About This Department
Great ideas were plentiful during the 2010 NAA Education Conference & Exposition session “Owner/Operator Best Practices,” featuring independent rental owners (IRO) James Stewart, Stewart Properties Inc., St. Louis; Dan Lieberman, Horizon Management Group, Oakland, Calif.; Brent Sobol, Happy Home Communities, Atlanta; and Herb Baumann, Baumann Property Co., St. Louis.
In the coming months, units will provide more insight shared at the session.
Are Move-In Gifts Worth It?
Offering move-in gifts or “prizes” for new and prospective residents who drop by brings varied responses from owners. “It’s better to
consistently impress them with good customer service and to explain to them the value of living at your community,” Baumann says.
The panelists agree, with each also insisting that owners avoid giving free rent as an enticement.
Lieberman and Sobol say they still find gifts effective, noting that residents who sign a one-year lease often are making an investment of more than $10,000. “Giving them a $25 or $50 restaurant or retail gift card when they move in is worth doing because it’s something they will remember and appreciate,” Lieberman says.
Sobol says offering something as inexpensive as an 8-pack of candy bars, a 2-liter bottle of soda or lottery tickets helps to drive new traffic to his mostly “C” communities.
Staff Members as Residents: Does It Work?
Should onsite staff live where they work? IROs often struggle with deciding whether a community’s staff should live onsite and, if they do, how much rent should be charged.
Some owners offer 20 percent to 30 percent discounts; others cut $100 to $150 off what is considered the going rate for that market. Baumann says he prefers that his staff members live offsite, but perhaps at another of his nearby communities. “We want them to come into work and focus for a 9-to-5 shift and then go home,” he says. “I’m seeing some burnout among staff, so they shouldn’t have to be there 24/7.”
Sobol takes the opposite opinion, saying as many as seven staff members live at one of his properties. “I find that if they know they will be living with the people they are renting to, then they will work harder to bring in better-quality residents,” he says.
Lieberman says his staff typically works 36 to 38 hours per week and are paid for 40 hours because they “inevitably have to take care of ‘after-hours’ issues on many weeks,” so he opts to have them live onsite. Lieberman adds that the messaging by his leasing professionals to prospective residents resonates more positively when they explain that they, too, live at the property.
ILSs Vs. Craigslist
Pay-for-performance ILSs are gaining momentum, Sobol says, and Baumann agrees, noting an increased effectiveness in these marketing sources’ business models. All agree that Craigslist serves them well for filling units, but that it also is useful when it comes to hiring staff members and contractors. Sobol says he’s had success with software programs that help owners automate their online Craigslist postings.