apartment Transparency services I’ve reviewed require users to be actively involved in the transparency-seeking process, other new services are bringing information to the forefront where it will claim an IN YOUR FACE presence, informing consumers on what’s going on. A sign of more IN YOUR FACE to come? What kind of relevant info will you proactively put out there this year? What is your plan ( YES you need one) to become proactive in responding to this trend. RESIDENT RETENTION and RESIDENT SERVICE has always been a topic to address but is also the very place many of us in the multifamily industry have fallen short. I believe many have focused on the traffic generation end of the business as a means to overcome poor a retention plan or should I write the lack of one.
So many advancements in, so little time. Brace yourself for transparency going live, moving to new platforms that we haven’t even thought about yet, and adding videos to the mix. It’s not a small world after all! Smiles!
Tami L Siewruk
Chief Imagination Officer
MultifamilyPro.com
Realizing that the real estate market has changed dramatically due to the economic recession, an innovative team based in Philadelphia has just launched TwoMonthsFree.com. The beta site is the first of its kind, designed especially to help renters shop one central location that showcases only apartment communities that are offering specials on rent. The company’s thought process is that Americans want their dollars to do more and that current apartment listing sites are not highlighting rental specials. At TwoMonthsFree.com, property owners can list one month free, $500 off, or any other money-saving perk such as waiving the application fee or offering free heat and water. The “free” offer listed does not have to be a set two months free rent. It can be any special, free incentive to attract renters. The plus for property owners is that they and private homeowners are able to advertise communities in a central location visited by a huge number of deal seekers and better penetrate competitive markets. TwoMonthsFree.com is offering a free trial listing period to subscribers that list their special offers. Following the trial period, subscribers will pay for the listing service, and premium services will be available for additional monthly fees. The site will donate $1 per property/per month on paid listings in 2010 and beyond to the efforts of Do1Thing.org, which raises awareness concerning the 1.3 million homeless youth in America. For more information, visit TwoMonthsFree.com or call 1-800-609-3579.
