In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the 'Domestic Transformer.'

Essential Steps of the Leasing Process

1.  Effectively handle all requests for information about your community, including telephone,email, Internet and regular mail inquiries, with the goal of developing a relationship in order to persuade the future resident to visit the community personally and ultimately lease.

2.  Meet and greet future residents (at the front door if possible). Offer your hand, start building a relationship if this is the first contact, offer your help, and offer a comfortable chair and refreshment.

3.  Learn to develop rapport and build a relationship. The basics are fairly simple and include smiling, using the future resident’s name, saying please and thank you when asking for information, showing interest in the future resident’s needs and wants, and letting the future resident know what his or her options are.  Focus all your attention on the person or persons in front of you!

4. Qualify future residents without interrogating. Determine their needs and wants before you start asking for the information that you need to complete the guest card.

5. Complete the welcome/ guest card for each future resident without making them feel like they are being interrogated; while collecting the information you need to stay in touch and satisfy the leasing criteria for your community, and track the marketing source.

6. Present/show/demonstrate the model (if the community has one) and an available apartment. Demonstrate to the future resident the amenities that they are interested in such as the fitness center, pool area, tennis courts, business center and so on. Discuss the community, Management Company, service department, special services, location and so on. Maintain a focus on those features and benefits they are most interested in.

7.  Develop complete product knowledge of every floor-plan within your community! Show all closets and added storage spaces, present square footage of both living areas and storage space, furniture placement possibilities and options, and special extras like how many hangers can be hung in each closet, views, and added functions of all included appliances.  If your community offers custom home upgrade options or other extras such as special telephone  systems or additional lines,  Internet access, renters insurance, etc., explain the programs and possibilities. Be alert for objections and be prepared to overcome them while you continue to build the relationship.

8. Learn and apply the finer points of closing by invitation and persuading the future resident to become a resident in your community.

9. Invite the future resident to complete the rental application or offer to fill it out for them. Introduce the future resident to other team members if possible, or at least offer the business card of the manager or community concierge (if your community has one) and complete any additional paperwork necessary. Once the future resident has filled out the rental application and has signed it, collect the application fee and security deposit.

10. Verify the information on the application and check the applicant’s credit, then present it to the Community Manager for approval or denial of occupancy.

11.  Follow up with the future resident by sending a thank you or welcome card or letter. Once the application has been verified and approved, provide the future resident with the numbers to call for water, cable, Internet access, newspaper, electric, gas and telephone services; their new address; and the amount of rent that will be due upon move-in. Many communities today offer to make utility and service connection calls for the resident as an added value service. Keep in mind that the relationship leasing process includes making certain that the new resident understands every detail of the move in process and has no surprises from the signing of the lease on.

12. Complete all move-in paperwork. Make certain that the apartment door locks have been re-keyed and the appropriate keys to the apartment and mailbox are ready for move-in day. File all paperwork in appropriate files. If the future resident did not lease, follow up by writing a thank you note, sending post cards, mailing or e-mailing further community information...and always make at least two follow-up telephone calls. Continue the follow up process until the future resident has leased in your community or in a competing community. If the future resident chooses a competitor, determine why they selected that community rather than yours, and especially how the other community better satisfied their needs and wants. Keep a record of this information.

13. Be intimately familiar with other local communities - this includes both competitors and those owned or managed by your own company. If you can’t help a future resident, always refer them to another community that can. By keeping a set of brochures on these communities close at hand, you can then offer the future resident the information they need, and even call the community to set up an appointment. This will go a long way in establishing a rapport with these other communities that will, in time, lead them to do the same for you.

14. Recognize that knowledge is your key to success in each of the steps and areas addressed above. This includes knowledge of the relationship leasing process as well as product knowledge. The more you know, the more you’ll grow. Remember also that knowledge isn’t a static entity. It’s the product of learning, which needs to be a life-long and career-long process. The more you continue to learn, the more you’ll continue to grow as a professional.

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If you can read this, you can lease. If you have the desire to, you can lease. If you learn, practice and apply the necessary skills, you can lease! Leasing is just like riding a bike, playing tennis, and swimming, using a computer or any other skill that can be acquired. You can learn the skills necessary to be a successful leasing professional, and I promise that it isn’t even as difficult as it might appear!

Succeed with Confidence

When you rode a bicycle for the first time, you might have been afraid of falling and scraping your knees on the sidewalk. When you entered the   swimming pool for the first time, you might have been afraid of going under. When you took your first tennis lesson, you may have become frustrated because it wasn’t as easy as it looked. The first time you sat in front of a computer you may have been afraid that you were really going to mess something up or make some important bit of information disappear forever. Once you learned, practiced and applied the new skills that each of these pursuits required, you found out that they weren’t as difficult as they appeared at first! You learned that if you fell off your bicycle, you didn’t break into pieces. After a couple of gulps of pool water, you learned that if you relaxed a little, you could float and then actually swim! The same will hold true in Relationship leasing. You’ll find that even if everything goes completely wrong on some of your early attempts, you can pick yourself up and go on to make a great leasing presentation with the very next future resident!

Practice Makes Perfect

In learning to ride a bicycle, swim, play tennis, or use a computer, you probably developed the basic skills fairly quickly, and with a little practice, then became quite comfortable with the new activity. The same will hold true with relationship leasing. If you learn proven techniques, practice and apply, you’ll become very comfortable leasing in no time at all!
Of course, it’s also necessary to put those acquired skills into action with the right attitude. I’ve found that the perception of leasing as a “sales” business and the negative stereotypes attached to sales as a profession can make it difficult for leasing professionals to place themselves in a positive and confident mindset. The word sales makes many of us think of fast-talking used car sales people or some guy on TV selling snake oil, using every trick in the book to talk people into buying a car or gadget that they don’t really want at a price they can’t afford! In fact, sales has gained a  pretty bum reputation over the years - great news for comedians and movie producers, but not so great for a sales professional’s self-image. Fortunately, there is absolutely no need to use fast talk and gimmicks to be successful in leasing apartments.
This series of articles is going to show you how to use the opposite approach — integrity, honesty, and an attitude that conveys a willingness to help the future resident — to show you not only how you can increase your closing ratio, but also how powerful this leasing strategy truly is. I’m not suggesting that you merely pretend to help the future resident or to be their best friend. I’m proposing that if you simply treat the future resident just the way you would want a salesperson to treat you if you were looking for an apartment, you’ll realize an immediate increase in your closing ratio, and will be well on the way to achieving your personal best!
The golden rule is only one important ingredient in leasing success, but the others are no more complicated. In this book you are going to learn that Relationship Leasing is the easiest way to succeed at increasing your closing ratio. You will learn how the Resident and the Future Resident’s needs and wants can actually help guide you through the leasing process. In addition you will learn how to work with the future resident as the most valuable key to closing the lease, instead of against the future resident as an opponent who must be “sold”.
I can just hear you thinking to yourself right now, “If this relationship leasing technique is so great then why aren’t more leasing professionals using it?” The answer is very simple: most of us don’t begin our careers that way, and the skills and philosophies that we absorb earliest in our training, when we are most impressionable, are those that tend to follow us for the remainder of our careers. Most of us begin our leasing careers focused on ourselves and our own performance - doing all we can to just get that lease! Instead of focusing on the needs of the future resident, you probably spent the first several months of your leasing career thinking I need to get all the information on this guest card or my supervisor is going to get mad at me. Can I  get them to visit the community? Will they like what I show them? Can I convince them to lease? Can I even do this at all?
Once this initial fear has passed, new leasing professionals then tend to focus on the apartments, community and services - still largely missing the needs of the future resident. “Let me tell you about our great community.” “Our service is better than the competitions.” “ We have ______ & _______ & ________ and our competitors don’t.” The truth is, our future residents don’t care if we need to fill out guest cards or what you perceive to be your competitors’ shortcomings. They are much more interested in finding out if your community offers what they’re looking for in a new home, including the lifestyle that they expect or aspire to.
Don’t just think about the features and benefits of your community. Put yourself right in the resident’s shoes. What living solution can you really provide to them? What are your apartments and community going to do to make their apartment living experience better? And also, why should they even listen to you? In the remaining articles you will learn how to totally focus on the future resident; how to adopt the future resident’s perspective; how to build the future resident’s trust; how to get the future resident to not just be willing to listen to you, but to want to listen to you, and even to guide you right through the entire leasing process. We will also review each component of the leasing process in great detail and show you how you can put the relationship leasing approach to work. This article has been provided to give you a quick overview of the entire process. We’ll begin by addressing the basic steps involved in presenting your community to future residents. We’ll continue with a list of questions that we intend to answer along the way, with the ultimate goal of helping you to become the very best relationship leasing professional you can possibly be!

Establishing prices for apartments has become an often debated topic of late.  Whatever system used to evaluate and set rent levels is considered a pricing model.  There are manual systems, automated systems, and hybrid systems.  Pricing models support various strategies at different times based on particular market conditions, property conditions, and personal paradigms and prejudices.  However, one thing can generally be agreed upon – it can be brutal out there right now.

One well known pricing strategy is known as the “takedown.”  A takedown is when an extreme price reduction is applied to a specific apartment type by floor level and can range anywhere from a 10% to 20% price reduction from the current market rent.  Usually, takedowns are used for a period of hours or days in order to quickly absorb an oversupply of a specific product type and, a decade ago, they were never intended to be considered a permanent solution to oversupply.

However, in the past year, takedown pricing has become more extreme, more universal, and threatening to become more permanent.   During inflationary times, pricing models focused on finding the inefficiencies in capturing income.   Utilizing the same rule sets and algorithms during deflationary times can result in very different outcomes and can be financially destructive to the investment property.  What is meant by financially destructive?  If takedown pricing is held for too long a period of time while occupancies by unit types are in fact increasing at lowered rent levels, the ability of investors and owners to make their mortgage payments can become difficult or even impossible.  Yes, impossible.

In the past, competing properties typically would try to gain market share by matching or beating each others’ lowered rents and concessions.  Add to this price war the effort to secure longer lease terms than the typical 12 months and you have a long-term recipe for financial disaster.  This constant matching of current price or special discounting programs is only causing a downward spiral for the entire industry to a point where recovery will be prolonged.  In the past decade, fluctuations of pricing from 8 to 15% discounting ranges specific to unit types or floor levels have been recoverable income offenses if used for brief periods.   However, 20%-35% takedown pricing on all unit types across-the-board for extending periods of time will prove to be destructive, possibly resulting in massive commercial loan defaults in the near term.

If apartment investors are looking for 8% returns and income streams have declined by 25%, not only is there no money to pay the mortgage payment and tax bills, but no cash for the desired return.  In fact, if there is no positive cash flow, the investor will be forced to contribute additional funds just to keep the property operating.  They will be forced to make a difficult decision of putting additional money into a losing business or allowing the property to be foreclosed or taken back by the lender.

There is little question that new situations require new thinking and tools such as the “Marting Nevitt Survival Plan.”   The plan reveals the breakeven points and the point of no return (no pun intended).  After studying the pricing dynamics in major markets over the past six months, it is clear that pricing models are falling below the point of no return with no voice of reason to assist corporate decision makers in setting a boundary for income reduction that will force their assets into loan default.

Manual pricing models continue to have limitations based upon personal paradigms, prejudices, and unparalleled financial interests with the investment objectives.  It is not unusual for the leasing team members not to be able to meet the financial requirements to qualify to live where they work.  In other words, they cannot afford what they are expected to sell.  Therefore, because they are likely paying much less rent at a lesser property, they may feel the product they are leasing is already “overpriced” and resistant to raising prices.  There can also be resistance to raising prices from the onsite leasing teams because they perceive it as making their job of selling more difficult.  And this can be true.   This can result in resentment against management and a reduction in productivity.

Automated pricing models are relatively new compared to manual pricing models.  There are but a few even commercially available.  The premise makes logical sense and time will tell how successful they will be.  Removing the human fear of adjusting rents either too high or too low is a substantial benefit of software.  As with any new technology, it has its supporters and critics.

The hybrid pricing model is a mixture of both manual and automated pricing models.  The automated model is allowed to run its program and make pricing recommendations. The recommended prices are then scrutinized or challenged by humans.  The result is that the automated recommended price will either be accepted or overridden.  Some companies are even creating job positions where reviewing prices is the sole responsibility.

No matter which pricing model you choose, it is imperative to understand basic real estate investment theory and the ultimate affect it can have on a multifamily real estate investment.  Pricing too high can result in higher vacancy, which can lead to financial ruin.  Pricing too low can result in prolonged lower cash flows, which can also lead to financial ruin.  Fortunately, there is a sweet spot somewhere between the two.  Utilizing new technologies and new tools can provide you with a competitive advantage necessary for survival and success.

Don't miss Brad and Jennifer's workshops on March 23rd and 24th in Dallas

Revenue Management – Basics-Day One

Pricing is key to successful marketing, but can be one of the most difficult aspects of the marketing process. This session delivers essential skills and knowledge needed to optimize your pricing while minimizing costly trial and error. You’ll learn the fundamentals of ‘Power Pricing,’ gain an understanding of pricing dynamics and key metrics used to set up a manual pricing model, and walk away with the skills and knowledge you need to set up an individual manual pricing model for your product.

Revenue Management – Advanced-Day Two

This session goes beyond the fundamentals of ‘Power Pricing’ to deliver the knowledge and skills needed to execute and maintain your manual pricing model to increase cash flow and the overall value of your organization. Learn how to use reports and graphs to more effectively communicate with your team and stakeholders and confidently manage your organization’s revenue. (Prerequisite: Revenue Management – Basics)

Our workshops are designed to deliver the skills you need to compete in today’s challenging environment. Choose from Power Pricing: Revenue  Management BASICS or ADVANCED courses, individually priced so you can attend the course-level that you need most, or choose BOTH! To take advantage of discounted individual course pricing:

Power Pricing BASICS ONLY – MARCH 23 – ONLY $175
Pricing is key to successful marketing, but can be one of the most difficult aspects of the process. This session delivers the skills and knowledge you need to optimize pricing while minimizing costly trial and error. Learn the fundamentals of Power Pricing; gain an understanding of pricing dynamics and key metrics; and how to set up an individual manual pricing model for your product!

Power Pricing ADVANCED ONLY – MAR 24 – ONLY $175
Go beyond the fundamentals and learn how to execute and maintain your manual pricing model to increase cash flow and the overall value of your organization; use reports and graphs to more effectively communicate with your team and stakeholders; and confidently manage your organization’s revenue.

BASICS+ADVANCED! (2 DAYS) – MAR 23-24 – ONLY $304!

DON’T MISS IT! Register to attend these workshops .

Workshop Leaders:

Brad Marting

Mr. Marting is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant for OptiYield, a consulting company specializing in profit optimization for real estate investments. His formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and a Masters of Business Administration degree.  He is a licensed real estate broker and holds designations as a Certified Property Manager, Certified Commercial Investment Member, Certified Apartment Property Supervisor and an Accredited Apartment Association Instructor.  He has more than 30 years of real estate experience and has served as an officer and past chapter president for both IREM® and NAA®.  In 2009, he was the Chairperson for the Income & Expense survey for residential real estate assets for IREM®.  He is an award-winning author for his article in the Journal of Property Management on Yield Management and was co-founder and co-inventor of YieldStar®, a rent optimization system.  He has acquired, managed, sold and consulted on more than three-billion dollars of real estate investments.

Jennifer Nevitt Casey

Since 1993, Jennifer Nevitt Casey, Chief Executive Officer of Bravo Strategic Marketing, Inc., has developed return-on-investment strategies for multifamily real estate investment portfolios with a capitalized value exceeding $6 billion. She is also a highly successful income growth strategist for residential assets and considered one of the nation’s most innovative real estate marketers.  She is also President of Rohman Management and a Partner in Rohman Development, a New York City-based real estate development firm formed by a group of veteran professionals targeting the southeastern United States as its focus point for apartment development.   She provides consultation on product design, the importance of a development’s timing, correct market positioning and proven successful leasing and for-sale marketing strategies.  She is a contributing author of the Urban Land Institute’s book, “Developing Multifamily Housing,” and co-author or the National Association of Home Builder’s book, “How to Excel at Leasing Apartments.”  Her credits also include inventor and founder of YieldStar Technology, LLC, a yield management, B2B software application that optimizes revenue for the multifamily real estate industry and whose assets were acquired by RealPage.  A dynamic speaker known for captivating audiences, she has trained over 20,000 professionals within the multifamily industry and sales teams for newly constructed condominiums and single family homes.

“1. Having the skill to connect the dots of social media – HOW TO’S with: advertising, managing, marketing, etiquette, and communicating. Social Media is the new universe for sales and should be used wisely to connect with your prospects and current residents. And 2. Thinking outside of the MONITOR (aka: BOX)!” – Maureen Lannon, Director of Sales and marketing, Allen & O’Hara Education Services, Inc.

“As a Director, it is important for me to keep up with the latest technology. Not only what is available but how to apply it.” - Angie Sanchez, Director of Marketing and Leasing, Jersey Central Management

“The successful marketing director needs to be willing to update his/her skills constantly to keep up with ever changing products, services, and opportunities.  For instance, today’s marketing directors need to understand and embrace new media, including social media, Craigslist, text message marketing, and more.  However, with so much coming at us so fast, perhaps one of the most critical abilities that a marketing director must possess is the ability to evaluate and prioritize.  You can’t do everything at once—no matter how good the “everything” is.  Marketing directors must be able to think strategically—considering cost, benefit, long term implications, and return on investment—and select a couple of big projects a quarter that can make a big impact on the communities they represent.  Otherwise, they will run themselves into the ground trying to dabble in every new opportunity without any lasting impact from any of them.  In short, the marketing director must be tech savvy, open minded, plugged in to the current trends—but with the ability to evaluate, prioritize and move forward with important ideas in an organized and thoughtful manner.”  - Esther Bonardi, Director-Marketing & Creative Services, Drucker & Falk / DF Creative

“Marketing has changed and possessing knowledge / skills in SEM, mobile, social media are important but aren't everything.  We must be able to effectively market with less money, account for every dollar spent, and connect with customers in an increasing convoluted media space.  Marketers must possess great analytical & strategic skills in addition to creativity and intuition.  With the combination of these skills you can create an artscience approach to marketing. Those that do will be the best marketers.” - Jamie Gorski, Sr. Director of Corporate Marketing, Bozzuto Group

“As far as student housing goes-It’s a little old-school, but timeliness.  Following up and responding to inquiries, mostly electronic, immediately.  The Black Eyed Peas put it well when they said, “This is the now generation, this is the generation now.” Gen Y’ers want it now, that’s why they hit up the internet when they want info.  So, when an email inquiry comes through respond with the information requested.  Clean, simple, and FAST.  Another skill I would say that compliments that well is to stay open-minded.  Students change, renters change, so the same old incentives, with the same marketing techniques may not work now.  Hold focus groups and do surveys to stay in touch.  Don’t assume you know what they want, ask them.” – Megan Bass, Leasing and Marketing Trainer, Allen and O’Hara Education Services, Inc.

“…possess a knowledge and train best practices for Social Media, Internet Marketing as well as the basics…just good old customer service.  Being able to look outside our multi-family box for marketing ideas and research is a great way to get the juices flowing.  I follow many blogs inside our industry, but many from the outside as well in hopes to keep a fresh new perspective on things.  But never forgetting about the true social network of the human element.  It’s all about our people, our customers.  Internal and external.” – Carina Bryars, Marketing Associate, Greystar Real Estate Partners

“As a Marketing Director today, it’s vital to constantly refresh your internet and social media skills.  If you don’t know what a TwitPic is, or how to poke a friend on facebook; you’re in trouble.” – Lizzie Blake, Regional Training and Marketing Coordinator, Resource Residential

“The ability to understand the demographics for each market that they have properties in so that all marketing and advertising that is done will be effective.– Ginger Long, Director of Marketing, CLK Multifamily Management
"A)  Knowledge of marketing ideas that are outside our industry. B)Working knowledge of Social Media options, C)Excel skills for reporting, analyzing, etc."  Pattie D Woods, Vice President - Training and Development, Fogelman Management Group

"As a Marketing Director they need to still love the job and more importantly they need to think outside the box and do not do what everyone else is doing in the multi-family business.  They need to be knowledgeable of all current trends such as twitter,craigslist,face-book,my space etc, etc.  They also need to be hands on at properties and lead by example and most important they need to be consistent". Richard Valley, Community Director

"If you are a veteran marketer, you need to keep up with all aspects of new technology not only to be able to effectively do your job, but to communicate with your staff and colleagues.  I find myself doing more texting with employees (Gen X & Gen Y) and yes, they can be texting each other from the same room!" Diane M. Christy, Director of Marketing,  The NRP Group LLC
Honorable mention goes to these three important points that we also heard a lot of:

-    Awareness of marketing/advertising trends/techniques outside of our industry as well as inside
-    Creative drive to stand out from the crowd
-    Firm handle on the numbers and details so you can analyze and report as effectively as possible

As the responses poured into my in box, the thing that grabbed my attention is not just that most of them specifically mentioned new media, but that knowing how to effectively USE new media can, often in a variety of ways, also support the responses that weren’t new-media-specific.  Even Jamie’s response that “social media are important but aren’t everything” suggests that it should be integrated into your marketing plan in order to make your overall strategy optimally effective.

Thanks for reading today, and if you’d like to contribute YOUR answer to the question, please share it in the comments box!

Our next post will be on the Question: Based on today’s marketplace, what important new skills do you feel a Training Director needs to possess? If you have thoughts you would like to share please email info(at) multifamilypro (dot) com