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Leasing Agent Compensation?…First a word about VACANCY!

Jul 14th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

As a consultant to the apartment industry, I am asked a LOT, “What’s fair leasing agent compensation? Is their a leasing commission structure you would recommend?”

There is no easy or short answer to this question, so let’s take a round about way of discuss it, and then my next article will zoom RIGHT into what I recommend.

I find it a little backwards when people want to know what OTHER properties or OTHER management companies are doing when it comes to leasing agent compensation. I never say it out loud, but I’m always thinking, “What’s it worth to YOU?” (as owner/manager) AND, “What’s it worth to THEM?” (your leasing agent/leasing specialist)  What do I mean by that?

FIRST, let’s first talk about the REAL problem – VACANCY.

I don’t have a vacancy problem!

Well, then, you shouldn’t worry about leasing agent compensation then!

OK, OK. Let’s talk about vacancy…

TO make it easy, let’s say we’re talking about ABC Apartments. They have 100 units. Their average rents are $1000.00/unit.

Prior to the rental market taking a downward turn, ABC Apartments has been running along great, apartments never took very long to lease, and they had been at 97% occupancy for many years.

Fast forward to today, they are at 88% physical occupancy, which means they are at 12% vacancy. All of the sudden, they are struggling with just staying ahead of the renewals and turnover. Increasing the occupancy in the midst of the resident turnover looks very daunting.

Let’s do the math.

At 97% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

(Average Rents) x (# of Vacant Units)

$1000.00 x 3 vacant units = $3000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. This is what they are used to operating at. Annually (x12), this amounts to $36,000.00 of annual vacancy loss.

TODAY, at 88% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

$1000.00 x 12 vacant units = $12,000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. Annually (x12), this amounts to $144,000.00.

The different in vacancy loss monthly is $9000.00! ($12,000 – $3000) And annually, the difference is $108,000.00! ($144,000 – $36,000)

How much does the $108,000.00 mean to the site? The Owner/Investors? The manager? Now that we have things in perspective, it brings up a WHOLE bunch of other questions, like:

  1. Do you have the right staff in place? If your maintenance guy is doing showings – you may have a problem.
  2. Do you have a plan in place for resident retention? If you have vacancy problems, you HAVE to have a plan in place to close the back door to your vacancy problem.
  3. Is your staff properly trained? Not just in customer service, but in closing on leases?
  4. Is your staff properly motivated and positioned to succeed? (This question leads into the real TOPIC: What’s a fair Leasing Agent compensation package?

Do you have other questions? Other considerations? Leave me a comment in the COMMENTS section!

My next blog article, will discuss different leasing compensation programs, and how to pick what works best for you, your site, and your staff.

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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TOP 10 TIPS to Get the MOST Out of CRAIGSLIST Apartment Ads

Jul 12th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
8 comments

Craigslist, when smartly used as part of your marketing/advertising campaign, can become one of your apartment community’s top traffic generators. If it’s not, you’re not getting the most out of your Craigslist ads.

Here are the TOP 10 Things You Need to Know to Maximize Your Craigslist Ads for your Apartment Community:

  1. Generally, web traffic is highest during the week, especially during working hours of 8:00AM – 5:00PM. For the apartment industry on Craigslist, the highest traffic day is actually on SUNDAY. According to Yield Technologies, their RENTSENTINEL product, a web-based application that manages posting content for rental properties, they have noticed that Sunday’s see much less posting activity for apartments than any other day of the week. Couple that with higher traffic, and your posting efforts will get the biggest audience with less competition! (SUNDAYS have the HIGHEST average views/ad than any other day for our apartment industry!) This is true of every portfolio class, geographic location or market segment.
  2. Although Craigslist is “free,” there are TONS of different services available that can help you manage your content, produce “snazzier” looking ads, track traffic, provide analytics, and MORE – OH MY! Some more common ones include RENTSENTINEL and POSTLETS. Depending on your needs and preferences, these may work for you, are pretty affordable, and provide lots of extra’s to help you maximize your craigslist ads. There are TONS of other services available – if you know of some additional ones, leave a link in the COMMENTS section of this blog post and share with everyone! OR Leave a comment about your experience with the services listed here.
  3. PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES! – And not just any old snapshot – make sure to have good lighting, take pictures of clean, rent ready or model units – try to make an positive impression that gets your target market to pick up the phone and call you! Don’t turn them off with the wrong picture.
  4. Many people ask me, “what generates more traffic? The traditional organic craigslist ads or the jazzed up ones with hyperlinks, pictures, formatting, etc?” The answer is that they BOTH work. The key to a successful craigslist campaign is VARIETY. Switch it up between your traditional craigslist ads and fancier ones.
  5. Speaking of VARIETY, switch up your posts! Make sure you have an ad targeted specifically to attract your 1 bedroom renters, or your pet lovers, or one to attract roommates, or one to highlight the fact that you are near a bus route, etc! Be sure to keep within fair housing rules, but there is nothing that says you can’t switch up your ads and highlight specific features. Variety is the spice of life, and so it is with apartments on craigslist!
  6. Speaking of PETS, whether your building is pet-friendly or does NOT allow pets, there IS a specific market for THAT! Make sure to have a specific ad targeted towards your pet lovers (for those apartment communities that accept pets) or ones that specifically state that you do NOT allow pets. Believe it or not, there are those people who look specifically for pet-free buildings, due to allergies, conditions, fear, etc. If you are targeting pet-owners, be sure to use the Craigslist “Meow” and “Woof” options to state you are pet friendly, in addition to including this information in your title/content.
  7. And since we are drilling down on specific life style choices, a choice that is becoming increasingly popular in apartment searches is “smoke free apartment.” There are new organizations promoting living smoke-free popping up everyday. Here in Minnesota, one that is making quite a splash is LIVESMOKEFREE. Make sure to include those words for the craigslist search engines (as well as all other search engines) to pick up!
  8. While we are on the topic of search engines, make sure to include search engine friendly terms in your ad! If you are near a bus-line, post that. If you are near shopping/retail, make sure to mention the shopping or retail center name. If you are in a highly sought-after school district, name the school district or even better, name the schools. If you are nears parks, name the parks. People search for apartments based on their lifestyle choices, and if those choices are based upon transportation, schools, shopping, food, retail, etc – YOU will get picked up in their search, and your competition might get buried in the masses….
  9. Another question I get asked constantly – “how often should I post?” From my perspective, it’s not a matter of “how often,” but more importantly, CONSISTENCY. According to Eric Broughton of Yield Company’s RentSentinel product, ”the most important global trend is for communities to post their available units on a consistent basis, don’t take a day off from posting an available unit, your competitors aren’t.  Equally important is respecting the craigslist community and not posting multiple ads in a short period of time.  Never post more than 1 ad in the same hour, and never post for the same unit type more than once in 24 hours.  Our analytics show that following these simple rules will provide far greater results than someone that spams a region with multiple ads over and over again.”
  10. And lastly, and MOST importantly, be a good Craigslist Citizen. Common sense folks! Pay attention to things such as knowing the Craigslist Terms of Use, posting only available Units/Unit Types, not over-posting (never more than 1 ad per hour and 8 total ads in a day – this is for LARGE sites – many of you may not have larger enough sites, where posting every other day is more than enough), and posting to only one category and region at a time.  As an industry we can all be more effective and increase our traffic if we use the craigslist environment for which it was intended which is bringing renters and landlords together in an open marketplace. Let’s not ruin the “free” part of craigslist, by over-doing it. In some regions, and some industries, craigslist DOES impose fees. (See Craigslist FactSheet.)

Please leave comments on any tips I might have missed, leave comments about other craigslist applications or services, and your experiences with these services!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not affiliated with Yield Technologies or Postlets. Yield Technologies has provided me with information for this blog post. THANK YOU! (Roboblaster, another posting service also provided information for this blog, however, at the time of publication, they have folded.)

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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RENT SODA Welcomes Jim Baumgartner!

Jul 6th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

It’s July, and RENT SODA is shaking it up once again – with groundbreaking news: (drum roll please!)

WELCOME JIM BAUMGARTNER to team RENT SODA!

With the addition of Jim, we are adding more texture to the RENT SODA landscape through rich experience & ideas. Our end result will remain the same: striving to help RENT SODA clients achieve excellence and success in the evolving marketplace.

And now, a note from JIM:

The Year of the Tiger!

Last February several friends commented that this year—the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar—was my year.  They predicted a year of change!  I had my doubts but they were right.

My last day as Vice President of Operations for Bigos Management was June 25th.  After over four amazing years it was time to move on to new challenges—the urge to shake it up struck!  I am thankful for the amazing people and experiences I have enjoyed.  During my time at Bigos we built several new projects—including the amazing Lowertown Lofts in Downtown St. Paul, The Gables at Park Pointe in St. Louis Park and a new office building in Golden Valley.  We also started a new quarterly training/personnel development program, maintenance zone restructure, implemented energy-saving measures and came through the recession several percentage points better than industry average.  It has been good!

Now for the change—I have joined Daisy Nguyen at Rent Soda where I will be developing training programs, assessing the feasibility of new developments, creating marketing programs and assisting clients in achieving excellence amongst many other exciting things. 

Please take a moment to update my contact information:

Cell:  612-710-0546

Email: Jim {at} RentSoda(.)com

Web:  Http://rentsoda.com

Look for me on Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter: JimWBaumgartner

Watch for exciting new updates and announcements over the next couple of weeks.  If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Rent Soda please feel free to contact Daisy or me.

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Cheers!

Jim Baumgartner in Minneapolis, MN

Senior Vice President, RENT SODA

 RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Jim {at} RentSoda(.)com

DON’T GET IT? RENT SODA!GET IT!

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Apartment Leasing Tips Learned From George W. Bush at #NAA10 – Education Conference

Jul 1st, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

At the NAA 2010 Education Conference last week in New Orleans, the keynote speaker was George W. Bush.

I didn’t know what to expect and was a little leery how this would fit into the rest of the week. When I walked out from the session, not only did I have a little crush on George W., I had a new-found appreciation for him. As I reflected on his session, I realized, there were many things we can apply from George W.’s speaking techniques that could help us lease apartments! How did he turn me from “a little leery” to a “fan with newfound appreciation?” Here are some of my observations:

1. George talked about his family. He openly appreciated his wife, talked about his struggles with his children regarding his work, and how much he loved his parents. In the first few minutes of his speech, he became immediately human to me - I quickly identified with him. Looking around the audience, I saw that almost everyone could identify with appreciating a spouse, struggles with family-work balance, and love of parents. As apartment leasing agents, sales professionals, or in any business interactions, identifying with your prospect/client/ business associate sets the stage for transition to the next stage of the sale – your pitch.

2. Next, George W. spoke about his beliefs and his values. In this portion, he was passionate and moving. Whatever my position was, I found myself understanding his point of view. In the leasing of apartments, this would be your value proposition. Whatever objections your prospects might have, you’ll need to find a way to overcome them or at the very least, have them believe in your value proposition. Being passionate and believable makes this process an easier transition to the next step – the closing.

3. Lastly, George W spoke about his toughest decisions, and why he made the decisions he made. He was convincing – and if he were selling something, I would have happily signed on the dotted line right then and there.

George W. made we laugh with his humor, nod in agreement with his personality and cheer out loud for his passions. When he was done I GOT IT.

What were your observations of George W. Bush at the NAA (National Apartment Association) Education Conference?

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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Being Shy About Business Won’t Win Leases – How to Take Your Competition OUT!

Feb 22nd, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

Everyone knows – being shy about business – especially leasing, won’t win you any leases. Have fears or doubts? Your prospects can smell it a mile away -and so can your competion. So what WILL win you leases? 

This is a picture of me in 2nd grade. I had just transferred to a new school. I was a toothless, innocent, unsure and extremely SHY child with ONE WISH: More than anything in the world, I wanted to make friends. Being shy didn’t win me any friends. And to make matters worse, I was the smallest child in the class. Who gets bullied around the most? Well, the weakest link of course – MOI. How do you win friends in this environment? 

Fast forward to today’s apartment leasing world: That toothless, SHY, unsure child pictured is YOUR property. The bullies out in the world are your competition. They’re bigger, better, faster, have deeper pockets, YOU name it, they’re IT. You’re feeling overwhelmed, underappreciated, and more than ANYTHING, you not only WANT new leases, you NEED new leases. How do you win leases in this environment? 

As a child, I had one thing in abundance – IMAGINATION. In my mind’s eye, I imagined that I came into school one day, and I had all my teeth! I then imagined that I approached all the students in my class and introduced myself. I imagined skipping out to recess holding hands with my new friends. I imagined being picked FIRST for the dodge ball team. For some reason, DOUBT, FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, would find me even in my imagination! Even in my wildest dreams (Being picked first for dodge ball? Little ole me? THAT is a WILD dream at best!), my bully was THERE. And he had the ball, had it aimed RIGHT at me. 

If you know the rules of dodge ball, you know there are only 2 ways to take someone OUT: 1.) You hit them with a LIVE ball. 2.) You catch a LIVE ball that is aimed at you. And you better believe, my big bully had mastered the art of whipping that ball quick and hard – at ME! He liked to get that ball first, and take me out – as a warning to everyone else that he was coming for them NEXT.

Day after day, even in my imagination, my bully was there, whipping the ball at me. He’d always hit me, and I’d always limp off in pain. Then one day, I IMAGINED that I caught that ball. What an epiphany! AND BOY did that feel good! I imagined it again and again. I replayed it in my mind. In slow motion, in fast motion. I dissected that moment of impact. And I planned like an obsessed mad scientist, exactly how, when and where I would catch that ball. Until finally one day, that doubt, fear, and uncertainty was gone. In its place, was my INTENTION: I was going to take that bully OUT. 

I’m NOT going to tell you it was easy, OR tell you that the next day, I went to recess and immediately caught that dodge ball – because that’s not how it happened. BUT, what I DID: I started trying harder. I stopped being shy and afraid. I reached out and made new friends. I smiled; I was charming, I was no longer afraid. As a coping mechanism, I actually avoided my bully as much as I could. I was hit many times by that bully’s dodge ball – but I was no longer afraid of him. It wasn’t until the 4th grade in gym class that I finally turned around, looked him in the eye, and caught that ball and took him OUT. Not only did I take him OUT, I took him out in the first minute of the game. THAT was the highlight of my entire 4th grade year.

What does this have to do with apartment leasing? That bully is all your competition. Those dodge balls are all your objections. And believe me they are YOUR objections to YOUR own success. It could be that you don’t have amenities to speak of, it could be that your building is dated, it could be that you are forced to compete in a world filled of concessions and yours aren’t worthy of the competition, or it could be YOUR own self-doubt about your selling abilities. Whatever IT is – you’ve bought into those objections hook, line and sinker. 

Now, as an adult, this might be harder to do, but IMAGINE your prospect walking in. Imagine how that leasing process SHOULD occur. Do the objections come up? That’s OK. In your mind’s eye, take care of those objections. Dissect it, play it in slow motion, play it forward, whatever it takes. Don’t just glaze over or erase those objections – take them ON head-on. Address them! Imagine your leasing process until it becomes one that feels GOOD to you – and you see yourself WINNING that lease. Once you have THAT process in your mind down, imagine THAT winning process over and over again. Imagine that you WILL WIN. Take that competition OUT!

 And as an adult, I no longer call it a WILD imagination. I call it setting my INTENTION. I’ve gotten much better at it over the years. It doesn’t take me 2 years to figure out how to be successful. Whatever the challenge is, I let my imagination run wild, set my intentions, and WIN.

Believe me when I say, that 2nd playground was a lot harder to overcome than most of the hurdles in my life, but it taught me how to win. I keep that struggle and triumph close to my heart, and pull from that experience many times in life. How about you?

Don’t get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Leasing: 10 Steps From SAD to RAD!

Dec 6th, 2009
by daisynguyen.
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Here in Minnesota, we blame the leasing slow-down to the weather – we tell ourselves that no one wants to move when there is snow on the ground. (And who would really?)

It’s not the snow. It’s SAD. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) And it happens EVERY year, EVERY where. So let’s not get our undies in a bunch! If you can plan it right, you’ll forget about being SAD and become RAD (Rocking All Day!)

Below is RENT SODA’s 10 step program from SAD to RAD:

  1. ACCEPT that SAD does happen. Your prospects get SAD, and they don’t want to move. Your office is afflicted by SAD, and it’s hard to keep a positive attitude. First step is to ACCEPT that SAD happens!
  2. The second and MOST important of the 10 activities, is to GET OVER IT. SAD happens to good people! Let’s stop whining about how bad it is, how bad it might be, how bad it’s going to be, how bad the economy is, stop worrying, stop attracting that negativity! It’s one thing to accept it, but let’s not wallow in SAD-ness! GET OVER IT.
  3. Every time you accomplish one of these steps, cross it off your list! Now that you’re over IT, breathe in, breathe out, and print out this list to be used as your CHECKLIST.
  4. Update, refresh, renew your ILS listings: This is a great time to look at all of your ILS’s. Who are you using? What new features have they implemented that you may not have taken advantage of? Many times, our ILS vendors are responding to our feedback and requests. They are constantly changing their programs, adding features to meet our needs. TAKE ADVANTAGE of their new features. Don’t just glaze over something. Look over it, review it, assign it to someone on your team, and take advantage of all the new features your ILS has to offer!
  5. Evaluate if your current ILS’s are doing what you need. If not, change it up. Add new ones. There are new listing services coming on-line all the time. Many are extremely affordable. Some are free!
  6. Take a look at your Craig’s List adds. NO, STOP, take a REAL GOOD look at them. Some of those craig’s list ads are embarrassing. These look nothing like your brand, your image, or your other internet listings. Now is a good time to design, tweak, and change those ads to match your image and brand. Tired of posting craigslist ads? There are a TON of services that will post them for you ALL at an EXTREMELY affordable price. (Usually under $40.00/property/month!) If you need a list of providers, email me.
  7. Join a networking group in the industry. You local apartment association is a great place to start. Getting involved in a committee or group is an awesome opportunity to be around other people in the industry. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own thing and forget there’s a WHOLE world of ideas out there! Get out there and collaborate, share, and learn through your participation in a group other than your own employer. If there isn’t a local apartment association in your area, join a networking group that interests you. There are tons of marketing groups, young professionals groups, political groups, etc. You name it, there’s a group out there that you can join, share, learn from and grow with! Ask around for recommendations, and if all else fails, try http://www.meetup.com/
  8. Refocus on resident retention. During the spring/summer months, your leasing agents spend a lot of time doing call-backs to follow-up on ALL those prospects. Now that the prospect list has dwindled to a few a week, use that time to have your leasing agents call on current residents. Call them to follow-up on maintenance items, call them to say thank you, call your residents to wish them a happy new year. Whatever the reason, your residents probably don’t hear from you very often – except during an emergency or if rent is overdue. Use this opportunity to create a positive, no pressure interaction.
  9. Work on boosting your apartmentratings.com ratings. If you have had any positive interactions with any of your residents during this time, follow-up with a personal phone call (don’t just send them an email) and invite them to write a review on apartmentratings.com.
  10. Shake it up and shake SAD out. Smile, shake hands, hug someone, wave, say “Happy New Year!” dance, laugh, giggle. Shake it up and shake SAD out.

Use this SAD time wisely, and in doing so, you can turn leasing from SAD into RAD! (Rocking ALL DAY!)

Do you want to add steps to Leasing: From SAD to RAD? Post a comment or email me and add to the 10 step program.

Don’t Get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Time to SHAKE IT UP!

Nov 9th, 2009
by daisynguyen.
4 comments

I am a problem solver, so when people call me, it’s because they have a problem or in some instances, several problems. So, for me, problems are good for business. I love other people’s problems, as that means I can help. (at least in most cases!)

Lately, I have been getting calls regarding the market. We all know, the market has changed, and so many companies and people are having trouble changing to respond to this new economic environment. My conversations usually go something like this:

Caller: The market has changed, and my vacancy at XYZ Apartments is creeping up. We recently took a huge hit in August, and occupancy rates have never been this low before, and we have NO traffic. We’ve been trying everything – all the things we’ve done in the past that has worked for us, but this time, nothing is working. Do you have any ideas where else we can get traffic and help me with my vacancy?

WAIT a minute, let me get this right. You’re trying all the things that you’ve always done, and they aren’t working. Have you considered trying something different? A different market/economy calls for a new/revised marketing approach. If all your advertising sources aren’t working, it could be your advertising and approach.

Many people THINK they want to try something new, but they are still stuck on the “we’ve never done THAT before.” In talking with new or prospective clients, much of my initial conversations are centered around just getting everyone comfortable with trying something different. What is it about change that people are afraid of? If you haven’t already noticed, the times have changed without your permission. If all the old things aren’t working, if the market conditions have changed, doesn’t it make sense to:

Revisit … Revamp … Renew … Re-invent!

Folks, its time to SHAKE IT UP. The worse that could happen is that you might continue to be right where you’re at – as that is what the market demands. However, if you change to accomodate your market, you just COULD capture the attention, hearts, minds, needs of this new market. Imagine THAT! What would that mean for your property?

My next several blog posts will be centered around some small changes that can have a HUGE affect on your bottom line.

SHAKE IT UP!

Don’t Get it? GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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