Owning an apartment complex can be a great way to diversify your portfolio and earn residual income each month. However, that’s only possible if you have tenants living in your units. Fortunately, there are several ways in which you can improve your occupancy rates.
1. Keep Rents Low
One of the easiest ways to attract new tenants is to keep your rents lower than the competition. Of course, you want to make sure that you are making a profit, so it’s still critical that your rental rates are higher than your monthly expenses. You can ask real estate agents or check online to determine how your rates compare to the competition.
2. Make Maintenance a Priority
People won’t mind spending money on a unit that is properly maintained. Ideally, you will be proactive about fixing the roof, taking care of rodents or making sure that units don’t look too dated. However, you can also score points with your tenants by taking care of maintenance requests promptly and ensuring that your maintenance team treats tenants with respect.
3. Review Your Marketing Strategy
The internet is a powerful tool to get leads and generally spread the word about your apartment complex. You can also use a broker service to help find tenants, and a broker will likely use the Internet as a source of leads. The more people who know about your complex and what it offers, the more likely it is that you’ll get qualified applicants coming to you. Acquiring renters in a passive manner reduces your acquisition costs, which means that spending money on marketing can actually save money in the long run.
4. Offer Long-Term Leases
A long-term lease is generally one that lasts for longer than 12 months. Although a tenant may pay less per year by locking in a longer term, you are also guaranteed a baseline amount of revenue from your units over a longer term.
5. Offer Modern Amenities
These days, tenants need a secure area for online packages to be held until pickup. They also typically need constant internet access, a place for meetings and an area for their kids or animals to play. Offering free Wi-Fi, a robust meeting and workout area and plenty of space for running around might convince tenants to either move to your complex or stay there for the long run.
6. Remove Problem Tenants
Removing tenants who are loud or who engage in illegal activities may help convince others to come back. Otherwise, your complex will have a reputation as one that caters to dangerous individuals who you can’t trust your kids or pets around. Getting rid of problem tenants may also reduce the number of repairs that need to be made as quality tenants typically do a better job of looking after their home.
Owning an apartment complex requires the ability to plan and adapt to tenant needs as they change. Being proactive about meeting their needs can be an effective way to keep your current renters and ensure that you don’t have a problem attracting new ones. As the complex gets closer to maximum capacity, you may have opportunities to raise the rent or take other actions to increase profits.
Published by: Khy Talara
