Apartment Trends Magazine February 2015 | Page 15

MISS MANAGEMENT carol levey | levey enterprises Making sure your units are market-ready before showings I’m a leasing professional that is proud of what I do at my property and for renters looking for a quality apartment home. Recently I have been transferred to a property within my company’s portfolio that is experiencing increased turnover which gives me a lot of apartments to lease, and I’m showing apartments that I’m not confident have been made market-ready. I usually talk them through these awkward moments with statements like- “No problem, this apartment will be prefect when you move in”. Well, that turns out to be a lie about half the time. So, instead of an excited new resident I’m getting upset customers that come back to me to make it “perfect” or else. What can you tell me before I lose my enthusiasm for being a leasing star? T his is not an uncommon spiral that plagues apartment communities from time to time. The physical condition of the apartment when toured is a compelling part of the leasing process. It says so much about resident expectations, management policies and the quality of maintenance routines and repairs. It also is a statement of whether you and your company deliver housing value at a competitive price. Delivering what is promised at move-in is imperative. Unrealized value by a resident at this “point of sale” will stick with them through the entire lease. It will bubble up in a variety of circumstances when you expect certain things from them including- paying rent on time, reporting maintenance repairs before major damage to the property, giving and responding to notices in a timely fashion. The list goes on and on. The point is if they moved in with a belief that saying one thing and delivering less is okay for you it paves the path that anything goes on their end. Here are several routines that need to be applied with energized leadership from the entire team to correct these serious conditions. 1. Market- ready apartments require the attention and priority of the entire team. As a leasing specialist you should be walking these daily. If onsite maintenance team members cannot keep up with the upcoming availability it is a situation that needs the targeting of specific apartments including: cooperation of leasing and/or prioritization by management and/or the temporary use of external maintenance from other company properties or outside vendors. 2. There must be a community team standard for market-ready. Your weekly team meeting should periodically be conducted inside a vacant apartment home. Everyone should be asked to closely walk the apartment with specific questions in mind. Would I rent this apartment for the quoted rent? If not, why not? What expectations would you need satisfied? Each team member should be given opportunity to contribute. This exercise over a short period will create a team expectation of value. 3. The next step is to consistently deliver this value to every new prospective resident on tour and every move-in. This is done with a ready checklist that is posted in each vacant apartment and initialed by everyone that touches the turn. An apartment is ready when the documentation including a final walk says it’s ready. Finally, upon move-in a team member does a personal walk-through with the resident. If there is an item needing correction a written service request is processed with urgency. 4. The same standards and procedures can be developed for the common areas including common area checklists that get the entire team identifying and delivering community value. If you want more explicit details regarding market-ready apartments you should plan to attend the Maintenance Olympics on April 15th. Chris Beno of ConAm Management and Carol Levey of Levey Enterprises will be presenting this in-depth, interactive program. Mark Your Calendar MAINTENANCE OLYMPICS JUNE AWARDS Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Thursday, June 18, 2015 EDUCATION CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW Thursday, July 23, 2015 Wednesday, May 13, 2015 All dates are subject to change www.aamdhq.org SUMMER ECON GOLF TOURNAMENT Friday, August 14, 2015 FEBRUARY 2015 • TRENDS | 13