Click to Lease Apartment owners see a big increase in online leasing.
Last year was full of surprises, but some were more remarkable than others. “If there’s one single thing that was a surprise, it was the fact [that] people shop and lease an apartment through the Internet,” says Chris Genry, United Dominion Realty Trust’s CFO. “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in the rate of traffic and the willingness to fill out an application and select a unit.”
Others agree. Gregory Mutz of AMLI Residential says that 22 percent of his company’s leases came from the Internet last year. (Four years ago, that figure was virtually zero.) “People are becoming used to using the ‘Net for shopping and doing all kinds of things,” says Mutz, the CEO and chairman of the Chicago-based REIT. “Everybody is doing more and more business via the Internet, and we’re no exception.”
The opportunity presented by online leasing pressed both AMLI and UDRT to spend more dollars marketing to customers over the Internet. “You can go to our site and do the 360-degree views inside and outside an apartment home,” Genry says. “Then you can fill an application online and reserve an apartment online.”
Real-time availability is also an important component. “If you click on our site, we’ll give you the rent at that moment for a unit,” Mutz says. “People want to know that. They don’t want to know ‘it’s between $1,030 and $1,240 a month.’”
Mark Hafner, director of strategic partnerships for Greystar Real Estate Partners, a large apartment manager and builder based in Charleston, S.C., sees Internet marketing and leasing growing even more sophisticated—and quite personalized—in the future.
“Ten or 11 months after you sign your lease, you’ll not only get e-mails from competitive properties, but you’ll get targeted ads with customized advertising highlighting the amenities and special offers that you’re most likely to respond to,” Hafner predicts. “Expect to get ads for communities closer to where you work.
“The search engines will know that location because you’ve probably mapped out a dozen sets of directions from [your work-place] to restaurants,” he adds. “If you write a [message using Google’s Gmail program] complaining [that] your property ‘doesn’t allow pets,’ expect to see banner ads for a pet-friendly community that’s got a doggie play area.”
