Apartment Guide Survey Suggests Home Sales Will Drive Improvements at Apartment Communities Next Year

A national survey conducted by Apartment Guide suggests that the rising number of new and existing homes will spur investment into apartment community improvements by property managers.

By Joshua Ayers, Senior Editor

Atlanta—A national survey conducted by Apartment Guide in October suggests that the rising number of new and existing home sales will spur investment into apartment community improvements by property managers. The survey, which polled 6,800 property managers, found that 76 percent of communities believe that the housing market’s recovery commands investment to improve communities over the next year, according to Apartment Guide.

The survey also indicated that research based on online reviews and ratings is a primary way property managers are determining areas for investment, with 84 percent surveyed reporting that they seek direction from reviews and feedback for targeting areas of community improvement efforts.

“Online ratings and reviews continue to show high impact to the apartment resident lifecycle,” says Scott Asher, Apartment Guide vice president of marketing and operations. “We’ve recently seen the number of certified ratings and reviews on our platform spike beyond 67,000 and only expect more growth. It’s great to see that such a large portion of managers are using those reviews proactively to invest in their properties and customer satisfaction.”

Other areas of the survey included social media use, mobile optimization and top amenities and offerings that customers are interested in.

With regards to social media, the survey found that Facebook tops the charts as a way to communicate with residents, with 99 percent of managers reporting that they use the network. Twitter followed Facebook with 24 percent of managers claiming to use the service. The last three included Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

Mobile optimization, that is providing mobile-friendly version of websites, listings, and in some instances services offered on the website, proved to be an area of importance with property managers. The survey found that 70 percent of managers reported that “mobile-optimized community listings are either extremely important or very important, while 7 percent said that mobile optimization was not important.

Amenities and features that residents are commonly seeking, according to the survey, were square footage and floor plans at 76 percent. Pool/fitness/community centers followed at 60 percent with type of kitchen appliances offered and ability to pay rent online following at 54 and 45 percent, respectively.

“Rankings and reviews are clearly here to stay and represent a compelling new way to help add value to apartment listings and digital apartment marketing,” Asher says. “We’re pleased to be playing a direct role in bringing this new and captivating functionality to multifamily real estate.”