Interesting renter data from MyNewPlace.com:

Faced with uncertain economic times, renters around the nation are saving money on their monthly housing costs by opting to split a 3-bedroom apartment rather than living alone in more expensive 1-bedroom apartments. MyNewPlace, one of the largest online apartment listing sites, recently conducted a survey of internal search data, which showed that the share of searches for 3-bedroom apartments made significant gains at the expense of 1-bedroom apartments since the beginning of 2008.Based on a sample of nearly 10 million searches for 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments that took place on MyNewPlace.com between January 2008 and June 2009, the percentage of searches for 3-bedroom apartments consistently increased each quarter…(Read More)

Post by Greg Starr.

John Mitchell of Property Centric discusses the custom local search engine solution for multifamily owners and managers during the Apartment Internet Marketing Conference.

Post by Greg Starr.

An Apartments.com survey of 2,000 respondents provides intriguing insight into the psyche of American families. With foreclosure on the rise, it would seem that more homeowners are turning to apartment rentals out of necessity. But this study shows that the majority are choosing renting over ownerships due to affordability and a preferred lifestyle package associated with renting.

The features most favored by renters are a maintenance-free lifestyle, flexibility, access to apartment amenities, prime neighborhood locations also help. The freedom to move when employment changes is a very important feature, particularly with increased uncertainty in the economy.
It also seems that once someone chooses to rent over buy, there’s a very good chance they will remain a renter. Nearly 70% of respondents have always rented and around 37% have rented for 10 years or more.

Post by David Gosse.

Movers in the rental realm are getting slammed with higher moving costs in 2008 and being advised to shop around and negotiate for extras. As much as apartment dwellers are encouraged to take advantage of move-in specials and amenities in rental communities, they are also pushing for incentives with professional movers, truck rentals and storage facilities, to name a few. It can be worthwhile to look past the big brands and consider some local alternatives. On the East Coast for example, Safeguard Self Storage boasts impressive package deals, modern facilities and high-end security to protect your belongings. Smaller brands like this accommodate local movers and those from afar, but sometimes you have to do an extra layer of digging to discover them. Niche local search engines like WeAreNetwork are a great way to find these gems of local establishments, because their content is more specific to a metro and its neighborhoods, rather than being more franchise and national based as the major engines typically are.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

The social media hype continues and is enticing companies of every shape and size to dabble in creating new networks. To facilitate the craze, dozens of open source social networking platforms have launched. Jeremiah Owyyang’s blog lists over 60 brandable software platforms that can plug into your existing domain, allowing you to create your very own social network.  But does every company really need to have a social network?

In a Deloitte study of 100 businesses with online communities, Ed Moran found that 35% of these communities have less than 100 members and less than 25% have 1000 members. 6% of the businesses studied spent over $1 million on their social networks. Sadly, all too many fail at their attempts to connect customers to their brand because instead of focusing on the community itself, businesses are focusing on the value that social community could provide for their business.

Despite the failures, there are definitely industries that DO have ready-made communities with well-established brand alliance, and have a greater chance of building successful online communities. The multifamily is definitely well-positioned for this. Other verticals include: local television networks (daily news watchers), radio (listening audiences), niche local communities (customized hyperlocal search) and education (school districts, private schools, universities).

Most multifamily companies have a couple clear-cut missions in life (e.g. collecting rents and driving occupancy rates), but a newer mandate is to establish and promote your brand for a longer-term connection with an increasingly transient population.  Before signing a rental contract, an individual needs to identify with what that apartment provides – far deeper than price points, the rental market is now driven by amenities. “Lifestyle” is the buzzword for providing more than a roof over people’s heads. Now, apartment companies need to provide easy to use services ranging from online rent pay to pet sitting to VIP concierge services and customized local search while hosting real live community pool parties, golf instruction classes and more. While it may sound exhausting (and it is), apartment companies are finally optimizing their built-in community of residents and finding creative ways to connect the residents together, along with meaningful lifestyle amenities that cement the value of their brand, while gaining loyalty in the minds of renters.

Riverstone Residential, the nation’s third largest apartment management company, offers a moving program, Riverstone-to-Riverstone which helps transfer residents to another Riverstone community sans application process and deposit fees. Combined with their Living Made Easy features, including “Your Neighborhood Directory,” a local search engine launched in three metros, where users can find “just down the street” local businesses via a true search results format (e.g. not just Yellow Page data), residents benefit from buying into Riverstone’s “community” and the value it provides to their daily lives.

Morals of the story:

• If you don’t have a pre-existing community, don’t assume that you can create one (and don’t spend a lot of money trying to create one).
• If you do have a pre-existing community (and they already visit your website regularly), focus on the value that your social network will provide to your users.

Post by David Gosse.

So I just discovered that I’m not a slacker because I’m almost 30 and still renting. According to Jack Hough for SmartMoney in Why Rent? To Get Richer, I’m saving money - money that I could be putting in stocks actually, which he says will provide better return on investment over the long haul than a home. Well, good to know! Because I’ve been putting off buying a home for a few reasons.

First off, I’m inexperienced with purchasing real estate and it’s a little intimidating for a newbie. Second, I’m newly engaged and we just began thinking about purchasing a home – for “us.” Third, I’ve never had the nerve to ante up the large up-front down payment, of which I’m told by lenders lately, is not always necessary (whether you have the funds or not).

Yes, it seems odd to betray the American Dream of owning a home. Yet, I’m relieved that I’m not financially responsible for the myriad malfunctions, such as a broken water heater, roof leak or dishwasher meltdown. These are projects that I have no time to manage, let alone the desire to open my pocket book to solve.

Maybe the article is right and I should think about investing my money in the stock market. Perhaps other informed renters are thinking about ROI also and are beating the current housing slump to boot.  Now, that’s being a savvy renter instead of a homebuying procrastinator.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.