Needing an incentive last spring to increase traffic at Claridge Apartments—one of two communities in Texas co-owned by Independent Rental Owner Nancy Wittenberg, IROP—it was time to get creative. The 173-unit Houston community had just undergone a significant rehabilitation project and Wittenberg was ready to show it off.
After some deliberation, Wittenberg and her business partner decided to raffle a flat-screen TV that retailed for $600. Prospects who toured the community from April through July received one raffle ticket and those who signed a lease received two or three tickets, depending on the length of the lease. The ticket-holders were eligible for the prize, which was advertised in the leasing office, on the company website, through social media, on fliers and in prospective-resident information packets.
Residents who paid their rent on the first of the month also received one or two raffle tickets (depending on how early they paid), as well as those who referred a friend who filled out an application. During the course of the contest, Wittenberg says between 50 and 75 tickets were given out.
The idea was a success. Despite the inconvenience of dealing with some employee turnover at the time that required everyone’s attention, Wittenberg says the community’s physical occupancy still increased by 10 percent during the raffle contest.
While the raffle’s primary goal was to promote incentives during lease-up, the program also encouraged residents to pay their rent on time. Prior to the contest, Wittenberg says Claridge was collecting 11 percent to 13 percent of overall rent by the first of the month. By the end of the program, that number jumped to nearly 18 percent.
Although Wittenberg has moved to other marketing techniques now that occupancy has stabilized, she says raffling off a smaller gift every month may be a good idea for communities that want to encourage residents to pay on the first of the month, every month.
— NAA’s Lauren Boston