• 32% admitted to NOT knowing what paid advertising their community subscribed to
• 36% admitted to having NOT reviewed their own advertising in the past six months
• 64% admitted to having NOT reviewed their competitions advertising in the past year
• 69% of all leads come via telephone communication
• Only 54.2% of calls are answered by office staff, the balance are answered by answering services/machines
• 26% of all leads come via email communication
• 5% of all leads come via text communication
• Leasing Specialists request callers name only 60% of the time
• Leasing Specialists discuss features, benefits and amenities before giving price only 37% of the time
• Leasing Specialists ask to set a specific appointment only 46% of the time

Out of 250 leasing professionals the following was revealed:

• 69% admitted to NOT phoning the day prior to confirm appointment and provide directions
• 61% admitted to NOT reviewing prospective resident information and pulling collateral/forms prior to the appointment arriving
• 55% admitted to NOT walking the vacant apartment home within 24 hours prior to the tour
• 19% admitted to NOT walking the model apartment within 24 hours of the tour
• 36% admitted to NOT opening the model prior to the first tour of the day
• 40 percent of multifamily leads go unanswered.

Resident Communication Facts

• 3.4% prefer social networking communication
• 6.1% prefer work phone communication
• 7.1% prefer community website communication
• 13.3% prefer mail communication
• 13.8% prefer home phone communication
• 26.9% prefer in person communication
• 28.0% prefer text communication
• 73.1% prefer cell phone communication
• 89.4% prefer email communication

Top 10 Reasons for Non-Renewal

• Rent Increase
• Rent-To-Value
• Parking
• Neighbors
• Kitchen Appliances
• Relocating
• Pests/Bugs
• Carpeting
• Size Of Apartment
• Kitchen/Bath Cabinets.

Highlights from the National Multi Housing Council and Kingsley Associates’ 2013 Apartment Resident Preferences report.

Top Apartment Features:
#1 High Speed Internet Access
#2 Patio or Balcony
#3 In-unit Washers & Dryers
#4 Garbage Disposal
#5 Microwave

The most popular community amenities are: 

• fitness center (84%rating it important or very important)
• package delivery room (78%)
• community-wide internet access (70%).

The study included a sampling of residents from twelve industry-leading multifamily firms who own and/or operate over 550,000 units across the United States. The study included nearly 15,000 resident responses from more than 1,400 apartment communities.

More information about the survey can be found at  www.nmhc.org/goto/61520.

(Source: Don Sanders’ presentation at NAA 2014. www.TrainerDonsWorld.com)