‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: What’s Your Apartment Resolution? 5 Suggestions for 2013

It’s that time of year: Time to start thinking up New Years resolutions. So why not add some multifamily resolutions for your buildings? It doesn’t have to be a big thing, like redesigning the exterior or retrofitting the building so it’s 100 percent sustainable or attracting George Clooney as a resident. And, unlike regular resolutions, such as losing 10 pounds, which people make in earnest but end up abandoning in a few months when it gets too cold to bother and the alluring siren song of chocolate Valentine’s Day candy sings its catchy tune that can’t ever get out of your head (like a demented Oompa Loompa singing “Gangnam Style” over and over again), these small changes can be easy to enact and can end up making a huge impact on your property.

What do you have on the docket for next year?

Here are some suggestions for multifamily resolutions you can carry out in 2013 at your community.

Address resident problems quickly. Is there a bit of a lag time from when a resident asks to have something fixed in her apartment and when the super actually gets to it? That is infuriating for residents. Resolve to get to maintenance requests in a timely manner. And when you quote a time you’re going to swing by and you have something come up, call the resident and reschedule. That should make for a much more pleasant experience on everyone’s part, both residents and staff.

Become more tech-savvy. If there isn’t already, in 2013 there should at least be the option to pay rent online at your property. Or how about an online board to notify residents if they have a package, or for them to fill out requests. Paper and checks are going the way of the dodo, and 

Increase social media presence. Everyone and their mother is on Facebook nowadays (including my own), so there’s no reason your building shouldn’t have a presence on social media. You can use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, whatever. It’s easy, it’s a good way to launch marketing campaigns, it’s a way to quickly get information to your residents if there is an emergency or if you’re having a social event in the community, and it’s a great way to get feedback and reviews. Oh, and it’s free.

Have more resident events in the community. It’ll help put the “community” in community. Or…something more clever than that. Anyway, it’ll be a chance for your residents to form bonds with each other (or at least meet so they have a name instead of a few vague adjectives such as “Noisy” or “Smiley” or “Stinky”—you know who you are!). It won’t cost you much to get some cheese pizzas and a bag of Doritos, but it will make people enjoy living in your community, which in turn could increase resident retention.

Do something green. Every little bit helps. Start a compost pile out back, start a recycling program, or enact a paperless rent system. (See, being more tech-savvy has lots of positives, and that’s not including showing up that know-it-all nephew who totally got the iPad Mini the day it came out.)

What are some of your apartment resolutions for 2013?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor