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Apartments.com
Want to Attract Serious Renters? Showcase Unit-Specific Details
The apartment search was going well. Looking to move from their home in Memphis to an apartment in Atlanta, Jim and Mary Jane Richens had been touring apartments in Georgia and were starting to get an idea of the kind of place they wanted to move into. And then the pandemic hit.
“Unfortunately, the search kind of ground to a halt,” said Stuart Richens, the couple’s son. “The pandemic got us to a situation where my parents no longer felt like they could come and visit in Atlanta.”
But the search had to go on.
So Richens, VP of Product for Apartments.com, embarked on a quest to gather as much information as he could to help his parents select the right apartment from afar.
Armed with a smartphone camera and notepad, he toured apartments, taking pictures of the amenities and views, creating video walkthroughs, and drawing maps and floor plans. He then presented a comprehensive overview of each option to his parents over Zoom.
That was when the lightbulb went off.
“My parents are great, but they’re in no way unique,” Richens said.
If his parents needed more apartment-specific information to guide their search, then surely other renters did as well.
In a recent webinar, Richens outlined the importance of unit-specific details to renters and multifamily advertisers alike. He highlighted the many ways Apartments.com lets apartment communities showcase this information in their listings, and he shared the latest research on what renters want to see.
Why unit-level information matters
Like Jim and Mary Jane Richens, renters want to know all about not just the community but also the specific unit they’re considering.
In fact, 99 percent of renters consider it important to see specific information — such as availability, photos, or floor plans — about the exact unit they’re interested in, according to a recent Apartments.com renter survey.
And, like Jim and Mary Jane Richens, not all renters can visit the apartments in person. Whether for health reasons, distance, or other factors, one in three renters report being likely to sign a lease sight unseen, according to the same survey.
Around 40 percent of searches today are conducted for apartments outside the renter’s current market, Richens said.
And even for those who are seeking an apartment locally, detailed online information about the unit helps renters narrow down their search and only visit the properties they’re most serious about. Leasing teams can then focus their efforts on renters most likely to sign a lease.
How to showcase unit-specific information
Through their listings on Apartments.com, communities can help renters see the specific features of each available unit, including:
- Photos of the apartment
- Photos of the view from the apartment
- Video walkthroughs of the apartment
- 3D video tours of the apartment
- In-unit amenities, such as laundry and stainless-steel appliances
- Unit-specific descriptions
- Apartment floor plans
- Property maps showing where the apartment is located within the community
- Unit-specific pricing, including concessions for a given apartment, as well as pricing adjustments by move-in date or lease term
- Unit-specific application link, leading directly from the listing to the application for the given apartment on your leasing portal
And offering this type of detail pays off. Properties that include unit-level information in their Apartments.com listings see a 50 percent increase in their lead-to-lease conversion rate, according to Rent Dynamics data.
“Customers are well-informed, creating a much higher quality lead,” Richens said.
Explore more insights about reaching renters
For more tips and insights about attracting renters to your properties, check out these articles and webinars:
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