Sales, Inc. has successfully leased many student housing properties over the years. We have learned a great deal about apartment marketing over that time and recently applied all that we have learned to help a new student housing property reach its goals.

The Problem:

This 200 bed project had many obstacles to a successful lease up. Sales, Inc. was brought to the project late in the leasing cycle, while the property was still under development and it wasn’t scheduled for completion until just prior to the next school year. The leasing office was one small room in an out of the way location, not near the property. Not only was there no apartment, or even a representative unit to show, there were no examples of finishes or furnishings to present. Because students wouldn’t find us near or at the property itself, we had to take the proverbial bull by the horns and go find the students.

The Sales, Inc. Solution:

Our Leasing Team, along with our apartment marketing department, created a mobile leasing center and hit the campus. The Leasing Experts engaged the students where ever they could be found. We set up our Mobile Leasing Center in the Student Center, the Student Life and Activities Center, on various quads, at campus events of all kinds, during and after hours. One of our Leasing Experts made a video of the project and its development which was always playing on a widescreen TV wherever our Mobile Leasing Center was set up. We gave presentations to all types of clubs and organizations around campus, to include the Greek community and athletic teams. Our efforts helped bring about a policy change at the school, allowing some freshmen to live in the office campus property. This greatly improved the property’s ability to fill up for the next school year. Due to all of these efforts, our Leasing Experts made an immediate impact leasing over 4 beds per day for the first 18 days and achieved the results the property’s investors had initially envisioned.

We don’t like to pat ourselves on the back, but recently we received the following email from a broker who recommended our services to a client looking to sell a multifamily property. This note came completely unsolicited following a recent email we sent out regarding our Training Services.

“I am an investment Broker that sells Apartment properties. A client recently came to me and said he wanted me to sell his property but occupancy was fragile and underperforming and hurting his value. I referred him to Rick and his team. With Sales, Inc. in place, the property went from a consistently sluggish low 80% range to upper 90% occupancy in a matter of months. It was not easy. His team, however, brought marketing expertise, customer service training and straightened out some operational problems. The owner is quite pleased and is awarding the listing to me this quarter. Sales, Inc. probably increased the value of this property by $2 million. Even if he changes his mind about selling, the solid occupancy gains and operational health created allows the property reserves, maintenance and cash flow to flourish and be a healthy and sustainable asset for years to come.”

The Problem:

The property was 84% occupied at the time. They found a buyer that secured financing contingent on the property being leased to a minimum 92% occupancy. The lender had contracted a national management and leasing firm to not only manage the property but also to get the occupancy to the prescribed 92% prior to closing, which was 90 days out.

After 60 days, the property was only 86% leased. The prospective buyer contacted the seller and suggested they contract with Sales, Inc. if they intended to sell the property on the closing date. Sales, Inc. was brought in with less than 30 days to go.

The Sales, Inc. Solution:

We assigned a Sales, Inc. Leasing Expert to the property and immediately the numbers went up. Within two weeks the property was at 89% and two weeks later, just in time for the closing, we achieved the all important 92%. The sale closed as scheduled!

The seller got out from under a property they did not want. The buyer got not only a property they did want, but because they left us on the property for an additional two weeks beyond the closing date, they got a property that was 95% leased!

The Problem:

Four new buildings were constructed in an existing community, bringing the number of vacancies up to 121. Prior to our arrival, the in-house leasing team had been taking 20 applications a month.

The Sales, Inc. Solution:

After our arrival, our Sales, Inc. Leasing Experts took 227 applications in 114 days of leasing (literally tripling the previous results) with a 64% closing ratio. Sales, Inc.’s efforts allowed the property to reach stabilized occupancy within the client’s pro forma guidelines.

The Problem:

Sales, Inc. was contracted by Trinity Management in 2009 to provide training for their in-house Leasing Managers. At that time, Trinity’s properties as a whole were 84% occupied in a market that was averaging 86% at the time. Sales, Inc. was initially hired to provide three training sessions throughout the year.

The Sales, Inc. Solution:

After the first two sessions, just six months into the contract, Trinity’s overall occupancy was above the market average, having risen to over 88%. Sales, Inc. used the same training program we employ on our new hires, and modified it to meet the needs of the client.

As a result, Trinity has continued to contract with Sales, Inc. year after year and today Trinity enjoys a 98% occupancy across their portfolio, well above the market average in the low 90% range. Eight of their 12 properties are now 100% leased.

We recently received the following note from the manager which she had received from one of the people in training:

I am so happy I went to this training. I just took a call and followed the instructions we were given and it felt so good. Even better was that the person I spoke with complimented me and told me I had “great customer service skills”. He said that I was great and he couldn’t wait until he came into the property. This honestly has been life-changing. I am grateful for Sales, Inc. and everyone who was involved with this training.