As an industry, we work hard to keep our residents happy. We turn work orders around quickly, we host resident events, we are always on the look-out for ways to make the lives of our residents easier, and so much more. All of these are things that our residents expect from us. But sometimes, what is not expected can make a bigger impact on how our customers view us. Think about a time when somebody did something for you that you weren’t anticipating. How did that make you feel? Now imagine doing something that makes your residents experience a similar emotion, and how powerful that could be. The lasting effects will also be powerful as your residents become bigger advocates of your community and will express that in many different, beneficial ways.
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It’s a Millennial World … Or Is It?
For quite a few years now we’ve been told that we need to build for and market to the Millennial generation. Many have jumped on the bandwagon and are building nothing but smaller apartments (to try to keep absolute rents down while still meeting the rent per square foot investors are seeking) in urban locations with marketing/advertising campaigns geared mainly towards those between 18 and 34 (one of the definitions of the Millennial generation).
If this is your current strategy, stop for a moment and take a look at your submarkets and the demographics within as you might be missing out on and ignoring a huge opportunity. Although, according to numerous sources, Millennials will surpass Baby Boomers this year as the largest cohort, Boomers still make up close to the same percent of the population as Millennials (and we forgotten X’ers are only a couple of percentage points behind). And, guess what? Boomers (and X’ers), in general, are more established and so have the income to afford the higher rent apartments.