Free Toolkit: Video Tips for Multifamily Communities
Inside the toolkit:
- Learn how to record an apartment video tour that converts.
- Watch our step-by-step unit recording best practices video.
- Download our 9-point cheatsheet for future reference.
- How-to apply video best practices to resident events
About This Resource
Just about every apartment available for rent these days offers a virtual tour to prospective tenants. But these impersonal tours often aren’t able to capture the true charm of a unit, and renters may feel as though they still need an in-person visit before they commit.
This downloadable resource will explain exactly how you can use pre-recorded video tours to promote your property. It includes a step-by-step guide to get you started on using video to advertise your properties, as well as some of the market research supporting this approach.
Luxury Apartment Resident Events
For luxury apartment buildings, retaining quality residents is one of the primary concerns. One of the ways to do this is through luxury apartment resident events. Resident events have tremendous benefits, one of which is fostering a sense of community. This is a key part of apartment life. Many prospective residents, when looking for a place to live, place the integrated, community “feel” at the top of their priority list. The vast majority of properties, particularly luxury buildings, have events at least once per month. These are done to provide free services, learning, and fun events to residents. Think about what the building needs and try to build the event around this requirement. Try to make it something that everyone will enjoy to gather together as many people as possible. The more people that show up, the bigger the effect of these resident events.
Furthermore, events such as “resident appreciation week 2019” serve a number of important roles for the property as well. For example, hosting these parties will encourage current residents to leave positive reviews. This is a tremendous piece of the apartment building’s reputation and will play a significant role in SEO rankings, increasing the visibility of the apartment complex. In addition, these parties are going to leave a mark on the current residents as well, not only encouraging them to stay but also increasing the likelihood that they will recommend the community to their friends and colleagues. In the end, these events are going to significantly bolster the apartment building by increasing the occupancy rate, reducing the turnover in the building, improving the quality of the residents, increasing the building’s leads, and result in a higher net operating income. All of this is important for an apartment building.
Unique Special Event Ideas
For those who are looking for unique special event ideas, there are a number of fun examples to consider. First, there have been a lot of local breweries popping up lately. This is a great way to rope in young professionals and established families alike. Among the more popular resident event ideas, organize a tasting event at a local brewery or have the brewery come to you. Residents will flock to this idea, immediately gathering their attention. This a great way to foster community as well by bringing everyone together in a single, social location.
Another of the popular multifamily resident event ideas is to have an “adopt a pet” event. Bring in a bunch of animals from the local shelter and run a cross-promotional campaign. The shelter will appreciate its increased exposure as well. Residents can come down and play with a bunch of the pets, which will increase their wellness, possibly leading to a few adoptions as well. Just make sure the pets have a place to relieve themselves.
Also, another one of the popular apartment event ideas is to host a 5K for residents. Think about where this route is going to go. Consider both resident safety as well as the opportunity to teach residents about the local area. While the apartment gym is nice, it is also great to exercise outside from time to time. This 5K run can be a way to do exactly that. Make sure to have water stations and snacks throughout the route as well as at the end.
Finally, there are some other, smaller events that apartments can run as well. Think about resident event games, a 4th of July BBQ, or even a Christmas cookie making party. Regular events are key to keeping the residents involved in both your property and throughout the local community.
Community Events And Brainstorming Ideas
Leasing agents and property managers are often the ones responsible for planning these resident events. Some of the most common community events and brainstorming ideas circle around free items, products, and service giveaways. While these are always nice, it is important to branch out. Beyond just free stuff though, better event topics and ideas are likely going to engage the residents a bit more, holding their attention and getting them involved with the rest of the community and neighborhood.
Remember that the goal is to come up with neighborhood event ideas that will get residents to enjoy the sense of community. This will spark them to leave positive reviews and spread the word about their fantastic living experience.
One of the unique neighborhood event ideas that leasing agents may want to try is to work together to perform a civic project. Think about a local area in the neighborhood that could use some help and see if the residents are willing to pitch in. This might be done in exchange for something, such as a free meal at the event, tickets to a local movie theater, or vouchers at the local brewery. This would also be a great way for local businesses to promote themselves as well, offering to sponsor the local civic event. This will help the residents build new relationships in addition to helping new residents get to know each other a bit more.
Resident event ideas for apartment communities are meant to be unique and creative in addition to building relationships among residents. Social event ideas for communities are a fantastic way to not only promote the apartment community but help the neighborhood as well.
Holiday Resident Event Ideas
One of the most important times of the year is the holiday season. This is where many of the fantastic property event ideas are going to come from. Try to center some of the ideas around the holiday season. January event ideas can center around a New Year’s Eve party complete with a giant celebration geared for a big group — think balloon drop! April event ideas might include something such as an Easter Egg hunt in some of the open community areas. There can even be prizes for those who find the most eggs. Fall resident event ideas might want to focus more on Halloween, such as a costume contest, trick or treating, and extra candy at the front desk. One of the big summer resident retention ideas centers around the 4th of July. This can be a time for everyone to get together and grill out. Encourage everyone to bring something and the community might provide the entrée or alcohol, if permitted. Or even consider some live music, food trucks, or other fun 4th of July event ideas. In December, consider hosting a gift wrapping station in the club house or holiday cooking contests. If you have a lot of young families in your community, maybe even consider hiring a santa to come in for a cute photo opportunity with the kids.
These are only a few of the property event ideas that can center around the various holidays. This is especially important for luxury apartment buildings who are in more of a seasonal climate. It is important to capitalize on winter, spring, summer, and fall event ideas. This will keep the residents involved and happy while fostering a sense of community. Try to plan for these events to include large groups of people. Different seasons bring different opportunities for events. Use this opportunity to get creative!
Resident Appreciation Events
Appreciation week is one of the biggest times of the year for leasing agents and property managers. This time of year, these leasing and property management professionals turn into full on event coordinators for the duration of the week. The goal is to connect with both new and current residents to figure out how to serve them to the best of their abilities. While this is a chance for the residents to get to know each other, this is a chance for the management team to get to know the residents better as well. Leasing agents, property managers, and maintenance teams should all try to build a personal relationship with the residents who are at the events throughout the week, as they are going to be helping them every day.
Apartment Resident Retention Ideas
One of the major goals of resident events and community events is to retain residents. It can be hard to find high-quality residents and resident retention statistics often reflect this message. Some leasing and management coordinators might even feel like the only residents who stick around are the ones who cause problems. Resident appreciation weeks are a great way to increase resident retention multifamily. Resident retention is greatly impacted in a positive manner when community engagement is high. There is a list of things you can do to increase resident retention and it all starts at day one when interacting with a prospective resident.
First, be responsive to the needs of the residents. This doesn’t involve an event at all but simply involves being there for residents when necessary. If something goes wrong in one of the units, fix it quickly. If a resident gets locked out, this might be annoying; however, people get locked out from time to time. Help them out quickly. Try to make sure that packages aren’t overlooked and that residents are aware when they have something delivered. The little things matter.
Of course, it always helps to show off a little bit of creativity with the resident appreciation events. Free food and drinks work well every time. Get the local businesses involved. Everyone can tell when the enthusiasm is there. Don’t hesitate to dress up, put on some music, and get others involved. Happiness and enthusiasm is contagious. If residents see other people enjoying themselves, they are more likely to have fun as well. This will increase retention.
Ready to Get Real?
Accelerate Leasing
Speed Up Lease Up
by providing construction updates and showcase your space without having to do hard hat tours.
PRE-LEASE OCCUPIED UNITS
by ‘showing’ them without having to physically tour the space by sending pre-recorded videos.
CONVERT A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF YOUR LEADS INTO LEASES
when you receive notifications when prospects are viewing videos to cater your follow up.
SPEND LESS TIME TO CLOSE EACH LEASE
by removing roadblocks and barriers in the leasing process.
INCREASE SIGHT-UNSEEN LEASING
by making it a breeze for out-of-market leads to choose your community.
Improve Community Engagement
PROMOTE YOUR PROGRAMS BETTER
via pre-recorded videos by linking via social media or internal apps.
DECREASE MAINTENANCE REQUESTS
by creating maintenance videos.
REINFORCE COMMUNITY RULES
by receiving notifications when residents are viewing videos to know who has seen a message and who hasn’t.
REDUCE REPETITIVE QUESTIONS
because consumers retain 10% of a message when reading it via text, but 90% of a message when viewed in a video.
More Than Software
Virtual Training
is available for every property utilizing Realync.
Make your video efforts consistent
with one set, standardized process and platform.
TRACK ENGAGEMENT And Usage
across your entire portfolio.
Partner with the Realync Team
to create a personalized training program to be rolled out across all properties.
Are you Ready to Get Real?
Talk with us today to see how Realync’s platform can 4X your lead-to-lease conversion!
Request a Demo