How Today’s Renters Are Searching

What the Latest Renter Data Means for Your Advertising Strategy

How can apartment communities attract today’s renters? New data from Apartments.com revealed key shifts in how renters are searching for their next rental home, including when, how, and why renters are moving. A recent survey explored the preferences and behavior of 30,000 current and prospective renters.

In a recent presentation at NAA Apartmentalize, Apartments.com’s Melinda Szell broke down the top takeaways from the research, highlighting six action items communities can take to convert more renters into residents.

1. Keep listings up to date

Renters expect an accurate representation of your community and units, so it’s important to keep listings up to date, Szell said. To streamline this process, sync your Apartments.com listings to your property management software to automatically update the details shown in your listings.

Learn how to automate your feed

2. Offer a detailed look at individual units

Renters aren’t just interested in your community — they also want to see inside available units. In fact, 99 percent of renters want to see unit-specific information in their rental search, according to the Apartments.com renter survey.

One renter in the survey explained: “I want to see actual photos of the unit itself, not photos of another unit that looks similar.”

Which unit-specific details are the most important to include? Renters ranked these items as their top priorities:

1. Price
2. Photos
3. Availability
4. Floor plan
5. Features like appliances and materials
6. Description
7. Map showing location within property

Explore unit-specific details

3. Be transparent about pricing

When renters evaluate their options, the financials matter. Price is the #1 consideration for 78 percent of survey respondents.

To appeal to renters, put this information upfront and center. This includes both one-time and monthly expenses, as well as specific fees like pet rent or storage costs.

“You don’t want to hide any of these numbers,” Szell said. “Renters don’t want to go digging for it.”

Understand price transparency

4. Add tour scheduling to your listings

The majority of renters are interested in multiple touring options, from the 92 percent who want the traditional in-person tour to 58 percent who are interested in a guided virtual tour.

To draw renters in and save your team time, integrate tour scheduling into your listing. And consider offering more than one type of touring option in your listings, such as:

• Onsite tour with a leasing agent
• Self-guided tour in person
• Virtual tour with a leasing agent (such as video call)
• Virtual self-guided tour (such as 3D tour)

Get the facts about virtual touring

5. Respond quickly to leads

Most renters expect to get a response within two days of contacting you, according to the survey. But reality doesn’t always live up to this expectation. Four in 10 renters don’t hear back in this timeline, according to another recent renter survey from Apartments.com.

“That’s really an opportunity for you,” Szell said. “If your competitors aren’t responding in time, you want to respond to all leads within 48 hours to make sure they’re satisfied and choose your community.”

Learn more about timely response

6. Prioritize your ratings and reviews

Your community’s online reputation plays a big role in renters’ decision-making process, with 98 percent of renters reporting that ratings and reviews matter when searching for an apartment.

Take an active role in managing your community’s reputation, Szell said. This includes soliciting reviews from residents and responding to feedback in a timely manner.

Discover how to improve your ratings

Looking for more tips?

For more insights on how to improve your listings, check out these great resources:

• 7 Steps to Optimize Your Listings for Better Leads
• Curb Appeal Goes Virtual: How to Improve Your Digital Appeal

Explore more Learning Lounge sessions

Whether you’re an owner or property manager, you’ll find sessions from the Apartmentology Learning Lounge that speak to your needs and interests. This year’s educational sessions cover market analysis, advertising strategies, social media success, renter trends, and data-driven marketing.

Start watching now:

• Market insights: Rent Growth: Winners and Losers
• Advertising tools: What’s New from Apartments.com?
• Market insights: 2024: The Year of Market Stabilization?

Stay tuned for more sessions coming soon.