The Florida Multifamily Power Hour is a webinar series designed to bring together industry leaders of Florida to discuss pressing topics in the here and now. We have always been an open industry of networking; however, now more than ever, we need to come together to get through these unprecedented times!
Some are estimating that FL should anticipate 850K evictions in the coming four months. However, according to Harry Heist, even during the peak, FL only saw 160K evictions back in 2008/09. While overall occupancy has remained stable amid the COVID pandemic and rent collections are close to prior years, the sheer number of people unemployed in Florida will ultimately result in increased delinquency and increased vacancy. The growing number of renters who have opted for a month to month lease rather than renewing is creating another risk factor for multifamily operators. Given the increase in delinquency, the potential surge of evictions, the flatlining of rents, and unpredictable exposure to the market as a result of Month-to-Month leases there is an evitable impact to the bottom-line looming.
Historically when faced with tough economic challenges stemming from increased vacancy and decreasing effective rents, multifamily operators tend to decrease marketing spend in an effort to cut their way to profitability. As the war for occupancy heats-up in the coming months amid COIVD and eviction moratoriums lifting, I do not think this is the time to cut your marketing spend. It is time to take a hard look at the ROI of the investments you are making.
As your organization evaluates its marketing investments, you need to consider not only what tools you are investing in to attract, convert, and retain customers; you need to understand your ROI. Consumers have been navigating on-demand experiences for some time now, redefining their expectations for all aspects of their personal lives, including everything from shopping online, dating online, and of course renting online. Today’s marketing strategies call for more focus on the consumer experience and trends that go well beyond the use of ILS’s, a basic website, and face to face leasing.
Evolved leasing experiences include integrating all channels used to communicate with prospects to deliver a seamless user experience; one that would then transition to scheduling a tour, conducting ID verifications, facilitating self-showings, answering follow-up questions, and then closing the sale by presenting the customer with an online application, all in a consumer-grade package that feels human-like. The goal, again, is not to eliminate humans from the process but instead create efficiency, instant gratification, and level up the roles of the on-site staff to focus on trust-building and guiding the customer through the renter lifecycle to ultimately retain renters.
To learn more about these topics, check out this video to see what multifamily leaders had to say!
If you are interested in joining our next Multifamily Power Hour we will meet again on Friday, September 18, 2020. Be on the lookout to register and complete the survey to help determine our next topics.
Authored by:
Katie Wrenn | Director of Training & Development at WRH Realty Services, Inc | 2019-2020 President of the Florida Apartment Association
Elizabeth Francisco | President & Co-Founder ResMan, LLC
If you’re interested in ResMan as a software provider for your daily operations, book a demo to see the product up close.
