‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Appealing to Renters Who Are Parents

Mother’s Day is this weekend! Which means that your favorite brunch place will have a line out the door. Maybe you should have thought ahead and made a reservation. Your mother was only in labor with you for 15 hours, and all she wants in return is french toast and a mimosa—is that too much…

Mother’s Day is this weekend! Which means that your favorite brunch place will have a line out the door. Maybe you should have thought ahead and made a reservation. Your mother was only in labor with you for 15 hours, and all she wants in return is french toast and a mimosa—is that too much to ask?

Anyway, to segue seamlessly, a lot of your residents are probably mothers (nailed it!). Fathers, too. So it might be worth it to make your community more kid and baby friendly. Because a happy baby means a happy parent. And a happy parent means they’ll continue renting from you. Then you’ll be happy too. (It’s like the apartment is actually a room without a roof, which you wouldn’t think would make people happy. But you’d be wrong.)

Here are some ideas about how to appeal to renters who have babies or little kids.

Offer fitness classes that include kids. When you have a kid, it’s hard to find time to get to the gym. And it’s also frowned upon to let your kid play on the weight machine while you’re on the treadmill (those kids never wipe the machines down when they’re done lifting!). So it would be great to offer fitness classes where parents could bring their kids and the kids could participate too—maybe a yoga class or a Zumba or dance-type class. Then the parents and kids can get some exercise, as well as socialize with other residents in the same situation. Just advertise that these particular classes are kid-inclusive, so that other residents can skip it and go to an adults-only class if they so choose.

Stock toys or kid-friendly movies in common areas. If you have lounges or areas where residents hang out, make sure to include some kid-friendly items as well, such as board games, toys or kid-appropriate movies. If you have a pool, you can have some pool noodles or beach balls. Bonus, adults will probably enjoy all of these as well.

Give out treats or small toys to kids when families come in to tour apartments. Is it pandering? Yes. Does it work? Hopefully!

Have kid-friendly events. Kids are residents. You can have arts and crafts, or a scavenger hunt, or a cupcake decorating party. Think of how cute those smiling, frosting-covered faces will look on your social media marketing pages. (Just make sure to get pictures of the kids’ faces too.)

But also have some fun adults-only activities. Sometimes parents want to talk to other adults about things that don’t include poopy diapers and the frequency and/or contents of said poopy diapers. Anyway, parents, as well as non-parents, would love some adult-only activities around the community where they can relax, socialize, and ideally get some free food/booze. How about a happy hour, or an R-rated movie screening, or a party that can still include chicken nuggets and pizza (because, let’s be honest, those are delicious), but also features canapes or mini quiches or other “adult” foods. You can even set up a separate room with a babysitter, where the parents could leave their kids for an hour or so to enjoy the event so they don’t have to hire their own sitter.

Yes, please.

Don’t forget the grandparents. Seniors housing shouldn’t be excluded. After all, grandchildren might come by to visit from time to time. You could also have toys or games at seniors housing that people could sign out and use. Also, you could have kid-friendly books in the library.

Have a ball pit. Everyone wins. (Also acceptable: bouncy castle. It’s really your call.)

What other things could you include in your communities to make them more kid-friendly or to appeal to parents?

Happy Mother’s Day!

-Jessica Fiur, Senior Editor