Apartment Renters Scrutinize Onsite Staff More Than Ever Before

 

"The staff cares about me” is the thing most important to renters when deciding on where to sign a lease."

After two years of rapid change and uncertainty, residents are paying attention now more than ever to the care and trustworthiness of management companies, according to a recent report from J Turner Research.

The report was delivered on Tuesday during the session “Marketing Matters – How Good Behavior is Rewarded in the Market” at the Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Joseph Batdorf, President at J Turner Research; and Chelsea Kneeland, Director of Research & Development at J Turner Research, discussed the results of the survey “Internet Adventure Study III,” which included responses from 2,257 residents nationwide. That group was represented by 64 percent females and 33 percent males; overall, their average age was 40.32 years old.

Most telling, from the report, is that when asked, “What’s most important to you when selecting an apartment to rent?” Fifty-five percent of renters said, “The apartment staff cares about me.”

They Read All the Reviews

All reviews are read by 64 percent of renters who are searching, with 5-star and 1-star being most viewed at 14% and 13%, respectively.

The age of the review posting can play an important role, however, the survey showed that 64 percent of residents deem a review that was dated 2 years ago or longer is irrelevant.

The survey showed that if a community had low ratings overall, but had been showing improvement in more recent review posts, 78% of renters said they would “somewhat likely to very likely” consider the property.

ORA score A Decisive Factor

Renters preferred checking reviews from at least two different review sites to validate authenticity instead of relying on one site for an accurate depiction.

J Turner Research calculates an Online Reputation Assessment (ORA™) score for communities. The ORA™ statistical model aggregates and analyzes online ratings and reviews of over 122,000 properties across multiple review sites and ILSs to generate a single score on a 0-100 scale.

When renters have presented the choice between two properties with a 10-point variance in the ORA score, they chose the higher-rated community 65 percent of the time. If both choices’ ORA score was below the national average, they chose neither.

Response Should Come Within 72 Hours

Renters posting negative reviews on a site said they are willing to wait up to 72 hours for a lengthy response that provides a solution rather than a quick response of acknowledgment of receiving the review.

Twenty percent of renters begin looking for an apartment when about three months is left on their lease. However, the percentage who begin looking a year or more early is 15%, meaning “apartment communities more than ever have to start working on their reputation management skills about as soon as the renter moves in,” Batdorf said.

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Source: Apartment Renters Scrutinize Onsite Staff More Than Ever Before

Return-To-Office Rebounding After Delta Variant Slowdown

 

Nearly 50 million workers switched last year from an office environment to work-from-home (WFH), allowing large parts of the U.S. economy to continue functioning despite social distancing requirements during the pandemic. As other sectors began to recover from the shutdowns last year, however, large numbers of workers remained at home, causing some concerns about possible longer-term impacts of WFH on the markets for office commercial real estate. Despite some twists and turns due to the Delta variant, the most recent news suggests the return-to-office (RTO) is rebounding.

The RTO began as the economy started to reopen, and proceeded through much of last year. 16 million workers had returned to the office by October 2020, a one-third decline in WFH in six months. Being back in the office has always been contingent on progress in bringing the pandemic under control, however, and the surge in COVID cases late last year brought about a partial reversal in RTO in November and December.

Fortunately, RTO regained momentum earlier this year as tens of millions of Americans received vaccinations against the coronavirus. By July 2021, the number of people working from home had declined nearly 60% from its peak in May 2020. (I discussed the progress in RTO in an earlier Forbes article in July 2021).

More recently, there has been both good news and bad news about the return to the office. First, the bad news: The surge in COVID infections beginning in mid-July due to the Delta variant has had a significant negative impact on labor markets. Job growth slowed, with monthly increases in payroll employment falling by 70%, from an average of more than 700,000 per month from February through July to averaging 280,000 in August and September.

RTO hit a speed bump as well. The number of employees working from home increased nearly 400,000 in August and was little changed in September. This setback was not as large as the reversal that occurred last winter but nevertheless has pushed back the timetable for a more complete return to the office.

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Source: Return-To-Office Rebounding After Delta Variant Slowdown

Return-To-Office Rebounding After Delta Variant Slowdown

 

Nearly 50 million workers switched last year from an office environment to work-from-home (WFH), allowing large parts of the U.S. economy to continue functioning despite social distancing requirements during the pandemic. As other sectors began to recover from the shutdowns last year, however, large numbers of workers remained at home, causing some concerns about possible longer-term impacts of WFH on the markets for office commercial real estate. Despite some twists and turns due to the Delta variant, the most recent news suggests the return-to-office (RTO) is rebounding.

The RTO began as the economy started to reopen, and proceeded through much of last year. 16 million workers had returned to the office by October 2020, a one-third decline in WFH in six months. Being back in the office has always been contingent on progress in bringing the pandemic under control, however, and the surge in COVID cases late last year brought about a partial reversal in RTO in November and December.

Fortunately, RTO regained momentum earlier this year as tens of millions of Americans received vaccinations against the coronavirus. By July 2021, the number of people working from home had declined nearly 60% from its peak in May 2020. (I discussed the progress in RTO in an earlier Forbes article in July 2021).

More recently, there has been both good news and bad news about the return to the office. First, the bad news: The surge in COVID infections beginning in mid-July due to the Delta variant has had a significant negative impact on labor markets. Job growth slowed, with monthly increases in payroll employment falling by 70%, from an average of more than 700,000 per month from February through July to averaging 280,000 in August and September.

RTO hit a speed bump as well. The number of employees working from home increased nearly 400,000 in August and was little changed in September. This setback was not as large as the reversal that occurred last winter but nevertheless has pushed back the timetable for a more complete return to the office.

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Source: Return-To-Office Rebounding After Delta Variant Slowdown

Chicago & the Midwest Multifamily Forum

 

Join fellow multifamily owners, investors, and developers as well as industry experts and solution providers at the 

Marcus & Millichap / IPA Multifamily Forum: Chicago & the Midwest 2021

This year's conference is on Thursday, November 4, and is preceded by three days of online content and networking opportunities in addition to the in-person event.

Find out what your peers are doing in the Midwest multifamily industry including senior executives from the following firms:

29th Street Capital Barrett & Stokely Becovic Bedrock Detroit Belgravia Group BH Management Bozzuto Brookfield Buckingham Companies Cedar Street Coastal Ridge Condor Partners Conor Commercial Real Estate Continental Properties DTN Management Eastham Capital Edward Rose & Sons Fifield Companies Focus Development Friedman Communities Golub & Company Greco Properties Greystar GSP Development Habitat Company Harmoniq Residential Heitman Highgate Capital Group HP Ventures Group Hubbard Street Group

JDL Development Klein Development LaSalle Investment Management Legacy Lendlease Lennar Multifamily Lincoln Property Company Magellan Development Group Milhaus Oppidan Opus Development Company Origin Capital Partners Plk Communities PURE Real Estate Management Real America Development Redwood Capital Group Roers Companies Royal Capital Ryan Companies Saturday Properties Savoy Development Schafer Richardson Shelborne Development T&H Investments Trilogy Real Estate Group VennPoint RE Waterton Windy City RE Wingspan Development WPD Management

Register today

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

 

David Schwartz Chairman & CEO Waterton

 

SPEAKERS & FEATURED PARTICIPANTS

 

Leslie Andren Chief Investment Officer VennPoint RE

Katie Anthony Director - Development Schafer Richardson

Michael Baker Vice President BH Management

Bryan Barrett Chief Executive Officer Barrett & Stokely

Sal Becovic President Becovic

Dave Brackett SVP - Operations Milhaus

Josh Brandsted President Greco Properties

Tracy Brown Senior Managing Director Multifamily Management Friedman Communities

Sheila Byrne Executive Vice President Property Management Habitat Company

David Carlson Partner Redwood Capital Group

Steven Chaben SVP & Regional Manager Detroit Marcus & Millichap

Peter Chmielewski City President - Chicago Lennar Multifamily

Catherine Clark Chief Investment Officer Bedrock Detroit

Chris Coleman VP - Development Wingspan Development

Mary Cook President Mary Cook Associates

Peter Cook Director - Capital Markets HP Ventures Group

Larry Debb President & Founder GSP Development

Yale Dieckmann Managing Director Development Greystar

Erin DiPaola Spears President Fifield Companies

Dan Dooley Managing Director Investments Coastal Ridge

Zach Dovner VP - Acquisitions Eastham Capital

Todd Eatmon President Core Living Roers Companies

Scott Ferguson Senior Vice President Regional Operations Waterton

David Ferszt President DTN Management

Matt Fiascone President Habitat Company

Anne Ficeli President PURE Real Estate Management

Ryan Folger EVP - Design & Construction Continental Properties

David Goldman Co-CEO Belgravia Group

Michael Goldman Executive Vice President Golub & Company

Jana Hageman President & Owner T&H Investments

Alex Hansen VP - Acquisitions Columbus 29th Street Capital

Gaurav Hardikar VP - Product Brilliant

Michael Hayford Multifamily Director Midwest Kastle Systems

Mary Howell Chief Operating Officer Legacy, LLC

Ashish Karamchandani SVP - Acquisitions Heitman

Jesse Karasik Chief Investment Officer Trilogy Real Estate Group

Tammy Kelly Senior Managing Director Asset Management Redwood Capital Group

Jason Kessler Chief Operating Officer Edward Rose & Sons

Jon King SVP - Multifamily Brookfield

John Kinzelberg CEO & Managing Partner Highgate Capital Group

Michael Klein President Klein Development

Jared Kuhn SVP & Sector Leader Multifamily Ryan Companies

Josh Landry Executive Vice President Buckingham Companies

Megan Lawhon Chief Operating Officer Plk Communities

Paul Lewis SVP & National Director Agency Programs Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation

David Lizak Senior Director Commercial Development XFINITY Communities

Daniel Mahoney Senior Strategist & Managing Director LaSalle Investment Management

Kathy Makino-Leipsitz Owner Shelborne Development

Michael McLean Jr. Partner Condor Partners

John McLinden Managing Partner Hubbard Street Group

Kevin Newell Founder & CEO Royal Capital

Pei Pei Mirabella Senior Vice President Bozzuto

Justin Pelej SVP - Development Focus Development

Suzanne Peperak Executive Vice President Barrett & Stokely

Enrico Plati Chief Executive Officer Savoy Development

Joseph Powers Regional Manager Chicago Downtown Marcus & Millichap

Janet Protas Senior Vice President Multifamily Development Conor Commercial Real Estate

Craig Pryde Principal KTGY

Matt Rauenhorst EVP & General Manager Opus Development

Melanie Reusze Chief Operating Officer Real America Development

Heather Riggs VP - Multifamily Operations Continental Properties Company

Kent Roers Co-Founder & Owner Roers Companies

Brent Rogers Owner Saturday Properties

Amy Rubenstein Chief Executive Officer Windy City RE

Milan Rubenstein Co-CEO Windy City RE

Patrick Ryan Chief Operating Officer WPD Management

Alex Samoylovich Founder & Managing Partner Cedar Street

David Scherer Principal Origin Capital Partners

John S. Sebree SVP & National Director Multifamily Marcus & Millichap

Lindsey Senn Executive Vice President Fifield Companies

Ryan Shannahan EVP - Development JDL Development

Ronda Shrewsbury President & Owner Real America Development

Steve Sise Senior Vice President Portfolio Management Golub & Company

Rick Stoll Managing Director Harmoniq Residential

Brad Vogelsmeier VP - Development Indiana/New Markets Milhaus

Bruce Webster SVP - Operations Midwest Lincoln Property Company

Steven D. Weinstock FVP & Regional Manager Chicago Oak Brook Marcus & Millichap

Ted Weldon Executive General Manager Development Lendlease

Renee Wersching Executive Vice President Property Management Magellan Development Group

Louis Zachary SVP - Construction Oppidan